By BOB CHAREST, InDepthNH.org
New Hampshire lost some skilled political leaders in 2024, many who represented a generation of institutional knowledge that helped bring the Granite State into the 21st century.
From all walks of life, these people who passed away last year included state senators and state representatives, former executive councilors, and many people who participated in politics and government at the local, state and national level.
They included former state Sen. John S. “Jack” Barnes Jr., 92, of Raymond, who served in the New Hampshire Senate for the 17th district, from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2012. He was a Republican who won the New Hampshire primary for U.S. vice president in 2008, then in 2009, he co-sponsored a bill which abolished the vice-presidential preference ballot, which took effect in 2012. He died Jan. 11, 2024.
Ruth L. Griffin, 99, of Portsmouth, died Aug. 10, 2024. She was a Republican state Executive Councilor from District 3 for 20 years, and when she retired, Chris Sununu succeeded her on the council, launching him into the governor’s office. Peter J. Spaulding, 80, of Hopkinton, was an executive councilor for 24 years. He died Feb. 12, 2024. He considered U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona a close friend and served as his state campaign co-chairman in 2000 and 2008.
Also leaving us this past year were former state Senators David R. Boutin, 71, of Hooksett, who died Sept. 10, 2024, and Joseph L. Delahunty, 88, of Salem, who died Jan. 16, 2024. Boutin was also a planning board member, town counselor, and N.H. state representative. Delahunty was a Salem selectman for five years and the former president of the N.H. Senate, where he served for six terms.
Former N.H. First Lady Nancy Hayes Sununu, 85,of Hampton Falls, the wife of former Gov. John H. Sununu and the mother of Gov. Chris Sununu and former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, died Sept. 7, 2024. She served on the board of trustees of Rivier University in Nashua and chaired the Salem School Board.
Several multi-term state representatives also died this past year, including Suzanne Smith, 75, of Hebron, who died Jan. 6, 2024. She was a former New Hampshire state representative who served in the Legislature from 2008 until her retirement in 2022. Grace L. Joncas, 100, of Rollinsford, died Feb. 1, 2024. She served as a member of the N.H. House of Representatives for many years, was a Rollinsford selectman and ran the Meals on Wheels Program in town. 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. Drucilla Roberts Bickford, 98, of Concord and formerly of Rochester, died Feb. 23, 2024. She served three terms in the state legislature. Arthur Shumway Ellison, 80, of Concord, died March 23, 2024. He was a three-term state representative currently serving in the New Hampshire House. Also, Ralph Willis Torr, 93, of Rochester, died Oct. 27, 2024. He served in the N.H. House of Representatives for 16 years and was one of the longest serving members of the Rochester City Council. Jennifer Gemma Soldati, 77, of Somersworth, died Oct. 29, 2024. She served as a state representative from 1989 to 1994 and was House Minority Whip. Patricia H. Foss, 98, of Strafford, died Nov. 9, 2024. She served four terms as a state representative from two wards in Rochester and the town of Strafford.
Ronald John Nowe, 78, of Loudon, died Aug. 19, 2024. He served from 1995 to 2008 as a state legislator, committee chairman, and assistant Majority Whip. He also served on his town’s planning board, industrial development committee, and zoning board of adjustment. Charles Harlan Dingle, 99, of Exeter, died June 14, 2024. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service for 30 years, in Iowa, then Durham in 1961. He was elected to the N.H. State Legislature in 1983 and served three terms on the Resource Recreation and Development Committee.
A big name in Republican politics, Helen Lauren Zanca Carney, 67, of Hancock, died Jan. 30, 2024. She served in President Ronald Reagan’s administration at the U.S. Department of Education and was executive director of the Young Republican National Federation from 1984 to 1986. She was an advance representative for Vice President George H.W. Bush on numerous foreign and domestic visits, including a historic trip to Poland in 1987.
SOME TOUGH LOSSES
New Hampshire has had a tough year on its roadways, with statewide traffic deaths taking the lives of 134 people up until last week. The deaths of young drivers 16 to 21 jumped by 233 percent this past year over the year before.
Three people were killed in a head-on crash on Route 101 in Candia on Aug. 17, 2024, when a pickup truck crossed the center median and struck a Jeep Grand Wagoneer carrying The Courvilles nursing facility owner Richard Gary Courville, 77, and his wife, Denise (Bulmer) (Robidoux) Courville, 65, of North Hampton. They both died in that crash.
