InDepthNH.org scans the websites of New Hampshire funeral homes each week and selects at random some of our friends, relatives and neighbors to feature in this column. The people listed here passed away during the previous weeks and have some public or charitable connection to their community. InDepthNH.org is now offering obituaries through the Legacy.com service. We view this as part of our public service mission. Click here or on the Obituaries tab at the top of our home page to learn more. And if you know of someone from New Hampshire who should be featured in this column, please send your suggestions to NancyWestNews@gmail.com.
Nuel Dinsmore Belnap Jr., 94, of Whitefield,died June 12, 2024. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he worked on programming the IBM 701 computer for the NSA before entering graduate school at Yale University, where he taught as an assistant professor. In 1963, after a year spent in Belgium on a Fulbright Fellowship, he began a 50-year career at the University of Pittsburgh as a professor. He wrote several books on philosophy, logic, and truth. (Legacy.com)
Lawrence A. “Joe” Buswell, 85, of Kingston and formerly of Plaistow, died June 16, 2024. He attended barber school and in 1961 purchased Joe’s Barber Shop on Main Street in Plaistow. Known as “Joe the Barber” over the 44 years he owned the business, he was also a volunteer firefighter and deputy of Company 2. He could be seen running from the barber shop to the old firehouse for calls during the day. He, his wife, and sister-in-law operated Country Shore Camping Area in Kingston. (Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home)
James Cameron, 82, of Danville, died June 15, 2024. He began playing the saxophone professionally in 1958 and performed with Lee Konitz and Jackie McLean, as well as Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Garrison, ‘Papa’ Joe Jones, Phil Woods, Buddy Tate, Red Holloway, Teddy Kotick, and Clark Terry. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the Bunny Smith Quartet, playing Boston jazz clubs and the Boston Globe Jazz Festival. He toured the U.S. in the 1980s with blues legends Katie Webster and Mighty
Sam McLaine. (Douglas and Johnson Funeral Home)
J. Warren Cassidy, 94, a former mayor of Lynn, Mass., and recently of Mirror Lake, died June 12, 2024. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and served for 22 years, retiring as a reserve lieutenant colonel in 1975. As a catcher/outfielder for Dartmouth College, he pitched batting practice to Red Sox Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams at Fenway Park. He served as Lynn’s mayor from 1970-72 and was president of the Kiwanis Club, Lynn YMCA, North Shore Dartmouth Club, Wyman Point Association, and other organizations. He was executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA) from 1986-1991. (Baker-Gagne Funeral Homes)
John R. Chamberlin, 82, of Hanover, died June 4, 2024. He was assistant registrar for Columbia College of Columbia University and then became an operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In his 30-year career, he served principally overseas in Europe and retired in 1999. In Hanover, he was a member of the Dresden School Board and chairman of the Grafton County Democrats. (Rand-Wilson Funeral Home)
Brian C. Courville, 73, of Nashua, died June 15, 2024. He was owner and administrator of Fairview Nursing Home in Hudson for more than 30 years, retiring in 2007. (Davis Funeral Home)
Chester George Rienhold Czepyha Sr., 96, of Sanbornville, died June 13, 2024. He was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, serving as a bombardier navigator and flying more than 50 combat missions. He retired from the Air Force in 1979 as a colonel and director of Air Force Geophysics Laboratory at Hanscom AFB. He was also a Boy Scout leader, and each of his sons achieved the Eagle Scout rank. He and his wife Claire lived in Merrimack, then joined the Peace Corps, assigned to Belize to establish the Boy Scout program, and writing the scout handbook using Belizean folk heroes. They helped establish Camp Oakley National Scout Campground in Belize, leaving the Peace Corps in 1986. (Peaslee Funeral Home)
Sherie Rae (Harmon) Dinger, 78, of Somersworth, died June 14, 2024. She was a high school math teacher and tutor in algebra and trigonometry as well as an independent contractor for teaching in businesses. She served on the Conservation Commission for eight years; was appointed
to a vacancy on the school board for two years, then elected for six years, serving as chairperson; served on the Recreation Advisory Board for three years; was an elected Ward 1 City Councilor for eight years; appointed to the planning board for two years; appointed to an at-large city council seat for one year; and elected an at-large councilor for eight more years, including one term as acting mayor. In 2009 when she retired from the city council, Dec. 14 was declared Sherie Dinger Day in Somersworth. She was 2010 Citizen of the Year. (Wiggin, Purdy, McCooey, Dion Funeral Home)
Charles Harlan Dingle, 99, of Exeter, died June 14, 2024. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service for 30 years, in Iowa, then Durham in 1961. He was elected to the N.H. State Legislature in 1983 and served three terms on the Resource Recreation and Development Committee. He also served on the board of UNH Campus Ministry and six years on the Durham Zoning Board of Adjustment. He was a lifelong member of the Mason’s Lodge in Ottumwa and board member and president of the N.H. Farm Museum. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory
Vincent P. Gedaminsky, 75, of Salem, died June 16, 2024. He was a supervisor in the IT department of Harvard University, where he was employed for 47 years. (Carrier Family Funeral Home & Crematory)
Richard C. Hallberg Sr., 94, of Bridgewater, died June 18, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he and his wife lived in North Hampton, and he worked at the Pease Air Force Base. They moved to North Reading, Mass., where they founded Earth Inc. in 1961. He was a member of the North Reading Masonic Lodge, a selectman in New Hampton, and a planning board member in Bridgewater. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services/Emmons Funeral Home)
J. Robert Jaques, 63, of Pittsfield and most recently of Berlin, Germany, died June 15, 2024. He was a member of the technology support staff at the newly opened Bow High School in 1996 and ran the sound and lights for concerts, shows, and meetings, teaching students the trade. In 2019 when he retired, he and his wife moved to Germany, for five years, working at the John F. Kennedy School, a German/American bilingual community school. (Brewitt Funeral Home)
Yvette V. Lessard, 79, of Manchester, died June 16, 2024. She taught for a year in Hooksett, then in two western Massachusetts towns for three years. She returned to New Hampshire in 1973 and taught in the Nashua School District, retiring in 2005. (J.N. Boufford & Sons)
Raymond Everett Lord, 93, of Wolfeboro, died June 16, 2024. He was a member of the original faculty in 1964 of Kingswood Regional High School in Wolfeboro, where he taught English and Theatre for 28 years, retiring in 1992. (Lord Funeral Home)
Edmund Gillmore Miller, 102, of Exeter, died June 19, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a professor of English for more than 25 years at the University of New Hampshire. He specialized in 19th century literature. He served several times as department chair and on many university committees. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “If you gave someone your heart and they died, did they take it with them? Did you spend the rest of forever with a hole inside you that couldn’t be filled?” ? Jodi Picoult, N.H. author, from “Nineteen Minutes”