Notable New Hampshire Deaths: Sary Saing’s Life Read Like a Movie Script

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BOB CHAREST photo

The Pinkham Cemetery, located on Dover Point Road at the corner of Ayers Lane in Dover.

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 week 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.

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Sary Saing, 80, of Dover and a native of Cambodia, died Feb. 26, 2023. He was caught up in the brutal conflict in Cambodia during the early sixties, fighting for the Cambodian Army of the Khmer Republic against the Communist Viet Cong army, which by 1975 took control of the country. Sary, his wife and four children, ranging in age from 3 to 13, were forced to flee into the forest, where all but Sary starved to death by 1976. He survived a few more years in the forest and was able to finally flee to Thailand in 1979. He met his second wife in a refugee camp in 1980, and together with their growing family went to Indonesia, finally coming to America in 1982 and settling with the help of the congregation of First Parish Church, in Dover, where he worked for UNH in the housekeeping department, then later for Hutchinson, a rubber products supplier, retiring in 2008.  (Tasker Funeral Home)

Janet K. (Gloddy) Young, 69, of Northfield, died Feb. 27, 2023. She never gave up the fight to find the murderer who killed her sister in 1971, hoping to one day bring the perpetrator to justice, investigating her death and asking questions to the day that she herself passed, according to her obituary. Her sister, Kathy Lynn Gloddy, 13, was last seen on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 21, 1971, near downtown Franklin. She did not return home that evening, and her body was found around 1 p.m. on Nov. 22, 1971, in the woods off Webster Street in Franklin. An autopsy revealed that Kathy had been raped and strangled. She also suffered severe blunt force injuries to the neck, abdomen and head. Her murder remains unsolved. (Paquette-Neun Funeral Home)

The Hon. Paul Mirski, 79, of Enfield, who served as a state representative for 12 years, died Feb. 19, 2023. He was also an architect and expert in preservation planning and restoration. His firm redeveloped the Belknap-Sulloway Mill in Laconia, the Parish House in Manchester, the Laconia Needle Factory, Claremont City Hall, Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park’s Aspet and Little Studio, as well as several other projects including the Claremont Opera House. He co-founded New Hampshire’s Preservation Task Force, which was succeeded by Inherit New Hampshire. He served on the Enfield Budget Committee, Juvenile Diversion Committee and the Building Committee for the Whitney Hall Renovation. His legacy will live on in the many restorations and projects he helped facilitate.  (Rand-Wilson Funeral Home)

Alan P. Ritchie, 69, of Newbury, died Feb. 26, 2023. He was well-known in the ski industry, especially at Mount Sunapee, where he was assistant ski school director at King Ridge Ski Area, then ski school director, and then director of marketing and ski services. He was a member of the Mount Sunapee snowmaking operations team, and in 1984 he was awarded a three-year contract as the owner and director of The Ski School at Mount Sunapee. When the area was leased in 1998 to Triple Peaks, LLC, he served on the grooming operations staff, then became grooming supervisor and assistant mountain manager. He was promoted to mountain operations manager in 2007. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)

Merton Darrell Briggs, 87, of Dover and Chelmsford, Mass., died Feb. 25, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he was an engineer who worked on one of the nation’s first spy satellites, now on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Va. He also earned six patents in technology applications. (Lucas & Eaton Funeral Home)

William LaFlamme, 66. of Franklin, died Feb. 25, 2023. He delivered Meal on Wheels to the elderly for more than 10 years, was a Cub Master for pack 60 in Franklin, and Scoutmaster of Troop 61 in Franklin. Nine of the boys, including his son, in his troop achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He also volunteered with his daughter’s Girl Scout troop. (Thibault-Neun Funeral Home)

Donald B. Fontaine Jr., 78, of Claremont, died Feb. 25, 2023. A Claremont Fire Department volunteer fireman for a short time, he moved to law enforcement in 1974 and began a long career with the Claremont Police Department, starting as a patrolman, then sergeant, serving as the K-9 unit with his trusty partner Baron, then retiring in 1997 as a lieutenant. He was honored by the city of Claremont with a proclamation naming June 28 as “Donald B. Fontaine Jr. Day.” After he retired, he worked for the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy sheriff until 2019. (Stringer Funeral Home)