As of early December, 248 wrong-way drivers resulting in 17 crashes were reported in New Hampshire. Among those killed were Exeter’s Jeremy Cole on Thanksgiving morning, as he drove home after work from Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., while on Route 95 in Newbury, Mass.
Jacob C. Wolterbeek IX, 41, of Portsmouth, a sergeant for the Biddeford,
Maine, Police Department, died Dec. 12, 2024, as a result of a car accident on the Interstate 95 bridge over the Piscataqua River.
Musician Brooks Elliott Young Jr., 42, of Gilmanton, was killed Nov. 8, 2024, in a car accident in Alton. Three members of one family were killed Nov. 24, 2024, when the car carrying Lisana (Dore) Alexander, 45, of Salem, and her parents, Rodney and Anne Dore of Pelham, went off an exit ramp on Route 93 in Salem. Melvin G. Pfeifer Jr., 53, of Manchester, who co-owned Patrick’s Country Restaurant in Goffstown, died Dec. 6, 2024, as the result of a car accident.
Brig. Gen. John W. “Pogo” Pogorek, 57, of Strafford, commander of the New Hampshire Air National Guard, was killed in a hit-and-run crash July 8, 2024, in Rochester.
CLERGY
The Rev. Mark A. Rundzio, 72, of Berlin, died Jan. 13, 2024. A native of, Poland, he served in many parishes in New Hampshire , including Sacred Heart Parish, Manchester; St. Michael Parish, Exeter; St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Derry; Parish of the Resurrection, Nashua; and Mary, Queen of Peace Parish, Salem. The Rev. Marcel M. Allard, 85, of Manchester, died Jan. 23, 2024. He served as pastor of St. Paul Parish, Franklin; St. Paul Parish, Candia; St. Francis Xavier Parish, Nashua; and St. Patrick Parish, Newport.
Rev. Msgr. Daniel O. Lamothe, 87, of Swanzey, died March 17, 2024. He also served in many Granite State parishes including Saint Denis Parish, Hanover Saint Paul Parish in Franklin for five years; Saint Joseph Parish, Dover, and many others. In 2013, he received the title of Monsignor by Pope Benedict XVI.
The Rev. George A. Desjardins, 91, of Hooksett, died May 26, 2024. He served as pastor at Holy Redeemer Parish in West Lebanon; Sacred Heart Parish, Manchester, and Saint George Parish in Manchester, where he served until his retirement in 2002.
Sister Muriel Pelletier, (Sister Marie Christilla), 97, of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, Manchester, died March 30, 2024. She made her religious profession in 1951 and served in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary for 73 years. She was a high school principal and taught at various high schools in New Hampshire as well as at Rivier University.
Father Peter Elias Papps, 69,of Concord, died Jan. 24, 2024. He had a 25-year career in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Concord, as first assistant U.S. Attorney, then as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire three times. He retired in 2010. He was also ordained in the Greek Orthodox ministry, serving roles in his home parish of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Jamaica. He served as priest of Taxiarchai Greek Orthodox Church in Laconia for seven years.
The Rev. Dr. Vera M. Wingate, 81, of Hollis, died July 25, 2024. She was pastor of Bethany Chapel Community Church, U.C.C., serving from 1990 to 2013. She then served as Interim Ministry at the Hooksett Congregational Church, UCC in Hooksett until 2019.
Warren C. Biebel Jr., 96, of Plainfield, died Aug. 23, 2024. Inspired by the Billy Graham Crusade in Boston in 1950, he spoke at youth rallies and church services and pastored at churches and the state prison in Vermont, then at First Baptist Church in Meriden. He developed the Singing Hills Christian Camp and Conference Center in Warren in 1972.
Rev. Soterios Alexopoulos, 95, of Nashua, died Sept. 30, 2024. He was the retired priest of St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church in Nashua and in August celebrated 60 years of ordination.
Sr. Rolande Theroux, pm (Sr. Marie-du-Bon-Conseil), 87, of Manchester, died Oct. 15, 2024. She served in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary for more than 66 years and was principal at Presentation of Mary Academy High School in Hudson.
