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.
Marguerite Vallone, 99, of Epping, died May 27, 2023. She managed her father’s store, Fecteau’s in Epping. In 1972, she and her husband bought the store and operated it as Fecteau’s Country Store for 32 years before closing in 2004. For their volunteer work, the 2002 Epping Town Report was dedicated to her and her husband. She was active in local, state, and national politics, hosting senators, generals, and presidential candidates at Fecteau’s. (Brewitt Funeral Home)
Mary E. Shannon, 93, of Lancaster and formerly of Stark, died May 29, 2023. She purchased the Stark General Store and was the sole proprietor for 20 years before selling it in 1993. She was the Mill Brook Inn manager in Stark from 1999 until 2007. (Armstrong-Charron Funeral Home)
Constance C. Smith, 90, of West Lebanon, died May 27, 2023. She volunteered for the Bugbee Senior Center, the Greater Hartford UCC, Meals on Wheels, and the annual Shrine Game. She worked for Twin State Fruit Corp. in White River Junction, Vt., and later at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in both Hanover and Lebanon, until her retirement in 1995. (Knight Funeral Home, White River Junction, Vt.)
Richard Shea Jr., 86, of Northfield, died May 26, 2023. In the early 1990s he owned Highlands Ski Area in Northfield. He also managed the Mont Glen Ski Hill for more than eight years and served as president of the Knowlton Lions Club in Canada. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Brandt William Onorato, 62, of Keene, died May 28, 2023. He and his wife Christine grew a very successful and fun-loving business, Moggie’s Auction Service, named after his grandmother, in Marlborough and Keene. Earlier in his career, he worked for National Grange Insurance, then joined IBM in 2005 as a systems architect. He developed two patents for IBM and co-authored several technical “Red Books” during his tenure. He retired in 2022. (Foley Funeral Home)
Leonard R. Berube, 89, of Nashua, died May 28, 2023. For 20 years, he was a firefighter for the Nashua Fire Department, driving the Tiller truck and later, Ladder 2. He ended his career in 1980 as a mechanic working on fire trucks. After his retirement, he worked for Rivier College in the maintenance department. (Rochette Funeral Home and Cremation Services)
William R. “Lee” Weldy, 60, of Raymond, died May 26, 2023. He was a a lifetime Legionnaire, a Son of the American Legion, and an American Legion rider. He was a pillar of Post 90 in Raymond. He helped start the Northeast Water Cross Championship. (Brewitt Funeral Home)
Robert Van Vlaanderen, 63, of Berlin, died May 29, 2023. He owned a bakery in Colorado, then moved to Moultonborough, where he opened Butterflake Bakery. He was known for his cake-decorating skills. He then worked for Shaw’s Supermarket opening and supervising the new bakery departments they opened around the state. He worked for Shaw’s for more than 25 years. He was vice president of the Millsfield ATV Club. (Bryant Funeral Home)
Frederick LaFontaine, 95, of Concord, died May 25, 2023. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he and his family moved to Plymouth in 1957 to purchase the Gammons Funeral Home. In 1967 they purchased the MacKay Funeral Home in North Woodstock. They owned and operated these funeral homes as LaFontaine Funeral Homes until 1985. He was a member of the Plymouth Men’s Club, serving several times as its president. He was a member and past president of the Plymouth Rotary Club and was a member of the New London, Concord and Village Rotary Clubs. He was a member of the I.O.O.F., Masonic Orders and Hi-12, having served as DeMolay “Dad” for 25 years and also served as executive officer of N.H. DeMolay for five years, was on the advisory board for 25 years, was a member of the John Greenleaf Whittier Chapter in Haverhill, Mass., and was the recipient of the John Sullivan Legion of Honor Award for service to DeMolay. He served in many service and charitable organizations. He was also president of the N.H. Funeral Directors Association and served as the state inspector. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)
The Rev. Lorene Heath Potter, 91, of New London, died May 25, 2023. She was ordained an Episcopal minister in 1987 and served in churches in Buffalo, N.Y., including St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church as pastor. As a child growing up in Chicago, she appeared on a popular radio show “Quiz Kids,” her expertise being opera and literature. She modeled in New York and Chicago, appearing in Mademoiselle magazine in 1952. When her husband accepted a position as a ship doctor, she joined him on 78 cruises on small ships all over the world. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)
