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.

Muriel J. Andernacht, 103, of Exeter, died Dec. 7, 2024. She was a registered nurse who joined the U.S Navy in 1941, serving in Tennessee where she was in charge of the operating rooms treating soldiers who were transferred from the front lines for surgery. (Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services)

Joseph Bruno, 93, of Hampton, died Dec. 10, 2024. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring at the rank of lieutenant. He was a long-time educator and vice principal at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton. He was also a founder of Winnacunnet High School’s hockey program. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home- Crematory)

Paul Guy Cotton, 84, of Wolfeboro, died Dec. 2, 2024. He taught American history, world history, and civics at Newmarket High School, where he coached junior varsity basketball and varsity baseball. He lived in Lee, where he was appointed to the planning board and was a selectman. He worked for the Social Security Administration, where he was promoted within the system to become assistant district manager in Concord. He was president and secretary of the Laconia Kiwanis Club and served on the board of trustees of the Taylor Community. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)

Linda Hathaway, 83, of Unity, died Dec. 5, 2024. She worked as executive director at American Red Cross of Sullivan County. (Newton-Bartlett Funeral Home)

Robert T. Heyer, 75, of Hollis, died Dec. 3, 2024. Photography was his passion, and he’d often publish his detailed photos of Hollis on the town Facebook page. He served 10 years as the town photographer, and he’d sell his work with the proceeds going to Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston. He was a lung transplant recipient in 2016. He had a career in sales and advertising and owned Pure Waters of New England, a water purification system company. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)

Lois L. (Dow) Hutchinson, 87, of East Hampstead, died Dec. 8, 2024. She taught mathematics at Nashua High School and also at Hampstead Central School, Sanborn Academy, Haverhill, Mass., High School, and Timberlane Regional Junior High and High Schools. She then became an accountant and bookkeeper at Braley and Walker, Inc. of Haverhill, and later business manager, board member and treasurer at Berkshire Christian College, retiring in 2017. She was choir director and pianist for the Advent Christian Church of Haverhill, where she also served as youth leader, treasurer, and deacon. (Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home)

Stephen Kolesnik Jr., 97, of Nashua, died Dec. 1, 2024. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy serving in World War II and worked 28 years as a mechanic with the Boston and Maine Railroad. His funeral at the state Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen Tuesday was attended by hundreds of people who didn’t know him, after a hospice nurse, Celines Gonzalez, shared his story on Facebook, including that he had no surviving family. That message was shared by veterans’ groups, and many turned out for his funeral. Gonzalez told a WMUR-TV reporter, “He always had a smile. He was very welcoming. He would always salute me when he would see me taking care of all his neighbors. He’d always tell me, ‘Good job.’ He was always so caring.” One of his other nurses, Becki Lynn, said of the huge turnout, “As we can see, he had a lot of family. When you’re a veteran, you’ve got family.” (Davis Funeral Home)

Linda Maynard, 81, of Farmington, died Dec. 8, 2024. She was administrative assistant at First Church Congregational, UCC in Rochester and was founder of the First Church Food Pantry. She volunteered at Rochester’s Fellowship Kitchen. (R. M. Edgerly & Son Funeral Home)

Melvin G. Pfeifer Jr., 53, of Manchester, died Dec. 6, 2024, as the result of a car accident. He and his brother Andrew owned the restaurant, Patrick’s Country Restaurant in Goffstown. (Smith & Heald Funeral Home)

David J. Pollard, 80, of Gilmanton, died Dec. 6, 2024.  He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and worked at Waters Funeral Home in Concord, then bought the Perkins and Pollard Funeral Home in Pittsfield, which he ran for many years before closing in 2015.  He returned to the Waters Funeral Home part time. He was past president of the N.H. Funeral Directors Association. He was a member of the Rotary Club and the American Legion. (Waters Funeral Home)

Joseph Carmen Prestipino, 70, of Kingston, died Dec. 9, 2024. He was a landscape designer and architect who in 1998, alongside his wife Elaine, founded and operated Granite Creek Garden Center in Brentwood. In 2009, they founded Country Joe’s Farmstand. He volunteered to help improve Kingston Plains and State Park and was an active member of the Quality Deer Management Association. (Brewitt Funeral Home)

John (JD) Roberts III, 63, of Lancaster, died Dec. 7, 2024. He worked for more than 37 years at the Mount Washington Hotel, where he was main dining room manager for the past 14 years. He was previously head of guest services at Mountain View House in Whitefield. (Bailey Funeral Home)

Shirley Glidden Splaine, 99, of Center Harbor, died Dec. 4, 2024. She worked as a horticulturist, propagating begonias at Northeastern University in Boston. In 1985, she established the Ashland Garden Club and was club president. She was a member of several gardening and horticulture groups and won many blue ribbons for flower arranging and horticulture. She was a member of the UNH Belknap County Master Gardeners Group. She was chairman of the board of the Pauline E. Glidden Toy Museum in Ashland and helped establish the Got Lunch program in Ashland. (Dupuis Funeral Home)

Franklin R. Wilson, 89, of Sandown, died Dec. 10, 2024. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and owned and operated Wilson Sand & Gravel in Salem, where he built Wilson Pond. He developed land and built homes in Rockingham County. At age 76, he retired from Busby Construction of Plaistow, and owner Paul Busby said of him, “Frank was the only man I knew who could wear out a shovel.” (Brewitt Funeral Home)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “I grew up in the suburbs of Connecticut – during the school time of year – but I preferred it in New Hampshire. I preferred the culture, the landscape, the relative solitude. I’ve always loved it.” – Donald Hall, poet, Sept. 20, 1928, to June 23, 2018

“The poet’s job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to name, to tell the truth in such a beautiful way, that people cannot live without it.” – Jane Kenyon, poet, May 23, 1947, to April 22, 1995