Rev. Dr. Arthur E. Athans (Athanasios Emmanuel Athanasiou), 94, of Dover, died Dec. 22, 2024. He was assigned to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Dover, and within a year, the church was destroyed by fire. Under his guidance, a new church opened in 1957.
FIRE SERVICE
Several former fire chiefs died this past year, including Alton A. Chamberlain, 91, of Harrisville, who died Feb. 27, 2024. He was a part-time Harrisville and Dublin police officer for 20 years, member of the Harrisville Fire Department for over 50 years, serving as fire chief for 14 years. Also, Richard S. LaPoint Sr., 87, of Ashuelot and formerly of Winchester, who died March 23, 2024, and was chief of the Winchester Fire Department; and Russell D. Estabrook, 89, a lifelong resident of Newton, who died April 20, 2024, and was chief of the Newton Fire Department for 14 years. Robert E. Mulcahy III, 73, of Rochester, died May 19, 2024, and formerly served as chief of the Center Barnstead Fire Department.
T. Richard Latham, 94, of Plaistow, died Sept. 13, 2024. He was a firefighter and former chief of the Plaistow Fire Department who helped form the Plaistow Rescue Squad. John Jed Marcotte, 89, of Newport, died Sept. 19, 2024. He served as chief of the Newport Fire Department from 1988 to 1998.
Wallace Ellsworth Keniston, 83, of Wolfeboro, died Dec. 18, 2024. He was Wolfeboro fire chief after serving as both a volunteer and full-time firefighter. Richard Ernest Fletcher, 89, of Goffstown, died Dec. 19, 2024. He was a volunteer Goffstown firefighter, serving for 40 years since 1958. He was appointed fire chief in 1975 and oversaw the creation of the Goffstown Emergency Medical Association and the beginning of ambulance services in Goffstown. He retired in 1997.
And a man whose death hit many in the fire service hard, Barry J. Bush, 78, of Ogunquit, Maine, died Oct. 14, 2024. He was the first Chief of N.H. Fire Standards & Training, where he worked for 24 years from 1969 to 1993. He developed the statewide certification program for firefighters and fire officers and developed a statewide testing program.
TOWN/CITY GOVERNMENT
Paul A. Binette, 86, of Exeter, died Dec. 27, 2023. He served many terms on the Exeter Planning Board and was a selectman. Charles William Thompson, 80, of Wilmot, died Feb. 20, 2024. He was the owner of Thompson Appraisal Company in Concord for more than 25 years and served as a Wilmot selectman for four years, was town moderator for 11 years, and served on the planning board. Becky Jean Merrow, 54, of Colebrook, died Dec. 18, 2023. She was the town clerk in Northumberland before becoming the town administrator for Lancaster, then town manager for the towns of Colebrook, Grantham, and Wolfeboro.
Harold “Whitey” Whitehouse Jr., 95, of Portsmouth, died Jan. 4, 2024. He was a 16-year member of the Portsmouth School Board beginning in 1973. He also served on the city council from 1988-89, and 1998-2007. He was elected to the police commission from 1994-96. The former Marcy Street Bridge in the South End was re-named in his honor in 2018. Donna J. (LaFargue) Munson, 70, of Swanzey and formerly of Winchester and Keene, died Jan. 19, 2024. She was the Swanzey Town Clerk for 10 years, retiring in 2016.
Arthur “Skip” Barrett Jr., 91, died March 11, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he served Nashua’s Ward 3 as selectman and moderator in the 1960s before being elected to two terms as Ward 3 alderman. He introduced a city ordinance that required dog owners to leash or otherwise restrain their dogs, earning him the nickname of “Bow Wow Barrett, the father of Nashua’s leash law.” Nathaniel Meigs Stout, 72, of Keene, died March 15, 2024. He was former Keene city councilor of 10 years. He served on the Keene Library Board of Trustees, the Keene Planning Board, the Keene Zoning Board of Adjustment, and the nonprofit Keene Family YMCA.
Cecily S. (Ballou) Quimby, 84, of Gilford and formerly of Laconia, died April 9, 2024. She was chair of the Gilford Budget Committee and chair of the Gilford Old Home Day committee. Charles George Fairman, 82, of Bedford, died April 21, 2024. He was chairman of the Bedford Planning Board; treasurer of the Bedford Rotary; and vice-chairman of the Gilford Island Association and past president of the Bedford Rotary Club and served on the Bedford Historic Commission and volunteered at the Bedford Food Pantry, New Horizons Shelter, and the Salvation Army.
