For many, the dawn of a new calendar year often brings a renewed sense of hope, even in an era when we seem to struggle more and more to find a foundation on which to build that hope.

We can prepare for the future as much as we want, but we can neither control or predict it, a philosopher once said. But what we can do as we trudge forward into the unknown is carry with us our memories of our loved ones, friends and even occasional acquaintances who taught us lessons and helped shape who we are and will become simply by being part of our lives.

So it’s with admiration, respect and a kind word that I put forth this, my 2015 version of "Remembering Those We Lost," my annual year-end memorial that pays tribute to local folks of note who passed in 2015.

Romeo Couture, for decades a mainstay of local American Legion bands, died Jan. 11 at age 94. The death Jan. 15 in Saudi Arabia of Milford resident Christopher Cramer, 50, was ruled a homicide.

Retired Nashua firefighter and World War II veteran Raymond Laquerre was 89 when he died Jan. 20. Andrew Peter Burgher, who "touched more lives" than his family could count, was just 10 when he died Jan. 24.

Edwin "Father Ed" Britko, Army veteran, a longtime salesman who ran the former Chicken Hutch in Merrimack and Father Ed Equipment Repair in Nashua, died Feb. 7 at age 80. Ruth Harris, highly regarded and award-winning school food services director, was 89 when she died Feb. 15.

The "musician’s musician," Albert A. "Berdie" LaFlamme, Spartans founder and lifelong music teacher, died at 90 on Feb. 27. Former Nashua firefighter Jared Poloski was 40 when he passed March 5.

Violence claimed the life of Benjamin Marcum III on March 12; he was 49. Nashua native and career educator Jane Parker Murray, 61, lost her battle with cancer on March 23.

Nashua High teacher Ronnie J. Goldstein, well-known field hockey coach at NHS and Rivier University, passed April 6, a week before her 66th birthday. Tragedy claimed the life of 37-year-old Maria Victoria Barriga on April 11, when fire swept through her Girouard Avenue home.

The patriarch of the old Franklin Furniture firm and avid youth sports organizer Alan D. Kupper passed in Ogunquit, Maine, on April 14. Longtime sports umpire, referee and insurance salesman Richard "Dick" Ireland died April 19.

Nashua’s own "Rosie the Riveter" – Mary Doyle Keefe – was 92 when she died April 21 in Connecticut. Darlene I. Lawrence, 61, was killed, allegedly by her husband, at her Merrimack home on April 30.

Frances C. "Fran" Harrow, well-known in Amherst school and nursing circles, died April 30 at 66. Four-term Nashua Ward 9 state Rep. Fred B. Andrews died May 1 in Virginia.

Nashua science teacher and popular NHS golf coach Peter Merrill was 72 when he passed May 2. A motorcycle crash May 6 claimed the life of longtime city Public Works Commissioner Timothy Lavoie; he was 48.

Another tragic accident on May 6 took the life of Nashua police officer Keith A. Trombley; he was just 25, and was a recipient of the coveted Jeremy T. Charron Award for outstanding performance as a criminal justice major at New Hampshire Technical Institute. Paul N. Fimbel, member of the well-known overhead door company family, was the oldest resident in Hollis when he died May 20 at 101.

Nashua native and 1977 NHS graduate Douglas C. Strand was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Ohio on June 3. He was 56. Retired Nashua police officer Lawrence "Larry" Galipeault died June 7.

Nicholas Salis, longtime proprietor of Nick’s Esso/Exxon on Daniel Webster Highway, died June 11 at age 90. Retired Nashua police officer and high school sports star Frank Paison was 59 when he died unexpectedly June 19.

A biking accident June 27 claimed the life of Hudson resident David W. Rennie Jr.; he was 36. Andrew T. Eliopoulos, captain of the Nashua Rides for Hope cancer-fighting team that raised $1.6 million for Jimmy Fund, died while training for an upcoming Pan-Mass Challenge. He was 52.

A swimming accident July 15 claimed the life of Nashua High and UNH graduate Benjamin Joseph Charron, 33. Well-known musician James A. Goumas passed July 15 at age 75.

Nashua school district business manager and three-term Ward 8 state Rep. Eileen P. Dawe passed Aug. 1 at 73. A car crash on Aug. 21 took the life of 38-year-old longtime Amherst and Milford resident Nathaniel "Nate" Dokmo.

Gifted flute-maker and musician Robert "Bob" Hogan died Aug. 24 after a brief battle with cancer; he was 48. "Self-taught mechanic" Joseph J. Mearls was just 24 when he was killed in a motorcycle vs. car crash on Sept. 6.

A brave battle with addiction came to an end with the Sept. 8 death of Milford resident Gregory Fowler, 37. Bishop Guertin’s 1992 class salutatorian, high-achieving U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and talented musician Lawrence Grillo III died Sept. 29.

A motorcycle crash took the life of 44-year-old Dawn Sullivan Pilat on Oct. 13. Longtime Telegraph reporter and columnist Marilyn Solomon, who greeted thousands of visitors at her Main Street office and published "My Window on Main Street," a collection of columns whose sales benefited her beloved Hunt Building, passed Nov. 1 at age 83.

Tabatha Lynn Fauteux, Hudson native who worked tirelessly to help others beat addiction and succeed, passed Nov. 6 in California after waging her own "strong battle" against addiction. She was 26. The man whose family called him "a George Bailey from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ made real," retired 41-year Army National Guard 1st Sgt. C. Scott Monroe, died Nov. 10 at 63.

A speeding "crazed driver" ran over and killed Nashua native Marc "Angus" Sanford on Nov. 15 as he and his wife, who was seriously injured, crossed a street in Eugene, Ore. A talented custom cabinet carpenter, Sanford was 49. Former Nashua police officer and construction industry salesman John F. Clancy died Nov. 19 at age 84.

Heart failure took Hollis resident Jaclyn Rae Spotts on Thanksgiving Day; she battled health issues most of her 23 years. Well-known lifelong Nashua resident Barbara S. Tamposi died Nov. 27 at 87.

Former Hudson state Rep. Phyllis M. Keeney, who also served as Hudson selectman and on many civic boards and committees, died Nov. 28 at 89. Marion B. Madigan, a Nashua native well-known for buying, selling and trading antiques for some 60 years, was 82 when she died Nov. 29.

A car crash Dec. 5 killed Nashua native and 2002 NHS graduate Marcus Wendell Harmon; he was 31. Temple resident Wendy Davis, 67, also died in the two-car crash.

Norman A. Nadeau, who ran the family welding business E.E. Nadeau & Sons for decades, died at age 94 on Dec. 7. Well-known Hollis resident and educator Shirley S. Cohen, whose family called her "an uncommon person who requires an uncommon obituary," was 84 when she died Dec. 12.

Merrimack native and MHS graduate Jeffrey Henderson, 50, was killed in a Dec. 12 car crash. Also on Dec. 12, Amherst and its residents lost a prolific civic activist and conservationist with the death from ALS of William "Wik" Wichman; he was Amherst’s 2007 Citizen of the Year.

Longtime Nashua High teacher Thomas "Tommy" Hansberry was 69 when he passed Dec. 24.

Best wishes to all for a happy and prosperous 2016.

Dean Shalhoup’s column appears Saturdays in The Telegraph. He can be reached at 594-6443, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.