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.
Steve Bennett, 77, of Meredith, died Feb. 8, 2024. He served 43 years as a Meredith Fire Department volunteer and was Meredith’s emergency management director for 25 years. He was a judge at the Meredith Rotary Ice Fishing Derby for 25 years and a member/volunteer with the Meredith Altrusa Club, Wicwas Lake Grange, and the Greater Meredith Program. During his lifetime, he worked for Meredith Police, State Police, Fish and Game and H. A. Wallace Energy, retiring in 2022 after 36 years at Meredith Village Savings Bank. (Mayhew Funeral Homes and Crematorium)
Paul Abbe Bidwell, 93, of New London, died Feb. 12, 2024. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Officer’s Candidate School in 1953 and served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers for three years. He worked for Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. in Connecticut, and in 1972, he opened a Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. sales office in New London. A story shared in his obituary detailed how in 1944, he and his father attended a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus show in Hartford, Conn., where a fire broke out. He and his father escaped, but not before Paul ran back into the burning tent to retrieve his program. The fire killed at least 167 people, and more than 700 were injured. He was a member of the New London Rotary Club and chairman of the Boy Scout Committee for Troop 71 in New London. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)
Dewi Richards Brown, M.D., 88, of Hollis, died Feb. 9, 2024. A native of Wales, he worked in general practice in Nashua for a decade before his appointment as medical director of the Emergency Department of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester. He was then chair of the Emergency Department of King Fahad Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was an expert on the treatment of Middle Eastern snakebites. He returned to Nashua and practiced in the occupational health field, affiliated with St. Joseph Hospital as medical director for Occupational Health Services. He retired in 2016. (Davis Funeral Home)
Jack Thomas Casey, 26, of Dover, captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, died Feb. 7, 2024, in a tragic accident along with four other crew members in Pine Valley, Calif., during a CH-53E helicopter training exercise. He was a Dover native and graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas. WMUR-TV reported that he served as a lifeguard at Hampton Beach, and Beach Patrol Chief Patrick Murphy said he was dedicated to his community and serving his country. Arrangements are pending. (Purdy Funeral Service)
Brian Charles Crathern, M.D., 73, of Alton, died Feb. 9, 2024. He was a surgical registrar in England and then started a surgical practice in Berlin. In 1991 he relocated to the Lakes Region where he had a surgical practice in Wolfeboro, Laconia and Franklin. He served with Doctors Without Borders in Nigeria and South Sudan, also providing surgical services in Zimbabwe. (Peaslee Alton Funeral Home)
Lorraine Sudol Dufresne, 85, of Bath, died Feb. 8, 2024. She was a property manager for more than 50 years and taught English at the Moore School in Candia. She was a trustee of the Hampshire House in Manchester for more than 30 years and was a trustee of the New Hampshire Institute of Art. She also served on the Candia Planning Board before moving to Bath, where she was involved with the Friends of the Library. (Ross Funeral Home Littleton Chapel)
Paul Andre Garant, 75, of Nashua, died Feb. 6, 2024. He was a Nashua Fire Rescue commissioner who once worked as an EMT in Boston, then as a volunteer firefighter in Bedford, Mass., and ultimately in 2004 an elected fire commissioner for Nashua Fire Rescue. He retired last month after more than 19 years of service. He had a long career in the medical technology industry. He collected antique fire memorabilia, including two antique fire trucks that appeared in many parades. (Rochette Funeral Home and Cremation Services)
Homer Howard Hamlin, 90, of Salem, died Feb. 9, 2024. He began his career teaching history and eventually became principal of the Dr. Lewis F. Soule School in Salem, for 24 years until his retirement. He was an active member of the Salem Lion’s Club. (Carrier Family Funeral Home)
Gerard J. Horn, 91, of Laconia, died Feb. 12, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a pharmacist who owned and operated the Lakeport Rexall Drugstore from 1964 to 1980. The drugstore was in the Lakeport Opera House, which he owned from 1966 to 2015. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Marilyn Margaret (Bemis) Ledoux, 85, of Charlestown, died Feb. 10, 2024. She was a librarian who was also a writer and journalist, contributing to various newspapers and publications, including the Eagle Times and Vermont Journal. (Charlestown Memorial Chapel)
Robert J. Morin, 92, of Nashua, died Feb. 11, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he worked for the City of Nashua as a groundskeeper for Nashua Parks & Recreation for 20 years, retiring in 1992. He coached in the Babe Ruth Baseball League of Nashua, and the city recognized him by naming a baseball field near Holman Stadium in his honor. (Rochette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
State Rep. Sharon L. Nordgren, 80, of Hanover, who was serving her 18th consecutive term in the N.H. House of Representatives, died Feb. 10, 2024. She was a Democrat who was one of the longest-serving members in the Statehouse. She represented Grafton’s 12th District and served on the House Finance Committee. A native of Chicago, she moved to Hanover with her husband, Dr. Richard Nordgren, in 1972. She fought for adequate funding of schools, making health insurance accessible, and advocated for stronger gun regulations, including a ban on assault rifles. Earlier in her political career, she was a member of the Hanover selectboard and served as chairwoman.
