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.
Lois S. (Schneiderheinze) Theuner, 90, of Pembroke, died June 8, 2023. She was an Allenstown police officer for 20 years, retiring in 1992, and a founding member of the Tri-Town Ambulance Service. She also served as past president of the Pembroke Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary. She was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church of Manchester and a 70-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She enjoyed knitting and made slipper socks for the Suncook Community Action Program. (Roan Family Funeral Homes)
Dorothy Y. DuGray, 92, of Keene, died June 8, 2023. She was a librarian at Wheelock Elementary School, where she volunteered for the Parent Teacher Association. She attended the First Baptist Church in Keene and served on the Women’s Fellowship committee and participated in the bell choir. She volunteered at the Colonial Theatre and Cheshire Medical Center, where she knitted hats for newborn babies. She also knitted clothing for the Cedarcrest Center for Children with Disabilities. (DiLuzio Foley And Fletcher Funeral Homes)
Robert Askey, 91, of Keene, died June 9, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he worked at Young and Rubican, a large advertising agency in New York City, then moved to an agency in Frankfurt, Germany, where he spent the next three years. He and his wife moved to Marlow, where he served as a selectman and started his own freelance graphic design business, eventually moving to Keene and opening his own advertising agency, Askey Associates Inc. He served with the Lions Club as a member and president. He was a past president of the Keene Art Association, which later became the Monadnock Art Association. He participated as a member of the board of the N.H. Art Association and was a member of the Saxtons River Art Guild. He published his first book, “My Life in Black & White,” in 2018 when he was 86. (DiLuzio Foley And Fletcher Funeral Homes)
Lutz Friedhelm Nordahl Wallem, 90, of Concord, died June 9, 2023. A native of Germany, he lived in Spain, then moved to the Boston area in 1956, working as automobile salesman and dance instructor. He was drafted by the U.S. Army and served as an interpreter in Frankfurt, Germany. After serving, he stayed in Germany and became the president of several Volkswagen dealerships, a Volkswagen distributorship, a Cessna aircraft agency, and a vacation home building agency. The family moved back to America in 1974, and he owned Foreign Motors in Boston. In later years, he lived in South Hampton and Lincoln, where he served on budget, energy and water conservation committees, and as a trustee of the trust funds. He was a trustee of Beverly Hospital for more than 25 years. (Legacy.com)
Sylvia Eloise “Sugar” Hudon Ouellette Laquerre, 94, of Nashua, died June 8, 2023. She and her husband opened the Sugar and Spice Day Care at their home in 1967 and operated it together for 13 years. After her husband’s death in 1979, she ran the day care for another five years. She was a parishioner of the former Saint Francis Xavier Church and served on the social, finance, cemetery, and bereavement committees. She was also a parishioner of Saint Aloysius of Gonzaga Parish and volunteered at the Parish Nurse Center for Wellness at Milette Manor blood pressure clinic and the Edward V. Karg Day Away program. (Rochette Funeral Home and Cremation Services)
Leon Michael “Buzz” Buzzell, 91, of Danville, died June 10, 2023. A U.S. Navy veteran, he became a full-time member of the Salem New Hampshire Fire Department in 1968 and served as a firefighter, EMT, and mechanic, with the occasional opportunity to play the role of Santa Clause at the department Christmas gatherings before retiring in 1988. (Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home)
Matthew Wendelboe, 75, of New Hampton, died June 7, 2023. He was an oceangoing chief engineer for Exxon-Mobil and later owned his own plumbing service, Treasure Valley Plumbing. He was the husband of Fran Wendelboe, former state representative and former deputy House majority leader. He was a volunteer firefighter for the Ashland Fire Department for 35 years, serving as treasurer of the association. (Dupuis Funeral Home)
Jacalyn Spencer Mitchell, 75, of Newfields, died June 13, 2023. She was senior manager for work/life at Timberland. She was a volunteer with the Junior League of Boston and served as a trustee of Hunt Hospital in Danvers, Mass., She founded her own business called Country Containers. At Timberland, where she worked for 23 years, she was a visionary who led the development of a work/life strategy that drove the company’s evolution to become an employer of choice recognized by Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” for 10 consecutive years. She received the N.H. Scholars Award from the N.H. College University Council and BIA New Hampshire for founding “Partners in Education.” (J. Verne Wood Funeral Home)
Alan Edward Knight, 75, of Newmarket, died June 13, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, he was a legislative affairs officer for the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., and was involved in the Marshall Islands nuclear waste cleanup. He was also president of the National Treasury Union Chapter 213 while at the Energy Department. He was a founding board member for the Council of Vietnam Veterans which later became known as the Vietnam Veterans of America. He was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans and the American Legion. He was active in the American Legion, Post 67 in Newmarket and served as service officer and two years as commander. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
Donald A. Hatch, 85, of Portsmouth, died June 10, 2023. He was the director of guidance at Epping High School until his retirement. He also served on the Stratham Planning Board and Historical Society. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
Joseph Robert Monty, 92, of Manchester, died June 10, 2023. A U.S. Army veteran, he was a lifelong, fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus where he was past grand knight and past treasurer. He was also an active member of Blessed Sacrament Church, serving as a cantor and in the church choir. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)
Mary M. Connors Jenness, 83, of Bridgewater, died June 8, 2023. She was a registered nurse who worked at Speare Memorial Hospital and then Lakes Region General Hospital, retiring in 1991. She opened a candy shop called Mary’s Sweets and Things. She volunteered at the Plymouth Senior Center and was a member of Bridgewater Home Industries and Baker Pemi Senior Club. (Mayhew Funeral Homes)
Kay A. (Youngman) Barretto, 64 of Salem, died June 14, 2023. She was a ministry coordinator for Saints Mary and Joseph Parish in Salem. She volunteered for N.H. Partners in Education, North Salem Elementary, Lancaster Elementary, and was president of the Salem Farmers Market. She was awarded the Pink Diamond Award by the Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce in 2009. She was a volunteer for the End 68 Hours of Hunger program through the SAU District 57 in Salem, providing underprivileged kids with meal kits, birthday cakes, and outdoor clothing and supplies. (Carrier Family Funeral Home)
Muriel A. Farrar, 74, of Rochester, died June 13, 2023. She taught first and second grade at Hilltop Elementary School in Somersworth and later served as assistant principal at Milton Elementary School. She taught students studying for their GED and HSET at the Strafford County Jail through Dover Adult Learning Center. She served as clerk and quarterly meeting treasurer of the Gonic Friends Meeting and as liaison to the Rochester Interfaith Council. (R.M. Edgerly & Son)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.” – Haruki Murakami, Japanese writer, born Jan. 12, 1949