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.

Varvara Elizabeth Auer, 74, of Lyndeborough, died Sept. 3, 2024. She was a class teacher and arts and woodworking teacher at the Pine Hill Waldorf School and taught drawing and others arts in the Antioch University Waldorf Teacher Training Program for 25 years. (Cournoyer Funeral Home)

David R. Boutin, 71, of Hooksett, died Sept. 10, 2024. He was a state senator who first won the seat in a February 2010 special election, and he was reelected to full, two-year terms in November 2010, 2012 and 2014. He did not seek reelection in November 2016. He did run in a special state Senate election in three Manchester wards and four area towns in 2017 and lost to Democratic Manchester Ward 1 Alderman Kevin Cavanaugh. He was employed in town planning, corporate real estate acquisition and assessing and political campaign management. He was also a planning board member, town counselor, and N.H. state representative. (Roan Family Funeral Home)

Major Gerald F. Buehrer, 91, of Exeter, died Sept. 10, 2024. He was retired from the U.S. Air Force, where he served as an instructor pilot, flying more than 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia and Vietnam. He retired as a major in 1971 and joined the U.S. Postal Service, working 27 years in Exeter. He was a member of the Masonic order and served as Worshipful Master at St. Andrew’s Lodge, where he was awarded the Major General John Sullivan Medal in 1985. He was honored with the Knight Templar Cross of Honor in 2004 and the Order of the Purple Cross in 1992. He was made Honorary Past Grand Commander of the New Hampshire Knights Templar in 2014. (J. Verne Wood Funeral Home – Buckminster Chapel)

William Connor, 63, a captain with the Goffstown Fire Department, died Sept. 12, 2024. He was the department’s Community Risk Division director and began his career in Goffstown as a call firefighter in
1980. According to Fire Chief Shawn P. Murray, Connor was appointed as a permanent firefighter and fire inspector in 1997 at the rank of lieutenant. He was promoted to captain in June 2023 and appointed director of the Community Risk Division. (Goffstown Fire Department release)

Richard O. Dietrich, 97, of New London, died Sept. 5, 2024. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he worked for the YMCA of Bethlehem, Pa., founding the Young Chiefs program for teen boys. He was CEO of The United Way and Community Foundation and retired after a 60-year career. He then served with the U.S. State Department’s Overseas Executive Core to lead projects in the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Malawi, Africa. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)

Edward “Augie” Dworak, 76, of Cornish, died Sept. 4, 2024. He was a master woodcarver who specialized in bird decoys. He was also a teacher at Seminary Hill Elementary School and Lebanon Middle School for 18 years. He volunteered at the VA Hospital in White River Junction, Vt. (Legacy.com)

Frederick Charles Ford, 84, of Hollis, died Sept. 4, 2024. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command, he formerly owned and operated Technicon Inc., an engineering support services company based in New Hampshire, retiring at the age of 60.  He co-founded the New England Motorcross Association (NEMA) and served as its first president. He was a member of the American Legion Post 100 in Pelham and a 3rd degree Mason with the Wamesit Masonic Lodge in Tewksbury, Mass. (Rochette Funeral Home and Cremation Services)

Estelle M. Hill, 79, of Goffstown, died Sept. 5, 2024. She was a teacher at the Villa Augustina School in Goffstown for 46 years. (Legacy.com)

Sharyn B. Kelley, 75, of Manchester, died Sept. 5, 2024. She was the owner of Suburban Realty and blended her company in 2018 with Verani Realty, selling homes in New Hampshire for 50 years. She was involved in many community organizations including the Manchester Kiwanis Club, the Real Estate Advisory Board at St Mary’s Bank, sponsoring local youth sports and fundraising for various charities. She coached the Manchester Central High School cheerleading team from 1987-2001. She was an election official for Manchester Ward 1 for more than 12 years and was moderator of Ward 1 for the past six years. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)

John C. Lavallee, 87, of Pelham, died Sept. 1, 2024. He was a senior vice president for Century Bank in Medford, Mass., and was a former four-term Pelham selectman and long-time chairman of the Pelham Town Budget Committee. He also coached in the Pelham Little League and Town Basketball League. (Pelham Funeral Home)

Gordon L. Marshall, 92, of New London, died Sept. 8, 2024. After two years of active duty in the U.S. Army, he went on to obtain an MBA and DBA from the Harvard Business School, serving in their admissions office and then as a faculty member for several years. He was also Dean of Faculty at IMEDE, a business management school, in Switzerland, president of Wheelock College, which he helped revitalize, and chair of the Business Department at Colby Sawyer College. His final post-retirement work was to serve as the executive director of the Lake Sunapee Protective Association. (Chadwick Funeral Home and Cremation Service)

Stephen J. McGerty, 75, of Stoddard, died Sept. 6, 2024.  A U.S. Army veteran, he was a firefighter for more than 55 years, serving with the Holbrook Fire Department as a two-term fire chief and as an elected fire commissioner for the district. He worked in the Fire Rescue Department of MacAuthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. In retirement, he moved to Stoddard and served as fire chief for five years and was elected as a selectman for two terms. (Foley Funeral Home)

David Benn Raynes, 72, of Land O’ Lakes, Fla., and formerly of Madbury, died Sept. 8, 2024. He was a television engineer at N.H. Public Television and worked on live events with a mobile production truck, a converted Winnebago nicknamed The Whale.  He won a regional Emmy Award for “The Franco Files” and freelanced as a video engineer at sporting events around New England for many years.  He worked six Olympics events for NBC and in graphics maintenance during the NFL season for CBS Sports. He started Little Bay Broadcast Services and in 2022, while working for CBS Sports, was awarded a national Emmy for Super Bowl LV. He joined the Madbury Fire Department in 1978 and was one of the driving forces behind the formation of the Madbury FAST Squad. He served as a firefighter/EMT and was promoted to captain. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)

Sara Ann (Turney) Sarette, 89, of Goffstown, diedSept. 5, 2024. She was president of the Bartlett and Goffstown Mother’s Club, and served on the Goffstown Fire Department Woman’s Auxillary and Goffstown School Board. She was a Supervisor of the Checklist. (French & Rising Funeral Home)

Forrest “Sonny” H. Sell Jr., 83, of Epsom, died Sept. 9, 2024. The owner of the Circle 9 Campground in Epsom, he had opened several restaurants in New Hampshire and Florida and was also a builder. (Connor-Healy Funeral Home and Cremation Center)

Nancy Hayes Sununu, 85, former first lady of New Hampshire, of Hampton Falls, died Sept. 7, 2024. She served on the board of trustees of Rivier University in Nashua and chaired the Salem School Board. She received honorary doctorates from St. John’s University, St. Thomas Aquinas College, and Iona College. She was project director for the Republican Governors Association and vice chairman of the Republican Women’s Federal Forum. She chaired the Republican State Party in 1980. As First Lady of New Hampshire, the wife of Gov. John H. Sununu, she undertook the first major renovation of the historic Bridges House, and in 1987 led the organization of the Christa McAuliffe Ski Invitational and Scholarship Foundation which raised over $1 million to support sabbaticals for New Hampshire public school teachers. Involved in many community and charitable endeavors, she was a board member of Holy Family Hospital, the New Hampshire Furniture Masters, and on the board of advisors for the LPGA. She was the mother of eight children, including current Gov. Chris Sununu and former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.” – Celia Thaxter, American poet who for most of her life lived on the Isles of Shoals, June 29, 1835, to Aug. 25, 1894