Raymond Joseph Ouellette, 83, of Gilford, died Feb. 10, 2024. He had a 48-year career in the finance business, starting at General Electric and retiring as vice president of Transamerica. In retirement, he planted flowers and herbs for Canoe restaurant and drove the shuttle to and from the Center Harbor town docks. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home and Cremation Services)
Paula Perkins, 72, of Stratham, died Feb. 11, 2024. She was best known for her 34 years running the Dairy Queen on Portsmouth Avenue in Exeter. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory)
Lloyd Judson “Jud” Porter, 92 of Lee, died Feb. 6, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, he worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service in Vermont and transferred to New Hampshire in 1974, becoming deputy state conservationist in 1980. He retired in 1993. He was a member of the Durham Great Bay Rotary Club, serving as president from 2010-2011. He was a member of the Lee VFW Post 10676, the Newmarket American Legion Post 0067, and a lifetime member of the Scottish American Military Society. He was a member of the National Sojourners Inc.’s Portsmouth chapter 386 and served as commander and president. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
Stephen H. Roberts, 70, of Rollinsford, a Portsmouth attorney and retired Dover District Court judge, died Feb. 10, 2024. He was a partner with the Hoefle, Phoenix, Gormley & Roberts, PLLC law practice in Portsmouth. He was a district court judge in the Somersworth and Dover district courts from 1989-2011 and was president of the New Hampshire District Court Judges Association for two years. He was one of two judges selected to sit on the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council. (Tasker Funeral Service)
Richard Schoch, 82, of Contoocook, died Feb. 11, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, he was a founding member of the Hopkinton Rescue Squad. He and his wife Jayne owned Dick Schoch Plumbing and Heating for over 50 years, transferring ownership to their son Jake in 2023. (Bennett Funeral Home)
Peter J. Spaulding, 80, of Hopkinton, an executive councilor for 24 years, died Feb. 12, 2024. He was elected in 1970 as a Merrimack County commissioner, then went on to run for Executive Council, where he served for over two decades. After serving for 24 years, he ran and won a seat on the Merrimack County Commission again, serving until 2022. He worked on multiple presidential campaigns and considered U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona a close friend. He served as New Hampshire campaign co-chairman during McCain’s runs in 2000 and 2008. He was a member of St. Peters Lodge F&AM 31 in Bradford. He was director of business relations for the N.H. Department of Employment Security from 2007 to 2010 and was vice president for government relations at Providian National Bank from 1994 to 2006. (Waters Funeral Home)
Faye Brown Sweeney, 80, of Belmont and Holiday, Fla., died Feb. 11, 2024. She was the wife of Earl Sweeney, former assistant commissioner of the N.H. Department of Safety for 21 years. When Earl was the Belmont police chief, she served as the de facto police dispatcher out of their home. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Paul Marc Talon, 67, of Dover, died Feb. 9, 2024. He started part time as a caretaker at Pine Hill Cemetery and over the course of four decades with the Dover Public Works Department, he advanced to grounds and maintenance foreman for the city, retiring in 2015. (Purdy Funeral Home)
Camilie Aldonna (Piper) Twiss, Ph.D., 81, of Amherst, died Feb. 7, 2024. She worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua as a pediatric nurse and later a teacher at the school of nursing, retiring as the school’s director. She was a member of the Associates of St. Marguerite D’Youville for 30 years and received the 18th Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2016. She was also active in the Grange. (Smith & Heald Funeral Home)
Perry H. Vallee, 83, of Manchester, died Feb. 13, 2024. He served in the Army National Guard, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Navy Reserve. He had a 50-year career as a newspaper compositor, 42 of them at the Union Leader Corp. He was an auxiliary state trooper for 20 years and a deputy sheriff in Hillsborough County for two years. He officiated high school football, and coached and managed Little League baseball. (Legacy.com)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ? Shannon Alder, inspirational author