Forrest C. Brown, 94, of Hampton Falls, died May 3, 2024. He was a 17-year member of the Hampton Falls Planning Board, including serving as chairman. He was also town auditor, trustee of the historical society, and trustee of the Hampton Falls Cemeteries Committee. David Joseph Rootovich, 68, of Nashua, died May 22, 2024. He was a Nashua Ward 9 alderman from 1994 to 1999, alderman-at-large from 2000 to 2007, and president of the board of alderman from 2002-2003 and 2006-2007.
Margaret Agnes (Armstrong) Case, 83, of Windham, died May 30, 2024. She was a Windham selectman and served almost 20 years as Recreation Committee chairperson. Douglas Anthony Yennaco, 86, of Windham, died Aug. 12, 2024. He was also a Windham selectman for many years. Richard C. Buckley, 94, of Derry, died July 28, 2024. He established and served as president of the Alexander Eastman Foundation. He was a selectman in 1984 and president of the Town Council in 1986. Roger Wheeler Sanborn, 76, of Boscawen, died Aug. 8, 2024. He served Boscawen as a member of the zoning board, agriculture committee, Old Home Day, 1913 Library Committee, Boscawen Bicentennial Committee, Community Gardens, and as a longtime selectman.
James E. Coffey Jr., 85, of New Ipswich, died Dec. 18, 2024. He was a New Ipswich selectman for 22 years. He served on the board of assessors and planning board, and was a trustee of the New Ipswich Trust Fund. Robert Douglas Steele, 84, of Dover, died Oct. 6, 2024. He was Dover City Manager from 1978 to 1985 and also served on the board of trustees for Wentworth Douglas Hospital.
Peter William Zavorotny, 80, of Keene, died Sept. 28, 2024. He served on the Hinsdale Budget Committee for 47 years. Real R. Pinard, 94, of Manchester, died Aug. 26, 2024. He was a longtime Manchester alderman representing Ward 8. Thomas Harvey Johnson Jr., 90, of Contoocook, died Aug. 7, 2024. He was a Hopkinton selectman from 1966 to 1980 and was elected town clerk in 1981, serving for 18 years.
EDUCATION
Lucille Jordan, 75, of Jaffrey, who served as president of Nashua Community College for more than 27 years, died Dec. 17, 2024. She served on many education and community boards including as vice chair of Greater Nashua United Way, chair of Greater Nashua United Way Youth Venture Partnership, chair of New England Advisory Council of College Board, and as chair of New England Community College Council. She also served on the New Hampshire College and University Council, board of N.H. Scholars, executive board and immediate past board chair of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce and 10 years on the N.H. Postsecondary Commission. She was also a board member of N.H. Women’s Leadership Institute.
Alsoleaving us this past year was Mary Duranty Lyster, 92, of Exeter, who died Dec. 31, 2023. She was as an English teacher at Exeter Junior High School, then reading coordinator at Rollinsford Grade School, and becoming principal at Newfields Elementary and the following year doubled as the Swasey Central School principal.
Dorothea Hooper, 91, of Dover, died Jan. 8, 2024. She was an adjunct instructor at Franklin Pierce, New England, and New Hampshire colleges. She retired from Southern New Hampshire University, where she taught history, geography, government, politics, humanities, and western civilization. She served eight years on the Dover School Board, six years on the Dover City Council, and four years as a state representative.
Donald Patrick Wharton, 80, of Landaff, died Jan. 3, 2024. He was a professor of English and library director and then president of Plymouth State University from 1993 until he retired in 2006.
James N. Tamposi, 104, of Nashua, died Jan. 6, 2024. He was an aviation pioneer, founder of Daniel Webster College, and with friends Warren Rudman and Harry Sheffield founded New England Aeronautical Institute in 1965, later becoming Daniel Webster College. Max C. Culpepper Jr., 87, of Hanover, who died Feb. 7, 2024, was director of bands at Dartmouth College prior to his retirement in 2009 after 25 years.
Lucille Laflamme, 88, of Bedford, who died April 22, 2024, was a professor at St. Anselm College in the Modern Language and Literature department. Timothy David O’Connell, 80, of Fitzwilliam and formerly of Milford, died April 18, 2024. He taught biology at Milford High School, where he was science department chairman. He was a state representative from 1998-2008 and vice chair of the Environment & Agriculture Committee. Donald Palmer, 80, of Bridgewater, died April 21, 2024. He was a vocational director at Milford A.R.E.A High School, ConVal High School, and Plymouth Regional High School.
