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.
Robert A. Bush Jr., 83, of Rochester, died May 13, 2024. He spent several years in the elementary education system and more than 20 years teaching elementary education at the N.H. State Prison. He was an active member of the Salvation Army. (R.M. Edgerly & Son)
William Edward Carlson, 92, of North Hampton, died May 13, 2024. After a career working at GE and IBM in New York and New Jersey, he and his wife moved to New Hampshire in 1984 and opened Seacoast Harley-Davidson, first in York, Maine, then relocated to North Hampton. They sold the business in 1990. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home)
Mary Elizabeth (Handley) Connor, 81, of Hudson, died May 13, 2024. She worked at Saint Joseph Hospital in Nashua for 28 years, starting as an emergency room nurse and becoming clinical coordinator of trauma services. She worked at the Manchester VA Medical Center as an advanced registered nurse practitioner for 22 years and retired in 2022 as the chief of urgent care. She was also employed part time for 26 years at the Health Stop in Nashua and at Rivier University, where she was medical director of health services. She was a member of Region II EMS Council and the chairman of the Training Committee for 15 years. She was an EMT instructor for the state and an associate faculty member in the paramedic program at the N.H. Technical Institute and New England EMS at Elliot Hospital. She received the YWCA Distinguished Woman Leader award, the Louis Sleeper Award for contributions to EMS, and the Pamela Mitchell/Richard Connolly EMS Achievement Award. (Dumont-Sullivan Funeral Home)
Timothy M. Davis, 74, of Belmont, died May 11, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a sergeant in the Concord Police Department for 26 years and an officer at the federal courthouse in Concord for 15 years. (Legacy.com)
Richard D. Hansen, 85, of North Conway, died May 11, 2024. He was a school bus driver for 18 years with the Bartlett School District. He was a volunteer for the Conway Fire Department for 17 years and another 23 years on the North Conway Fire Department, retiring as captain. He was a member of the Elmwood Grange 314 and was a past master of White Mt. Pomona Grange and N.H. State Grange. He served on the Conway Kennett Alumni Association Board for 30 years, the last 20 years as president. He served as a grand marshal at the school’s 100th anniversary. (Furber Funeral Home)
Anne (Leonard) Hostage, 94, of Nashua, died May 10, 2024. She was an English teacher at Nashua High School and the new Nashua High School South until her retirement in 1992. She was a founding member of RISE at Rivier University, active in state and local organizations for retired educators and a member of the League of Women Voters. (Farwell Funeral Service)
Ronald James Howard, 85, of Farmington, died May 8, 2024. A veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves, he coached boys and girls in basketball, baseball and softball through the Farmington 500 Boys and Girls Club and other youth organizations. In 1984 he organized the first basketball tournament at the junior high level for Farmington and surrounding towns, which has continued annually and is now known as the Ron Howard Junior High Basketball Tournament. In 2006 he was inducted into the Farmington Sports Hall of Fame. After retirement, he was a bailiff for the Strafford County Superior Court for 17 years. (Peaslee Funeral Home)
Joan K. Leggett, 84, of Concord, died May 6, 2024. She volunteered as a family mediator with New Hampshire Mediation and was active in the Canterbury United Community Church, the Canterbury Fair, and the Ladies Benevolent Society. She will be remembered for restoring the Canterbury one-room schoolhouse. She received a national award in 2012 from the Country School Association of America. (Bennett Funeral Home)
Richard William Babcock Nevell, 76, of Hancock, died May 12, 2024. He was a photographer, author, filmmaker, musician and songwriter who received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to co-produce two films with Robert Fiore: “Country Corners” and “Full of Life A-Dancin’,” which was based on his book, “A Time to Dance: American Country Dancing from Hornpipes to Hot Hash,” first published in 1977 and then again in 2017. His folk music album Snooze was released in 1981. Two of his songs, “Rachel’s Song” and “Woodland Dream,” were recorded by other folk musicians, and “Woodland Dream” was performed at the 1999 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. He was a mainstay at The Folkway in Peterborough for many years, playing music and booking artists. (Jellison Funeral Home)
Donald Pascoe Paulsen, 97, of Wilmot, died May 10, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, he worked in his father’s architectural firm, Paulsen Rivardo Paulsen Architects of Jersey City, N.J., eventually running the firm as Paulsen Associates until his retirement. He and his wife Janet moved to Wilmot and served for more than 17 years as volunteers at the New London Hospital. They also drove for the Council on Aging in New London. (Legacy.com)
Nancy Jane Pease, 86, of Merrimack, died May 15, 2024. She taught several elementary grades and in 1970 began her 30-plus year career as a reading specialist at New Searles Elementary School in Nashua. She served as chair for the evaluation team of the New England Association of Schools and chair of the staffing team for four years, as well as a participant in the Governor’s Institute on Gifted Education. She taught graduate reading courses at Keene State College and served as the director of the Title 1 Summer Reading Program for the Nashua School Department in 1974. (Legacy.com)
Lyra (Shusterman) (Bentsman) Riabov, 84, of Bedford, died May 12, 2024. A native of Russia, she was a long-time professor at Southern New Hampshire University where she collaborated on founding the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program. (Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, Brookline, Mass.)
Frank W. Szabo, 80, of Newmarket, died May 12, 2024. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service for many years as a letter carrier in Exeter. He also worked as a paraprofessional at Newmarket High School for nine years. He coached Little League and baseball and basketball at Newmarket High School for more than 30 years. (Kent & Pelczar Funeral Home & Crematory)
Sister Janice Turner, of Windham, a Sister of Mercy for 66 years, died May 10, 2024. She was a grammar school teacher for several years and spent many years teaching high school math at Trinity High School in Manchester and Bishop Brady in Concord. She was a discharge planner at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass., a director of social work at Suburban Manor in Acton, Mass., and administrator at the Warde Senior Living in Windham. She spoke on aging topics and wrote articles on the gift of aging, worked with women inmates in the N.H. State Prison, and taught English in the Mercy Immigration Project in Manchester. (Douglas and Johnson Funeral Home)
Ann Garland West, 92, of Contoocook, died May 11, 2024. She taught at Pinkerton Academy for 56 years and directed the Pinkerton Players. She also advised the participants of Granite Girls’ State. She began her teaching career at Berlin High School in 1956, then taught English at Nashua Junior High. In 1959, she was hired at Pinkerton Academy and retired in 2015. She served as longtime English Department chair and founder/director of the Pinkerton Players. She was an active member of NEATE and NHCTE, both organizations for the support and betterment of English teachers. She judged applications for the Miss New Hampshire academic scholarship. At Pinkerton Academy, she was named Teacher of the Year and was inducted into the Hall of Fame. She was named an honorary alumna and honored with the Trustees’ Meritorious Service Award. A wing of the arts building was named for her. (Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium)
WORDS OF WISDOM: “Cherish your yesterdays, dream your tomorrows and live your todays.” – Anonymous