Notable New Hampshire Deaths: These Men and Women Gave Generously to Their Communities (2024)

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. Clickhereor 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.

Ronald P. Amadon, 92, of Keene, died July 24, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a Keene firefighter for 21 years and retired as the acting deputy fire chief for the department. (Foley Funeral Home)

Dr. Wilbur E. Blackey, 88, of Salem, died July 29, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, he was an orthodontist and a life member of the American Dental Association and the American Association of Orthodontists. He was also a master gardener and volunteered with the Salem Historical Society. He was a deacon and trustee at First Congregational Church. (Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home)

Richard C. Buckley, 94, of Derry, died July 28, 2024. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was the operator of Buckley’s Egg Express in Derry for almost 50 years. He was president of the Alexander Eastman Hospital and was instrumental in establishing Parkland Medical Center. He established and served as president of the Alexander Eastman Foundation. He was a selectman in 1984 and president of the Town Council in 1986. (Peabody Funeral Homes & Crematorium)

Herbert W. Carter, 82, of Manchester, died July 28, 2024. He flew for the U.S mail service from Concord to Boston with Fern’s Flying Service, becoming an airline pilot for more than 35 years, for Northeast Airlines & Trans Caribbean Airlines, then American Airlines. He also owned and managed many properties around the state. (During Bykowski & Young Funeral Home)

Michelle M. Cotnoir, 71, of Concord, died July 25, 2024. She taught French at her Alma Mater, Assumption College, and most recently at Hopkinton High/Middle School for 40 years. In Hopkinton she served as assistant principal, department chair, class advisor, and as a representative of the Hopkinton Education Association. She was a member of the Franco-American Centre and helped reestablish L’Alliance Française. (J.N. Boufford & Sons Funeral Home)

Troy Cromwell, 50, of Concord, died July 19, 2024. Troy was a digital and media artist, disc jockey, and photographer. He served as a sound technician for the Concord Multicultural Festival and at rallies for Black Lives Matter of NH and Reproductive Freedom Fund of NH. He was a keyboard player for local musical groups and staff member of the Capitol Center for the Arts. (Legacy.com)

Richard F. Davis, 86, of Rye, died July 24, 2024. He was a captain in the U.S. Air Force and taught at St. Paul’s School in Concord for 37 years. He created numerous courses, chaired the history department, and coached hundreds of rowers on Turkey Pond, 10 of whom went on to row in the Olympics. He was an overseer of Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, worked with the Rye Historical Society, and volunteered at St. John’s Church, helping found Seacoast Academy, a private middle school now called Heronfield Academy. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home)

Karen Newell Eitel, 80, of Randolph, died July 26, 2024. She was an artist and juried member of the League of N.H. Craftsmen. She exhibited her art and photography at the League stores and in galleries throughout New England. As a writer and photographer, she had a passion for the outdoors. (Bryant Funeral Home)

Deborah Smith Meigs, 95, of Farmington, Conn, and formerly of Danville, died July 24, 2024. She was librarian of the Danville Town Library for 31 years until her retirement. She was the first certified female firefighter in New Hampshire and was secretary and treasurer for the Danville Historical Society, member of the Village Improvement Society, a den mother for Cub Scouts, a ballot clerk for Danville on voting day, and member of the scholarship committee for Timberlane Regional High School. (Brewitt Funeral Home)

Gail B. Harmon Rider, 74, of Concord, died July 30, 2024. She had a 35-year career as an educator who taught elementary and middle school and special education, the majority teaching sixth grade and the afterschool drama program at Merrimack Valley Middle School. (Waters Funeral Home)

Elizabeth A. (Chase) Sanborn, 87, of Candia, died July 26, 2024. She helped organize the first Old Home Day celebration in Candia, assisted at town elections, and serving as a charter member of the Candia Historical Society. She and her husband helped re-organize the 1984 reunion of the Sanborn Family Association, which she served as secretary and archivist. (Brewitt Funeral Home)

Christopher James Stone, 66, of Hooksett, died July 25, 2024. He was a pharmacist who owned and operated Peters Pharmacy in Nashua for more than 20 years. (Dumont-Sullivan Funeral Home)

Daniel F. Sughrue, 91, of Bow, died July 26, 2024. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he was a special agent with the FBI and served most of his career in foreign counter-intelligence investigations, retiring in 1989. He and his wife and Agnes operated a private investigation and security consultant business, D.F. Sughrue Associates, until 2010. (Waters Funeral Home)

Sunni Wilkewitz, 74, of Eaton, died July 27, 2024. She joined the Michigan State Police in 1978, but her career was cut short in 1990 after a fight with a prisoner. She and her husband ran the Eaton Fourth of July picnic at the town beach for 24 years. She was Eaton’s Supervisor of the Checklist for years. (Furber Funeral Home and Cremation Services)

The Rev. Dr. Vera M. Wingate, 81, of Hollis, died July 25, 2024. She was pastor of Bethany Chapel Community Church, U.C.C., serving from 1990 to 2013. She then served as Interim Ministry at the Hooksett Congregational Church, UCC in Hooksett until 2019. She led services at churches in New Hampshire. She was president of the Manchester Clergy Association for two years in the mid-1990s. She was a member of the Citizens Advisory Board at New Hampshire State Women’s Prison for 10 years until 2008. (Farwell Funeral Service)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” – Helen Adams Keller, American author and disability rights advocate, June 27, 1880, to June 1, 1968