Jack Atkinson, 91, of Hudson, died May 30, 2023. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was the owner and operator of Bronze Craft Corp. in Nashua, working for 56 years and serving as its president for 25 years. He retired in 2005. He was a member and past president of The Rotary Club of Nashua and was honored for 62 years of perfect attendance in October of 2022. He served as director at Nashua Federal Savings for 27 years, was a past president and director of the Non-Ferrous Founders Society, was a past activity chairman for the Algonquin district Boy Scouts. (Davis Funeral Home)
Robert M. Koczat, 72, of Salem, died May 25, 2023. He retired from Raytheon where he was the principal software engineer for the inception of the Patriot missile system. He was vice president of the Friends of the Salem Recreation Inc. and founder of the infamous football pool where he delivered the results on his bicycle before the development of computers. He was in charge of the Brothers Open golf tournament where as many as 40 players participated for the past 24 years. (Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home)
Ernest Eugene Gould Sr., 94, of Hillsborough, died May 26, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he also enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He is a lifetime member of the Hillsborough Post 59 American Legion and a member of the Masonic Lodge in Hillsborough, holding their gold cane as the longest-serving member the Masonic Lodge with 70 years. He was past master of the Valley Hi Masonic Lodge in San Antonio, Texas. He was a longtime volunteer for St. Joseph Community Services Meals on Wheels program and received the Hillsborough County Joseph D. Vaughan award for volunteerism in 2015. (Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home & Cremation Service)
Patrick “Mickey/Mike” M. Gilmartin, 72, of Manchester and formerly of Concord, died May 27, 2023. He was a mental health counselor at the N.H. State Prison and at the Greater Manchester Mental Health Center. He also owned and operated his own photo business, Dunlap Photo Services in downtown Concord. He was a public guardian at the Tri-State Community Action Program in Concord for 26 years. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)
Richard F. Carle, 90, of Londonderry and formerly of Derry, died May 27, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he was an assistant professor at Boston University before joining Sanders Associates of Nashua, where he served as corporate manager of education and training and organizational planning. He was a faculty advisor to the Boston University Drama Club and during the 1960s and helped found nonprofit organizations dedicated to civil rights and community development. He was a trustee at Pinkerton Academy. (Peabody Funeral Homes & Crematorium)
Russell Andrew “Andy” Suttner, 50, of Manchester, died May 25, 2023. He managed the Derryfield Restaurant for the past 15-plus years. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home and Crematory)
William A. Boudreau, 77, of Pittsfield, died May 29, 2023. He was a floral designer and worked at Gateway Florist (now Coles), Jacques and McCleod’s. He volunteered with the Boy Scouts and the Rotary as well as the Pittsfield Fire Department. He was president of the Lions Club and a former exalted member of the Elks Club f Milford, Mass. (Roan Family Funeral Home – Still Oaks Chapel)
The state lost several educators this week:
Colette Helene Janson-Sand, 76, of Rollinsford, died May 25, 2023. She was chief dietitian at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney, Md., in the late 1970s, then she and her husband returned to New Hampshire in 1981. She was on the UNH faculty in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture until her retirement in 2017. She worked at Camp Carefree, a summer program for diabetic children, for nearly 30 years. (Roberge Funeral Home)
John Hybsch, 92, of Hooksett, died May 28, 2023. He was a teacher at Wilton High School, then Appleton Academy, and for the next 28 years at Winnesquam Regional High School. (Roan Family Funeral Home – Still Oaks Chapel)
Cecile B. Carr, 87, of Lebanon, died May 26, 2023. She was a teacher at Hanover Street School in Lebanon for more than 30 years. (Ricker Funeral Home)
Eric E. Usinger, 57, of Tilton, died May 26, 2023. He was a teacher for 24 years at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy teaching mathematics. (Smart Memorial Home)
Michael E. Fanny, 76, of Concord, died May 26, 2023. He taught social studies at Merrimack Valley High School from 1969-1975, then worked for the City of Concord as the cemeteries superintendent, and then as the superintendent of grounds (parks, cemeteries, golf course). After retiring from the city, he worked for N.H. Fish and Game until he was 62. He served as president of the New England Cemetery Association for two terms. (Waters Funeral Home)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.” Maya Angelou, April 4, 1928, to May 28, 2014