Ruth Ann Cullinane, 83, of Somersworth, who died May 2, 2024, started a speech and language program in the Dover Public Schools in 1986 and had a private practice providing rehabilitation services. She served on the Somersworth School Board for 12 years and was elected for two terms on the UNH Alumni Board, serving as vice-president and fundraising chairman.
Ann Garland West, 92, of Contoocook, who died May 11, 2024, taught at Pinkerton Academy in Derry for 56 years and directed the Pinkerton Players, retiring in 2015. Robert P. Kerrigan, 80, of Manchester, died May 19, 2024. He had a 35-year career as a physical education teacher at West High School in Manchester and was head coach for 26 seasons of West High baseball.
JoAnn O’Shaughnessy, 75, of Hampton, who died May 28, 2024, started her career as a home economics teacher at West High School in Manchester, then in 1975 she and her husband started A Little Folks School House in Manchester, operating it for more than 30 years, selling in 2008. In 2011, she opened another childcare center, the Manchester Child Development Center, which she and her husband operated for eight years.
Timothy Knox wasthe 17th head of school of Kimball Union Academy in Meriden. He died May 24, 2024, and had served from 1989 to 2003 at the private boarding school.
Thomas James Monahan, 88, of Whitefield, who died May 29, 2024, taught math at Groveton Elementary School, becoming the school’s principal in 1971 and retiring in 1996. Herbert Roderick Otto, 93, of Plymouth, died May 29, 2024. For 26 years he served off and on as the chair of the Philosophy Department at Plymouth State College. Robert Edward Raiche Sr., 87, of Manchester, died June 9, 2024. He was a member of the political science faculty, then dean of admissions at Nathaniel Hawthorne College in Antrim. He served for eight years as a state representative from Manchester and was House Minority Leader in 1968. He was a Democratic candidate for governor in 1972.
Sherie Rae (Harmon) Dinger, 78, of Somersworth, died June 14, 2024. She was a high school math teacher and tutor in algebra and trigonometry as well as an independent contractor for teaching in businesses. She was appointed to a vacancy on the school board for two years, then elected for six years, serving as chairperson; served on the Recreation Advisory Board for three years; was an elected Ward 1 City Councilor for eight years; appointed to the planning board for two years; appointed to an at-large city council seat for one year; and elected an at-large councilor for eight more years, including one term as acting mayor.
Edward William Daniels, 71, of Salisbury, died June 28, 2024. For more than three decades, he was a librarian at the Southern New Hampshire University’s (formerly New Hampshire College) Shapiro Library in Manchester. He was a full professor and managed the SNHU Online Student Library Services program. Wayne I. Elliot, 95, of North Hampton, died June 30, 2024. He was an English teacher for 25 years at North Hampton Elementary School, serving also as an administrator for 19 of those years.
Stanley R. Swier, 77, of Barrington, died Aug. 5, 2024. He taught math and science at Hancock Central School and was a Cooperative Extension entomologist at UNH from 1978 until his retirement in 2011. He was treasurer and a founding member of the Barrington Food Pantry and town moderator of Barrington for 33 years, until 2018, when he was named Barrington Citizen of the Year. Dwayne Wrightsman, 87, of Lee, UNH Professor Emeritus of Finance, died Aug. 14, 2024. He taught finance and banking at the Whittemore School of Business at the University of New Hampshire for 29 years and wrote several textbooks in his field.
Mary Louise (Neveu) Neuman, Ph.D., 81, of Hopkinton, died Aug. 26, 2024. She was a biochemist who published numerous books and articles on school reform, math and science education and gifted students. Roger H. Soderberg, 88, of Hanover, died Aug. 25, 2024. He was a professor in the chemistry department at Dartmouth College, where he taught from 1962 until his retirement. Barry Scherr, 79, of Norwich, Vt., a longtime professor at Dartmouth College, died Sept. 12, 2024. He joined the Dartmouth faculty in 1974, serving in the Russian Department, then during his 38 years at Dartmouth in several administrative positions, including associate dean for humanities and, for eight years, provost.
