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.
Jenny Marie Lynch, 46, of Manchester, died Jan. 9, 2025. Her career as an educator and eventually an administrator touched schools in Hopkinton, Manchester, Weare, and Brookline. Her most recent role was as principal at Webster Elementary School in Manchester. She was hired in 2019 as assistant principal at Green Acres Elementary School and promoted to Webster in 2022. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)
Suzanne G. (Beaulieu) Amato, 81, of Hollis, diedJan. 4, 2025. She and her husband Louie established Amato’s Home for the Elderly and ran it for 30 years, providing care with home-cooked meals for their residents, She was one of the founding members of New Hampshire Association of Residential Care Homes (NHARCH). (Legacy.com)
Sandra F. Barnes, 92, of Manchester, died Jan. 5, 2025. She was active in the Moultonborough United Methodist Church, Friends for Moultonborough Library, Moultonborough Historical Society, and resident council for Riverwoods Retirement Community in Manchester. She once worked at WWLP-TV in Springfield, Mass., and was a library technician for the West Hartford (Conn.) Public Library for 12 years. (Lambert Funeral Home)
Janelle Bordeleau, 69, of Bedford, died Jan. 6, 2025. She lived a life filled with music. She studied piano with her father at age 8, and at age 14 she played the organ at St. Jeremiah Church. She attended New England Conservatory and graduated from Berklee College of Music. She was church organist at Brookside Congregational Church, Salem Congregational Church, St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Goffstown, Temple Adath Yeshurun, and Hooksett Congregational Church, retiring in August. She taught piano and keyboard and was the music director for the Regional Idol Scholarship Competition from 2012-2020. She was accompanist for the Trinity High School Choir last year. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)
Richard Lee Boynton, 80, of Northfield, died Jan. 6, 2025. He was a Baptist minister and founded Harvest Christian Church in Concord with his wife in 1977. He was a teacher assistant with the Tobey School. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Marcia Walsh Colligan, 93, of Hanover, died Jan. 7, 2025. In 1988, after a U.S. Supreme Court decision, she was one of the first three women inducted into the all-male Hanover Rotary Club and told a reporter, “I broke the sound barrier.” She was president emeritus and co-founder of the nonprofit Classicopia Chamber Music organization, hosting 82 musicians in 95 different venues performing 915 concerts. She worked for Dartmouth College for 28 years in the Administrative Services Office specializing in risk and liability insurance management. She served on the Hanover Finance Committee, Vermont Symphony Orchestra regional board of trustees, and Mary Hitchcock Assembly of Overseers, later named Partners for Community Wellness. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
Barbara Anne Brown Doiron, 83, of Goffstown, died Jan. 4, 2025. She taught fourth grade at Mastricola Elementary School and was secretary and director at large for the Medville Co-op in Goffstown. (French and Rising Funeral Home)
John Fabrycky, 83, of Lempster, died Jan. 5, 2025. He was a helicopter mechanic in the U.S. Army and served on several committees including the NH/VT Solid Waste Committee, Lempster School Board and Planning Board, and as representative to the VNA Board. He helped create the Duck Pond Nature Trail in 1984. He was a printer by trade. (Stringer Funeral Home)
Richard James Fraser, 80, of Laconia, died Jan. 4, 2025. He taught industrial arts at Fall Mountain Regional High School and after relocating to Meredith, taught at the Huot Technical Center in Laconia before starting R.J. Fraser & Sons. He built and remodeled homes across the Lakes Region. He returned to the classroom as a building trades instructor at the Manchester School of Technology, retiring in 2010. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Marlene Gazda-Hamel, 77, of Durham, died Jan. 7, 2025. She was a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) director for the N.H. Society of CPAs and in 1983 became its first chief executive officer. She retired in 2016 after 33 years. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
Mark E. Hutchinson, 77, of Bedford, diedJan. 2, 2025. He was a sales executive in the semiconductor industry who loved to close deals on the golf course. He began his second career at age 55 with Sullivan Tire, starting as a retail salesman and progressing to the development team. (Lambert Funeral Home)
Douglas C. MacKenzie, 88, of Manchester, died Jan. 7, 2025. He was a standout lacrosse player in college and was inducted into the UNH Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and worked in the family business, MacKenzie Motors in Manchester, until starting a second career at The Derryfield School, where he was a teacher, athletic director, lacrosse coach, assistant coach, and substitute teacher. He was a board member of the YMCA, Boys Club of Manchester, and the N.H. Automobile Dealers Association. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)
Linda (Fusco) Perron, 70, of Hudson, died Jan. 6, 2025. She served with the ELKS Lodge in Salem, where she was the Exalted Ruler, P.E.R. (Dumont-Sullivan Funeral Home)
James Proctor, 72, of Enfield, died Jan. 5, 2025. He was the long-time owner of Proctor’s General Store in Enfield Center, running the business for more than four decades. Nicknamed “The Mayor,” he took over the store from his parents in 1976. He was a competitive bicycle racer and thrived on challenges from the Pike’s Peak hill climb to national championships. (Ricker Funeral Home)
John Robert Scoggins, 84, of Brookline, died Jan. 5, 2025. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 21 years and retired at the rank of senior master sergeant. He and his wife Anne were Mission Service Corp Coordinators and served the Baptist Convention of New England Disaster Relief Program for more than 20 years. They helped many people devastated by disaster including those affected by 911, Hurricane Katrina and other disasters. They were honored with the Northeast Impact Soldier Award, and John was awarded the 2025 Robert E. Dixon Disaster Relief Award through the North American Mission Board. He worked for BAE Systems for 20 years. (Farwell Funeral Service)
Laurence Charles Szetela, 75, of Nashua, died Jan. 7, 2025. He was a certified public accountant and established his own business in 1996, providing his accounting skills for 25 years. He was a member of the board of directors and treasurer for Big Brother Big Sisters, board president for three years for Nashua Youth Council and member of the planning board at the Nashua Senior Center. (Rochette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)
Virginia “Cookie” Wilson, 76, of Henniker, died Jan. 2, 2025. She owned Rocking Horse Nursery School in Windham and later worked as a school bus driver and teacher’s aide in Henniker. (Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home and Cremation Services)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It’s a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.” – Jimmy Carter, 39th American President, Oct. 1, 1924, to Dec. 29, 2024
