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.
Franklin Goodale Torr, 93, of Dover, died Aug. 3, 2023. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he served 18 years in the N.H. House of Representatives and State Senate. He also served on the Pease Development Authority, Skyhaven Airport Authority, N.H. Ballot Law Commission, the Selective Service Board, the Manufactured Homes Association, and many other organizations, including the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, Dover Personnel Advisory Board, Cocheco Waterfront Development Advisory Committee, and the Dover Utilities Commission. He was a councilor-at-large on the Dover City Council from 1984-1987 and a Dover Planning Board member for 25 years. He was named Citizen Planner of the Year for 2020 by the N.H. Planners Association. He was a proud N.H. Farm Bureau member and N.H. Timber Owners Association member. (Tasker Funeral Service)
Blair P. Kirtland, 69, of Epping, died Aug. 7, 2023. A former long-time resident of Stratham, she formerly owned and operated two restaurants, Carriage Stall in Stratham, and the Umbrella Factory in Exeter. She also ran a dried flower shop out of the Collectors Eye Gallery in Stratham. Most recently, she worked as a home care provider for Easter Seals. (Brewitt Funeral Home)
Peter D. Quimby, 72, of Plaistow, died Aug. 2, 2023. He worked for Raytheon for 40 years and retired in 2011 as a controller in their Middle East Systems Division. He volunteered as a Special Olympics soccer coach, a Boy Scout leader and, most recently, a ballot clerk for the Town of Plaistow. (Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home)
John R. Wood, 45, of Plaistow, died Aug. 2, 2023. He was hired by the Plaistow Fire Department in 1998 and was a firefighter and EMT over the course of 22 years. He also volunteered with the Newton Fire Department for more than a decade. He was a dispatcher for West Newbury Emergency services and then, for 12 years, with North Andover Police Department, where he was the lead communications officer. (Brookside Chapel and Funeral Home)
David P. Brodeur, 67, of Berlin, died Aug. 9, 2023. He operated his family fishing business, DB Lures, and considered one of his biggest fishing achievements a customer using a DB fishing lure to break the Maine state record for the largest lake trout weighing in at 39.2 pounds. (Bryant Funeral Home)
Richard L. Flint, 67, of Milan, died Aug. 4, 2023. He began farming on the family homestead in the ‘80s and slowly grew the size of the dairy herd from around 50 milking Holsteins to a herd of over 400 head of cows. (Bryant Funeral Home)
John Haskell Morse, 85, of Wilmot, died Aug. 6, 2023. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he was a self-employed and licensed forester and surveyor for decades working in the company he founded, Kear-Wood Inc., which developed the original Wilmot Tax Map still in use today with revisions. He was a member of the New Hampshire Land Surveyors Association, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the Granite State Chapter of the Society of American Foresters. He was a Wilmot selectman for many years. He donated several hundred acres to N.H. Fish and Game to create Bog Mountain Timber Reserve. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)
Joseph John Chiarella, 86, of New London, died Aug. 3, 2023. A Realtor with various real estate agencies in the Sunapee-New London area, he served on the board of the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHAD) for 12 years. He served as Commodore of the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club and organized a week-long fundraising sailing regatta on Lake Sunapee. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)
Roger Loranger, 97, of Manchester, died Aug. 4, 2023. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a Boy Scout, World War II veteran, and a long-time Manchester firefighter. (Durning, Bykowski & Young Funeral Home)
Beverly Mae Conway, 85, of Dover, died Aug. 5, 2023. She taught elementary school in Medford, Mass., then moved to Dover and taught first grade at Garrison School for 25 years. She was a strong union advocate not only for teachers, but her advocacy included firefighters, Teamsters and other labor groups. She was president of the Dover Teachers’ Union, president of N.H. Federation of Teachers and vice president of N.H. AFL-CIO. (Emmons Funeral Home)
Glendon Paul Drewry Sr., 91, of Concord, died Aug. 4, 2023. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he built homes in Merrimack for Bishop & Duxbury, then under his own company. He built Merrimack’s first central post office in 1965 and the post office in Greenfield in 1966. He and his wife Bev operated the Weare Center Video Store for 20 years before retiring. (French & Rising Funeral Home)
Arthur R. Goodearl, 85, of Franklin, died Aug. 6, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army, he retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as a master sergeant. He was an interim pastor at the congregational church in Tilton and a guest preacher in many local churches. He served as elder and deacon at Trinity Bible Church in Sutton. He also volunteered as a senior companion. (Thibault-Neun Funeral Home)
Gloria Gilde Konefal, 87, of Bedford, died Aug. 7, 2023. She taught English at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, then English at Hollis High School. She was also an adjunct professor at Hesser College and Franklin Pierce College until retirement at nearly 80. She played the organ for her church. (Peabody Funeral Homes & Crematorium)
Sandra Joyce (O’Connell) Wells, 82, of Durham, died Aug. 8, 2023. She taught math at Dover High School from 1962 to 1970 and coached the Dover High cheerleading team. She worked as a library aide at Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury. She was a member of Dover Baptist Church since 1968, serving on the missions committee, teaching Sunday School, and participating in the senior citizen group. (Wiggin Purdy McCooey Dion Funeral Home)
Gregory Weyerhaeuser Piasecki, 52, of Hanover, died Aug. 5, 2023. He worked for Morgan Stanley and then co-founded Pacific Solutions Group in 2000, a boutique investment bank in China. He was an early pioneer in unmanned aerial vehicles, joining his brother Michael at Dragonfly Pictures, Inc. from 2004 to 2013. Later he served on the board of Piasecki Aircraft Corp. Until 2021, he served as CEO of the Rock Island Company, a family investment holding company. He volunteered as a Nordic ski coach and rowed for the Upper Valley Rowing Club. He was treasurer and a member of the Upper Valley Land Trust Board of Trustees and served on the school Equity Committee. (Ricker Funeral Homes & Crematory)
Ethel Ruth (Joyce) Nelson, 87, of Cornish, died Aug. 4, 2023. She was known as “The Beaver Lady” in the late 1970s, featured on WNNE-TV and in newspaper publications for having befriended a family of beavers. She began photographing the Cornish Windsor Covered Bridge and sold photos and postcards of the bridge at the bottom of their driveway, which was directly across from the pull-out on the New Hampshire side. She was then known as “The Bridge Lady.” (Stringer Funeral Home)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.” – Leo Babauta, 50, creator of “Zen Habits”