Walter Leo Zimmermann, 82, of Manchester, died Sept. 14, 2024. He worked at Southern New Hampshire University (formerly New Hampshire College) for more than 40 years, first as registrar and then as a full- time professor of psychology. Sherman Arthur Lovering, 99, of Keene, died Oct. 6, 2024. He taught at Keene State College for 32 years and helped create the special education department and several other departments.
Allen John Dietrich, 77, of Hanover, who died Oct. 18, 2024, began a long career at Dartmouth Medical School in 1982, combining medical student education, research, and primary care. David A. Forest, 82, of Contoocook, died Nov. 4, 2024. He was associate professor emeritus at the University of New Hampshire and served in the engineering technology program at the Manchester campus and at the Durham campus for a total of 35 years.
LAW
Clyde Richard Wendell Garrigan, 70, of Concord, died April 21, 2024. He was a prosecutor in Boston and also worked for the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office and the N.H. Attorney General’s Office before spending 20 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire.
Bruce R. Jasper, 80, of Croydon, died Dec. 21, 2023. He was an attorney who practiced law in Newport since 1973, as a partner in the law firm of Elliott, Jasper, Shklar, Ranson & Beaulac, LLP, where he worked for 50 years. He was moderator for the Croydon town and school district and also served on the Croydon Zoning Board of Adjustment, and other boards and committees. Edward D. Bureau II, 93, of Nashua and formerly of Derry, died Feb. 3, 2024. He was a lawyer in practice with Judge George Grinnell in Derry. He became a partner in the firm of Grinnell & Bureau. He practiced law for more than 50 years into his 80s.
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.
Lawrence F. Warhall, 87, of Londonderry, died March 14, 2024. He was a part-time judge in Derry District Court starting in 1981, then became the full-time judge of Derry District Court from 1988 to 2004. Thomas Turley Barry, 76, of Concord, died Aug. 15, 2024. He was in private practice and was nominated by former Gov. Stephen E. Merrill to a part-time seat on the New Hampshire Circuit Court, where he served as a judge for 21 years.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Kay Gertrude (Davidson) Anderson, 75, of Francestown, died May 22, 2024. She was a nurse who left nursing to pursue a career in law enforcement, first as a Special Agent with the FBI investigating organized crime and later with the U.S. Department of Labor as a federal labor racketeering investigator in Philadelphia.
James H. Stewart, 79, of Manchester, a member of the Manchester Police Department for 26 years, died March 17, 2024. He retired as deputy chief in 2002. Mark L. Driscoll, 76, ofWells Beach, Maine, died Oct. 16, 2024. He began a 31-year career with the Manchester Police Department in 1972 and retired as police chief in 1996.
Norman M. Bower, 88, of Kingston, died April 13, 2024. Apart from an impressive career in the U.S. Navy as a submariner, he was deputy chief of the Kingston Police Department and concluded his 20-year law enforcement career as the police chief of Newton, serving for eight years.
Douglas K. Fish, 82, of Jaffrey, who died May 28, 2024, was a police officer for the Keene Police Department, rising through the ranks as detective, lieutenant and captain. He also worked for the Cheshire County Sheriff’s office where he served as a detective and later sheriff andalso served as a N.H. state representative.
Levi D. Frye, 30, of Stark, who died Oct. 2, 2024, was well-known to viewers of Animal Planet’s “North Woods Law.” He was a conservation officer for N.H. Fish & Game since 2018.
MILITARY
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Russell T. Ober III, 85, of Hudson, died June 10, 2024. He spent 23 years in the U.S. Air Force in SAC and TAC before transitioning to USAFE at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. During the Vietnam War, he flew nearly 600 combat hours as a Wild Weasel. He was a state representative for nine terms and was a member of the Ways and Means Committee.
William E. Leber, 91, of Andover, died Sept. 1, 2024. He served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired with the rank of major. He was deputy director of the N.H. Aeronautics Commission for 20 years, retiring in 1994. He served four terms as a N.H. state legislator beginning in 1996. Kenneth L. Carr, 92, of Durham, died Feb. 16, 2024. He was an internationally recognized microwave pioneer who developed a switch for a U.S. spy plane to photograph Soviet missile sites during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
And a military veteran who was not to be forgotten, Stephen Kolesnik Jr., 97, of Nashua, who died Dec. 1, 2024, without any family, had a funeral at the state Veterans Cemetery attended by hundreds of people who didn’t know him. A hospice nurse shared his story on Facebook, and many turned out. 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.
