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.
Raymond E. Bailey Sr., 89, of Bristol, died July 4, 2026. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he joined the New Hampshire State Police in 1963. He soon took over the central New Hampshire patrol. He served in the State Police Canine Unit for several years before his retirement in 1983. In post-retirement, he was a property caretaker in Bridgewater for more than 25 years. (McHugh Funeral Home)
Carla Anne (Hallin) Bickford, 85, of Alton, died July 9, 2026. She trained as a physical therapist and worked at Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro. She rose to become department head of therapies, and then became department chair at Frisbie Memorial Hospital for many years until her retirement. She served All Saints Church in Wolfeboro on the Altar Guild, the Vestry, and numerous other functions, including chairing the book department of the church’s annual summer fair. (Peaslee Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Edward L. Costa Jr., 74, of Milford, died July 14, 2026. He served in the Army National Guard and worked in corporate roles at Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard. He served in a ministry for the incarcerated through Kairos Prison Ministry, providing spiritual guidance at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord for more than 25 years. He was ordained in 2018 and became a chaplain at New Hampshire State Hospital and later St. Joseph’s Hospital. (Smith & Heald Funeral Home)
Kenneth Thomas “Tom” Decoster, 85, of Stratham, died July 12, 2026. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was a jet aircraft mechanic for 14 years. He then became a financial planner in 1983 and earned his Certified Financial Planner accreditation in 1986. He was member of the International Association of Financial Planners, the N.H. Estate Planning Council, and the N.H. Employee Benefits Council. At age 71 he wrote “Creating the Good Life—A Practical Guide to Personal and Financial Happiness,” a self-help book He was president of both the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited. (Jellison Funeral Home)
Robert J. Desrochers, 82, of Bedford, died July 9, 2026. He was a veteran of the U. S. Navy and was a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America for 53 years. He was most recently troop committeeman for Troop 135 in Manchester. He also held positions with the Catholic War Veterans for more than 25 years and helped create the Catholic War Veterans Memorial Monument at the New Hampshire State Veterans cemetery in Boscawen. He was a lifetime member of the American Legion Henry J. Sweeney, Post 2 in Manchester and a longtime member of the Lions International and Pinardville Lions Club. He worked for Wonder Bread, Cott Beverages and Anheuser-Busch. (J.N. Boufford & Sons Funeral Home)
Dr. David R. Eiler, 63, of Hanover, died June 28, 2026. He started in financial engineering at The MathWorks, then worked for BankBoston Global Capital Markets and Entergy-Koch Trading in Houston. He made a career change and earned his M.D. degree. He joined the psychiatry department at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, directing both the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Service and the IN-Esketamine Service. (Rand-Wilson Funeral Home)
Sikt Grote, 81, of Nashua, NH, died July 1, 2026. She was a master electrician and ran her own electrical services company. She completed courses in computer networking and received her MBA in finance at UNH, then becoming the chief financial officer of several nonprofit organizations. She played the violin, several guitars, keyboards and the banjo. She was on the board of the Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover for many years. (Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services)
William G. Hasbrouck, 90, of Gilsum, died July 12, 2026. He operated a plumbing and heating business, Hasbrouck Associates, until he retired in 2000. He was also the owner and operator of Hasbrouck Apartments in Rindge. He was a Gilsum selectman and served many years on the budget committee for the Monadnock School District. (Cheshire Family Funeral Home)
Dudley Laufman, 95, of Canterbury, died July 13, 2026. He was an influential musician and caller and an integral part of the contra and folk dance communities of the Northeast. He was a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow, and he called his first contra dance in New Hampshire in 1948. He started his own group, Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, and traveled throughout the Northeast performing and teaching these historic dances, including at Canterbury Shaker Village. During the 1970s, the orchestra made a number of recordings, and he averaged 300 or more engagements each year. He performed and gave workshops with his partner Jacqueline as the duo Two Fiddles. (Canterbury Shaker Village)
The Rev. Barbara L. Palmer, 69, of Bethlehem, died July 14, 2026. She and her family moved to Bethlehem in 1991 to start a new church, and she founded a Christian school for grades K-12 in 1998. She and her husband Steven served together in ordained ministry for the past 40 years. She co-pastored the church and was the principal of the school for 28 years. (Ross Funeral Home)
Paulina “Polly” (Hackett) Robinson, 86, of Amherst, died July 10, 2026. She taught fourth and fifth grades in the Amherst School District for more than 30 years. She was also the director of the Periwinkle Club, a summer youth program, run by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, in Woods Hole, Mass. She also served as president of her local AEA Teachers Union. (Legacy.com)
Judith Lea (Clifford) Williams, 71, of Gilmanton, died July 12, 2026. She worked with the Northfield Police Department and the Tilton/Northfield Fire & Rescue, where she became the first female firefighter/ EMT. She rose to the rank of lieutenant and achieved EMT-II certification. She later worked 24 years at the Gilmanton School, retiring in 2021. She also maintained Crystal Lake Park in Gilmanton. She was a volunteer with the Gilmanton PTA and the Gilmanton Youth Organization. She coached youth baseball and basketball and later was a head coach for 7th and 8th grade girls’ basketball. (Smart Memorial Home)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Henry James, American-British author, April 15, 1843, to Feb. 28, 1916