Notable New Hampshire Deaths: Former Hopkinton Town Clerk

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 .

Wilman “Bill” F. Allen, 71, of West Stewartstown, died Aug. 26, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, he was a member of the National Guard until 2002, retiring at the rank of sergeant first class. He was a member of the Beecher Falls (Vt.) Volunteer Fire Department since 1970, holding the rank of captain at the time of his death. He was an EMT instructor for 30 years and was instrumental in forming the Beecher Falls Rescue Squad in the mid-1980s. He was a part-time police officer for 20 years, deputy fire warden for Stewartstown, the town’s water system operator for the precinct since 1985, and Stewartstown’s emergency management director for more than 20 years. ( Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home )

Warren C. Biebel Jr. , 96, of Plainfield, died Aug. 23, 2024. Inspired by the Billy Graham Crusade in Boston in 1950, he spoke at youth rallies and church services and was invited to speak at a “Youth for Christ” rally in Claremont. That led to him helping form Calvary Baptist Church. He later became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Windsor, Vt., (now known as Trinity Evangelical Free Church) and was a part-time chaplain at the Vermont State Prison and the Veterans Hospital in White River Junction, Vt. He returned to New Hampshire and became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Meriden. He developed the Singing Hills Christian Camp and Conference Center in Warren in 1972. After a move to Florida, he returned, this time to Plainfield. (Knight Funeral Homes & Crematory)

Charles Donald Dunton , 85, of Milton, died Aug. 21, 2024. He was an elementary school teacher and principal until 1976 in school districts in Somersworth, Rochester, Moultonborough, and Bennington, Vt. He then sold commercial real estate and eventually started his own business, Dunton Commercial Properties, LLC, marketing campgrounds throughout New England and New York. He retired in 2021. He was an auctioneer through Dunton Auction Services. ( J. Verne Wood Funeral Home – Buckminster Chapel)

William Orravill Grout , 95, of Alexandria, died Aug. 17, 2024. A U.S. Army veteran, he was park manager at Wellington State Park for 13 years, working there a total of 52 years. He was a service engineer and a technical writer at the General Electric plant in Lynn, Mass., then in 1963 he began a 20-year career as a math and science teacher at the South Shore Regional Technical School in Hanover, Mass. He was involved in scouting and while at Wellington he encouraged many Eagle Scout projects which benefited the park. ( Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services )

Thomas Harvey Johnson Jr., 90, of Contoocook, died Aug. 7, 2024. He was a Hopkinton selectman from 1966 to 1980 and was elected town clerk in 1981, serving for 18 years. He once taught history at Simonds Free High School in Warner and painted houses during the summer months. He also worked as a Metropolitan Life insurance salesman, starting the Johnson & Porter Insurance Agency in 1979. He coached Contoocook Hot Shots Baseball, Hopkinton Community Center 7th and 8th grade boys basketball in the Merrimack Valley Basketball League, JV boys baseball for John Stark High School, and co-coached Hillsboro-Deering High School JV girls basketball and varsity softball with his son Tom. He was involved in masonic and Odd Fellows activities, serving in leadership roles. ( Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home & Cremation Service)

Marie Mack , 84, of New Boston, died Aug. 22, 2024. She opened and operated for more than 40 years The Fish Bowl pet store in the Milford oval. She worked until age 83. ( Smith & Heald Funeral Home )

Mary Louise (Neveu) Neuman, Ph.D., 81, of Hopkinton, died Aug. 26, 2024. She was a biochemist who published numerous books and articles on school reform, math and science education and gifted students. She retired from Brown University and spent several years as a consultant to the Rhode Island Department of Education. In retirement, she volunteered as a CASA guardian ad litem. (Legacy.com )

Steven Scott Perry , 41, of Hampstead, died Aug. 19, 2024, from eastern equine encephalitis. He was director of Hampstead Nursing Services, working alongside his mother for many years. ( Brookside Chapel & Funeral Home )

Carolyn Jourdan “Candie” Reynolds , 88, of New London, died July 31, 2024. She and her husband, Dr. Nicholas Chester Reynolds Jr., moved to New London in 1986 and founded the Kearsarge Ecumenical Refugee Sponsor Group, which sponsored families from Bosnia and Algeria. They housed Colby Sawyer College international students from Cote D’Ivoire, Afghanistan, and Nepal in their home near campus. She was coordinator for the Life Long Learning Program at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Mass., in 1981. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)

Patrick A. Rollins , 63, of Gilmanton Iron Works, died Aug. 19, 2024. His main job was as a pressman for the Laconia Citizen and then Fosters Daily Democrat, but he was better known for his column, “The Outdoorsman,” on hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors, published in the Laconia Citizen. ( Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services )

Athena Anne Caragianis Sayce , 92, of Concord, died Aug. 21, 2024. Her husband, Montford “Bunny” Sayce, was a political science professor at New England College in Henniker for 30 years. In England, he was director of the NEC campus and she was admissions director. She was a Girl Scout leader, active with her church’s youth group, and founded the Friends of the NEC Library. She was a career counselor in private practice and at Keene State College. ( Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home & Cremation Service )

Dr. William Alan Stuart , 80, of Portsmouth, died Aug. 23, 2024. He was an emergency medicine doctor who renovated The Kearsarge House, a grand building on Congress Street in Portsmouth, turning it into a blues club. (Remick and Gendron Funeral Home- Crematory )

WORDS OF WISDOM : “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” – George Herman “Babe” Ruth, American baseball phenom, Feb. 6, 1895, to Aug. 16, 1948