SPORTS
Russell J. McCurdy Jr., 84, of Lee, died June 7, 2024. He was an all-state hockey player and played for Boston University and the U.S. National Team from 1962-63. He began his collegiate coaching career at Yale University in 1973 and became head women’s hockey coach at UNH in 1977. Over 15 seasons, he amassed a career record of 264-36-10 and won eight conference championships. In 1992, he coached the U.S. National team at the world championships in Finland, taking home the silver medal. He also coached the UNH women’s tennis team for many years.
Lee A. Hansche, 46, of Allenstown, a well-known rock climber and a long-time employee of Vertical Dreams in Manchester, died May 21, 2024, in an accident at his job. Sarah “Sally” G. Fish, 86, of Wolfeboro, who died Sept. 27, 2024, was an accomplished golfer who won multiple club and tournament champion and had 13 holes-in-one.
Greg Landry, 77, of Detroit, Mich., and described as one of Nashua’s finest athletes, died Oct. 4, 2024. He was a standout football player at UMass who went on to become a Detroit Lions quarterback and assistant coach. He was selected by the Lions as the 11th pick in the 1968 NFL draft and spent 14 years in the NFL with the Lions and the Baltimore Colts from 1968 to 1981. He then spent two seasons in the USFL before returning to the NFL to play one game for the Chicago Bears.
Frank S. Ulcickas, 81, of Nashua, died Oct. 3, 2024. A standout Nashua High School football, basketball and baseball player, he helped bring the Holiday Basketball Festival Tournament to Nashua and served on the NHIAA Executive Council and the N.H. Softball Association Executive Committee. He was a founder of the Friends of Nashua High Athletics and a two-time inductee in the Nashua’s Legends of Holman Hall of Fame.
Albert W. Savage, 95, of Nashua, died Jan. 15, 2024. He helped organize and run many youth sports programs and was named Citizen of the Year for Service in Youth & Community in 1974. He also was the 1981 Citizen of the Year from the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. In 2020 he and the late Marion Savage were inducted into the Nashua Athletic Hall of Fame.
ARTS
Marylou Ashooh Lazos, 66, of Derry, died June 1, 2024. She dedicated more than 40 years of service to the Manchester Historic Association as a volunteer, curator and member of the board of directors.
Yvonne E. Natteau, 98, of North Hampton and a native of France, who died July 5, 2024, was better known as Yvonne Furneaux, starred in several movies, including Peter Cushing’s classic “The Mummy,” Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” and “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
Nancy L. MacKenzie, 89, of Manchester, who died Oct. 18, 2024, was an accomplished painter whose works are in both private and corporate collections nationwide as well as in Europe. Barbara Louise (Farnum) Sylvester, 97, of Portsmouth, died Dec. 20, 2024. She was an artist and art educator in New Hampshire and Southern Maine, and a special retrospective exhibit of her work was held in Portsmouth to celebrate her 80th birthday in 2008.
COMMUNICATIONS
Marty Engstrom, 86, of Fryeburg, Maine, died Jan. 4, 2024. He was better known by television viewers in Maine and New Hampshire as Marty on the Mountain, who would give weather reports in his thick Maine accent ending with a forced smile on the daily WMTW-TV Channel 8 newscasts from atop Mount Washington.
John Barton Kuhns, 77, of Hanover, died Feb. 20, 2024. He was a former publisher of the Valley News in Lebanon and an attorney who worked for the Washington Post. Deborah Ellen Whitney, 54, of Derry, died July 10, 2024. She had a career in television programming and entertainment in Hollywood, working for Creative Artists Agency, then as a personal assistant to actress and singer Barbra Streisand for two years.
Darren Michael Garnick, 56, of Amherst, died Aug. 30, 2024. He was an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, journalist and writer. He worked as a newspaper reporter at small weeklies and dailies and wrote the “Working Stiff” business column for the Boston Herald. Lawrence M. Laughlin, 75, of Concord, died Sept. 30, 2024. He was bureau chief for Northern New England for The Associated Press, based in Concord, supervising AP news operations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont for more than two decades.