Margaret “Peggy” Teravainen, 69, of Hooksett, died Feb. 25, 2023. She was a Hookset School Board member for nine years and volunteered many hours singing at a variety of show performances with the Hooksett Entertainers at nursing homes, fraternal organizations, and hospitals. She was religious education director at Holy Rosary Parish, where she directed the choir. She also volunteered for Hooksett Youth Athletics, Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts and at  Hooksett elections and town events. She worked for several nonprofit agencies as a benefits specialist coordinator assisting elderly and disabled clients. (Roan Family Funeral Home)

Mary Waldron Smith, 99, of Rye, died Feb. 27, 2023. She was a tour guide and caretaker of the Celia Thaxter Garden on Appledore Island with the Shoals Marine Laboratory and also volunteered at Fuller Garden in North Hampton. She spent many Thursday mornings hosting the “Knitting with Mary” group at Rye Public Library. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home & Crematory)

Terry Marinos, 86, of Hampton, died Feb. 23, 2023. He was a teaching principal at New Durham School from 1960-1962 and then teaching principal at Barnard School in South Hampton from 1962-1992. He was also an antiques dealer for more than 30 years. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home & Crematory)

Miriam E. Holmwood, 92, of Rye, died Feb. 25, 2023. She was the co-owner of Holmwood’s Furniture and Design Center in Dover and now Somersworth. She enjoyed decorating her home. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)

Geneva “Ginger” Irene Mills, 62, of Somersworth, died Feb. 23, 2023. In earlier years she was a thermal nuclear insulation specialist at Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. Later in Miami, she and her husband volunteered with a Christian outreach program assisting the homeless and providing them with food and basic essentials every weekend. She also donated her time and money to the We Care Food Pantry. She planned neighborhood cleanup days and was a passionate supporter of the Hidalgo Animal Refuge. She dedicated time to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and attended pow wows and worked on various beading projects and other Native American crafts. (Tasker Funeral Home)

Preston John Stanley Jr., 87, of Nashua, died Feb. 25, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he was a mechanical engineer who started his own business now known as Stanley Iron Works. He purchased a small factory in Nashua and was in the antique stove refurbishing business. He served on the Nashua Vocational Technology Board was a member of the board of directors of the Pennichuck Water Works. (Davis Funeral Home)

Electra Voulgaris Joaquin, 90, of Manchester, died Feb. 26, 2023. With her father, she once operated  Bill’s Fruit Store on the East Side of Manchester.  She was manager of the former Chateau Restaurant  for 17 years and  manager at the former Vault Restaurant for 13 years.  She volunteered at the Elliot Hospital and was a member of the Associates for 10 years, working in the gift shop until 2016. She sang in the choir at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral and served as assistant director of the Sunday School for 10 years. She was president of the Anagennesis Ladies Society and the Daughters of Penelope.  She was financial secretary for the building fund committee for the new St. George Cathedral on Hanover Street, also serving two terms on the board of directors of the cathedral. (Connor-Healy Funeral Home and Cremation Center)

Richard R. Clayton, 84, of New London, died Feb. 26, 2023. He started in sales at The Trane Company in Wisconsin and became managing director of the company’s Australian division.  He eventually joined Vermont Castings  in Randolph, Vt., as president and CEO.  He retired from Eastern Enterprises in Weston, Mass., as president and chief operating officer. He was president of The Outing Club board and president of the Pleasant Lake Protective Association from 2002 to 2010.  In 2012, the N.H. Lakes Association awarded him the John F. Morten Memorial Award for exemplary stewardship of the lakes and ponds of New Hampshire. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)

Norman Herbert Lambert, 81, of Brentwood, died Feb. 27, 2023. He started Lambert Products in his basement, selling craft supplies, while manufacturing and selling pillows and foot stools he designed. With his father, they sold used tools and machinery on weekends in Brentwood, eventually creating Brentwood Machine Sales, growing it into a full-time business. He was a youth group coordinator at St. Joan of Arc in Alton and a 4th Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus. (Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home)

Gerald Wright Howe, 77, of Durham, died Feb. 24, 2023. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was an agricultural agent for Strafford County with the UNH Cooperative Extension. He was a professor emeritus at UNH and served as president of Community Childcare Center and a police commissioner in Portsmouth. (J.S. Pelkey & Son Funeral Home)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004)

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