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.
Henry Charles Bird, 89, of Laconia, died July 15, 2026. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and joined the N.H. State Police in 1963, assigned to Troop F in Twin Mountain. He was chosen to be one of the first K-9 handlers in the state and also served on the security detail for Gov. Meldrim Thomson. He was director of Police Standards and Training. He was then chief of security at Plymouth State College for 13 years. He was a Plymouth selectman from 1983 to 1989. (Legacy.com)
Clifford Arthur “Doc” Chapin, M.D., 68, of Columbia, died July 14, 2026. He studied animal science at Cornell University and Iowa State, then worked for Holstein in Vermont and taught science at a Vermont high school. He earned a master’s degree in dairy nutrition and then decided to enroll in medical school at age 35. He spent nearly three decades practicing internal and emergency medicine in Minnesota, Oregon, Alaska, South Dakota, and New Hampshire. He and friend Scott DeBlois founded Blue Mountain Dairy in Columbia. (Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home)
Christopher Ryan Davidson, 50, of Newmarket, died July 20, 2026. He was a standout player for the men’s ice hockey team at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont and was part of the 1999 team to win the NCAA Division II National Championship. He played in the Southern Professional Hockey League and was Saint Michael’s assistant coach and then head coach. At Vermont Academy, he was the varsity boy’s hockey coach and dean of residential life, then athletic director. He became general manager of the Seacoast Spartans and director of the Seacoast Academy. (Stockbridge Funeral Home)
Doris Ann (Cocchiaro) Dumond, 75, of Bristol, died July 17, 2026. Her 50-year career included serving abused children, persons with mental illness and substance abuse issues, rape and sexual assault victims, homeless individuals and families, troubled adolescents and adult learners at Baldpate Hospital Health Care, Lazarus House, Harbor Homes, Alvirne High School and Franklin Pierce College from 1975 through 1996. She and her husband researched and wrote about prisoner sexual violence and advanced the Prison Rape Elimination Act, co-authoring more than 15 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She was a governor’s appointee for 25 years to the N.H. Department of Corrections Citizens Advisory Board for the N.H. State Prison in Concord. (Mayhew Funeral Home)
Cynthia Olita Eledu, 81, of Nashua, died July 14, 2026. She was a native of Brighton, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, lived in Aruba and studied nursing in the Netherlands. She was a midwife in London and would ride her bicycle to deliver babies at all hours. She and her husband lived in Nigeria, where she was a professor at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. She was a country program director for the World Health Organization, focusing on HIV/AIDS. She later worked with UNAIDS which focused on HIV Education and AIDs Prevention and Cure. (Rivet Funeral Home)
Barbara Brennan Fahey, 79, of Holderness, died July 20, 2026. In 1977, she became the first woman to earn an MBA at Plymouth State College, graduating weeks before giving birth to her daughter. She was college bursar and then comptroller at Plymouth State. She volunteered for nonprofit organizations including Keep the Heat On, Bridge House, Trinity Cemetery, and others. (Dupuis Funeral Home)
Deane B. Geddes, 79, of Newbury, died July 15, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran, he was past Master Councilor and Chevalier of Osamequin Demolay Chapter in Brockton, Mass. He worked in laser technology sales and in a second career was a Realtor at Coldwell Banker Lifestyles in New London. He served on the Newbury Planning Board, cemetery committee, and conservation commission. He was active in the Newbury Historical Society. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)
David J. Hickey, 87, of Loudon, died July 17, 2026. He served in the N.H. Army National Guard from 1966 to 1969. He spent the majority of his career with PSNH and was president of the N.H. Chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He was instrumental in the development of the Bow Athletic Club and served on numerous boards and committees in Bow. (Connor-Healy Funeral Home and Cremation Center)
Julia A. “Judy” Jeffrey, 92, of Northwood, died July 17, 2026. She was president and co-owner of Northwood Oil Co., her family’s business. She was a Sunday School teacher at Freewill Baptist Church in Northwood, worked as a switchboard operator at Concord Hospital, office manager of a local doctor’s offices, and was an integral part of the family’s mink farm. (Purdy Memorial Chapel)
Sandra (Gaudenzi) Montrone, 84, of Hampton Falls, died July 17, 2026. She attended Keystone College and was on the college board of the Globe Store in downtown Scranton, Pa. She was awarded a Keystonian of the Year award. At Keystone and Marywood University, where she was in the Class of 1963, she led alumni engagement, guided capital campaigns, championed campus ministry, established the Jerome F. Gaudenzi Scholarship, and helped make possible the Marian Chapel at Marywood. She and her husband Paul, the former CEO of Fisher Scientific, were awarded Marywood’s presidential award in 2013. She supported Paul while he was president of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and she was a member of the Kennedy Center’s board in Washington. Early in her career, she was an elementary school teacher. She also served as president of Seacoast Hospice. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory)
Robert Joseph Normandeau, 88, of York Beach, Maine, and formerly of Hooksett, died July 8, 2026. He served four years in the U.S. Navy on active duty and 24 years in the Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of commander. He was a human relations and personnel executive for Honeywell and General Electric. He then owned Wageman Insurance, an independent insurance agency founded by his father-in law. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club and helped establish the Hooksett Police Commission, serving as a commissioner. (Lucas & Eaton Funeral Home)
Monyean Claire Scott, 82, of Sanbornton, died June 20, 2026. She was a teacher in the Laconia Public School District for more than 35 years at both Pleasant Street and Woodland Heights Elementary. She also taught adult education GED courses and tutored English as a Second Language through Pemi-Baker Literacy. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Siobhan Senier, 61, of Epping, died July 16, 2026. She was a professor at UNH for 25 years and in retirement devoted herself full-time to climate justice, serving as executive director of 350 New Hampshire. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and focused on the literature of New England indigenous peoples. She created an anthology of writings from 12 New England tribal nations, titled “Dawnland Voices.” She played the piano, the flute, the penny whistle, the fiddle, and the banjo. She learned the trombone and played with the Leftist Marching Band of Portsmouth and the School of Honk in Somerville, Mass. (Legacy.com)
Barbara Louise Spear, 100, of Fayetteville, N.C., and formerly of Farmington, died July 17, 2026. She taught in the Farmington School System and was a member of the N.H. State Legislature and made history as the first woman elected as selectman for the Town of Farmington. (Peaslee Funeral Home)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, president of South Africa, July 18, 1918, to Dec. 5, 2013