Gregory Lee Frizzell, 54, of North Conway, died Oct. 13, 2024. He and his father owned radio stations 93.5 WMWV and 104.5 WVMJ-Magic104. H took over the stations as president and owner in 2010 and added Easy 95.3FM. Mark L. Travis, 67, of Canterbury, died Nov. 2, 2024. He held various positions at the Concord Monitor newspaper, including publisher and also as publisher of its sister publication, the Valley News in Lebanon.
ARCHITECTURE
Robert Scagliotti, 88, of Zephyr Cove, Nev., who died Jan. 15, 2024, was originally from Rochester, N.H., and the son-in-law of Nackey and William Loeb, the former publishers of the New Hampshire Union Leader. He was an architect who started his career at age 25 by designing Holy Rosary Church in Rochester.
Christopher Peele Williams, 77, of Center Harbor, died June 1, 2024. He was a well-known Lakes Region architect who opened his own office in Meredith in 1984. He specialized in historic preservation and sustainable design. In 1985, he helped found Inherit New Hampshire (now the N.H. Preservation Alliance). He also served on several Center Harbor town boards.
BUSINESS
William A. Proskow, 81, of Stratham, died March 28, 2024. He was a microwave engineer for Raytheon and Sanders Associates, who became president of Bank East in Manchester, then moved to the Chicago area and was senior vice president for Northern Trust. John J. “Jake” Fleming Jr., 71, of Hampton, died April 14, 2024. He was described as a “larger-than-life kind of man” and “The Mayor of Hampton Beach.” He operated the Ocean House Hotel at Hampton for more than 40 years and was general manager of the Hampton Beach Casino Complex for many years. He and his wife Maura operated The Purple Urchin restaurant.
Dr. James Borbotsina, 75, of Manchester, who died April 28, 2024, was a dentist who loved to cooks and opened a restaurant called The Way We Cook (later renamed The North End Bistro) in 2003. He relocated his dental practice to the same building as the restaurant to monitor his soups and sauces between patients. John Shaw Terrill, 90, of Concord and formerly of Durham, died Dec. 15, 2024. He was president of the Granite State Savings Bank and subsequently served as chairman of the board and president of that bank and its successors, Southeast Bank and Great Bay Bankshares.
Andrew “Andy” C. Mack, 89, of Londonderry, died Nov. 2, 2024. He was the seventh generation of his family to work the apple orchards that are closely identified with Londonderry. Leon John Davidson, 93, of Atkinson, died Sept. 25, 2024. He remodeled and developed many properties in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, including South Down Shores and Long Bay in Laconia.
Michael David Coughlin, 82, of Canterbury, died Oct. 16, 2024. He was president of The Grist Mill Company in Lakeville, Minn., and after a move to Concord, was general manager of The Concord Monitor for five years. In 1984, he joined Concord Litho Company, and a year later became its president. He was a heart transplant recipient in 2010.
MISCELLANEOUS
Richard McLeod, 77, of Franconia, died Feb. 29, 2024. He was first regional supervisor for N.H. State Parks assisting to develop the Seacoast Science Center. He was director of N.H. State Parks in Concord until his retirement in 2005. Richard L. Duckoff, 89, of Manchester, died March 8, 2024. He was the co-founder and president of New Hampshire Habitat for Humanity, chair of the board of Manchester Neighborhood Housing Services, a board member of The Way Home, a co-founder of the North End Neighborhood Association and a co-director of the Queen City Tenants Association.
Linda (Bisson) Gaskell, 70, of Rochester, died April 23, 2024. She was an accountant at the University of New Hampshire and four-time president of the Rochester Emblem Club. She was named Rochester Citizen of the Year in 2010 and Rochester Elk’s Citizen of the Year in 2013. (Grondin Funeral Home)
Alan E. Heidenreich, 93, of Manchester, who died July 6, 2024, was a member of the American Legion Henry J. Sweeney Post 2, where he served as commander, senior vice commander, chaplain, historian, and member of the executive board. He volunteered in boys and girls scouting, youth sports, including Little League, Babe Ruth, American Legion baseball, Youth Hockey, and swimming. He hosted a live call-in access program on Manchester Community Television for more than 15 years.
Deborah Smith Meigs, 95, of Farmington, Conn, and formerly of Danville, died July 24, 2024. She was librarian of the Danville Town Library for 31 years until her retirement. She was the first certified female firefighter in New Hampshire.
