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.

Francis Joseph Budelman, 90, of Brentwood, died Jan. 31, 2025. He was a member of the New York Army National Guard and later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Using his knowledge of the Russian language, he intercepted radio communications from the Soviets during the Cold War. He spoke around the country as assistant executive director of the North American Telecommunications Association (NATA). He acted and was a member of the Screen Actors Guild. He spoke of working with Betty White and spoke Russian with Boston Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara. In his 80s, he wrote three children’s books and taught himself how to illustrate them. He also wrote his autobiography, “A Boy Called Skippy,” which is available at Lulu.com. (Stockbridge Funeral Home)

Sister Alice Cassidy (Elizabeth), 81, of Windham, a Sister of Mercy for 62 years, died Jan. 29, 2025. She taught at St. Joseph Schools in Hooksett and Manchester, St. John School in Laconia, St. Patrick Schools in Berlin and Pelham, St. Augustine School in Manchester, and was missioned as a teacher in Walterboro, S.C. She was as a licensed social worker and group psychotherapist who served as a coordinator of Good Beginnings with Catholic Charities, Manchester, therapist with the Mental Health Center of Manchester, coordinator/director of elder services with the Community Council of Mental Health Services of Nashua from 1997-2015, and as psychotherapist of elder services at Greater Nashua Mental Health Services from 2015 until her retirement in 2019. (Carrier Family Funeral Home)

Carolyn Cox Gargasz, 87, of Hollis, diedJan. 31, 2025. She was a state representative for 18 years, beginning in 2000. She co-founded the S-Team, a community volunteer organization focused on preventing youth substance abuse. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Hollis Circle of Home and Family, and the Hollis Woman’s Club. She also helped establish the Legislative Youth Advisory Council and served as its manager for a decade. She was on the board of the N.H. Office of Volunteerism. (Davis Funeral Home)

Claire Angela (Shallow) Hunter, 89 of Weare, died Jan. 31, 2025. She was school nurse for the Londonderry School System for about 30 years and was a founding member of the Weare Historical Society. She was a member of the board of directors for the South Weare Union Church. (French & Rising Funeral Home)

Kathleen Mary (Little) Jenkins, 67, of Bow, died Jan. 26, 2025. She was a teacher in the Hooksett School District primarily at the Fred C. Underhill School. She coached various sports and was athletic director for the Hooksett School District. (Bennett Funeral Home)

Diane Eastman Jones, 91, of North Hampton, died Feb. 1, 2025. She served 19 years on the North Hampton School Board (five years as the chair) and was instrumental in ensuring and implementing Title 9 (equal sports programs for women). She also served on the town’s Budget Committee, Safety Committee, Ambulance Corps. (as a volunteer EMT), and the Supervisory Union No. 21 Joint School Board. After retiring in 1994, she became a ski EMT and a ski patrol member and in in 1996 qualified for the North American Alpine Masters Championships in Maine. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home & Crematory)

Donald L. LeBrun, 89, of Nashua, died Jan. 30, 2025. He served for 10 years in the N.H. State Legislature and as a Ward 5 alderman. He also served on numerous committees including the Board of Medicine and as vice chairman and chairman of Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs. He was a lifetime member of the Korean War Veterans Association, the VFW, the American Legion Nashua Post 3 and the Elks Post 720. He was past president, lieutenant governor and chaplain of the AHEPA Chapter 35. (Rochette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)

William Theodore Charles Mellekas, 69, of Franconia, died Feb. 2, 2025. He began teaching in 1982 at Carolina Crapo School in Sugar Hill and moved to Franconia, where he worked for more than three decades as a second- and third-grade teacher at the Lafayette Regional School. He was also a justice of the peace and bail commissioner in the Littleton area. He was well known at Polly’s Pancake House as a host. He acted with the Upstage Players and Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield. He volunteered for Meals on Wheels, All Saints Episcopal Church food pantry, and the Franconia food pantry. He was a library trustee at the Abbie Greenleaf library in Franconia and emceed many old home day parades in Franconia. He was this past summer’s grand marshal.  (Legacy.com)

Joseph R. Micucci, 93, of Gorham, died Jan. 31, 2025. He was an entrepreneur who started several businesses. He was a medic in the U.S. Navy and managed the Resichem department for Brown Company. He served as a director on the Home Bank board and was on the board of directors of the Androscoggin Valley Hospital. (Bryant Funeral Homes)

Richard Ewart Moloy, 84, of Pittsfield, died Feb. 3, 2025. He was a pharmacist who owned Green’s Drug Store in Pittsfield and was later employed by Hannaford Brothers in Ossipee until his retirement. (Roan Family Funeral Home – Still Oaks Chapel)

Andrew Mattison Raucci, 43, of North Hampton, died Jan. 29, 2025. He served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a tank platoon commander in Iraq. He worked in the financial service industry as a portfolio manager and eventually left his job at a prominent bank to become an electrician. He started his own union electrical contracting business – Veterans Electric, LLC in 2023. He served on the North Hampton Budget Committee. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home & Crematory)

Emma Louise (Wood) Rous, 80, of Durham, died Feb. 1, 2025. She represented the Durham-Lee-Madbury district in the N.H. State Legislature for eight years, six of which she chaired the Education Committee. She taught English at Oyster River High School for more than 20 years and developed a course called “Literature and the Land,” writing a book of the same title. (J. Verne Wood Funeral Home & Buckminster Chapel)

Leo Harvey Skellchock, 97, of Exeter, died Feb. 3, 2025. A U.S. Navy veteran, he and others in 1973 founded DAKA Inc, a business dedicated to providing food service to museums, corporate campuses, hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and hotels across the country. The company merged in 1988  with the Fuddruckers gourmet hamburger chain and became DAKA International. (Legacy.com)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” ?Robert Frost, four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, March 26, 1874, to Jan. 29, 1963