Remembering those of the Greater Nashua community that we lost in 2019

As we prepare to bid 2019 farewell and get ready to welcome 2020 ­ which, if you’re a fan of politics, promises to be a year for the proverbial ages ­ it’s time to take a break from our busy routines to reflect upon the highs and lows of the year past.

With that comes the opportunity for all of us to silently appreciate folks we lost in 2019, be they family members, close friends, acquaintences, who left their community, and the world, a better place for others.

Each year I set aside my final column of the year for this purpose, and in doing so remind readers that not seeing your loved one’s name in this space doesn’t in any way suggest his or her life isn’t worthy of a year-end tribute.

While every life is worth celebrating, and every passing worth mourning, it’s the men and women we feel had the widest, and most profound, impact on their communities to whom we pay tribute today.

Wayne Gagne, a court officer at Hillsborough County South in Nashua, whose granddaughter, Caitlyn Callinan, ran the Boston Marathon to raise money for the American Liver Foundation in her grandfather’s name, passed Dec. 29, 2018 at age 67.

Longtime Milford area grocer Frank Lagana, 88, died Jan. 5. S. Robert Winer, a Nashua lawyer who joined Sullivan and Gregg in 1948, was 98 when he passed Jan. 11.

Lifelong Nashua resident, businessman, philanthropist and family man died Jan. 20 at 87. Former Great American Downtown director Rebecca Dixon was 49 when she died Jan. 31.

Centenarian Vivianne Guerette was 104 when she died Feb. 5. Hudson dentist Richard W. Cuff died Feb. 9 at 80.

Roland Lesieur, a fixture in downtown Nashua for many decades as proprietor of the family-operated Maynard & Lesieur tire dealership, passed Feb. 13 just shy of his 90th birthday. “Everybody’s friend,” David “Bear” Dionne, was 69 when he passed Feb. 27.

Seven-year-old Nova Riley Demanche also died Feb. 27, when he succumbed to injuries sustained in a house fire.

Former Nashua firefighter and police officer Larry Wedick died Feb. 24 at age 80. A confrontation involving firearms took the life of Hudson resident Tanya Hall on March 2. She was 34.

Retired Nashua firefighter Paul A. Bechard died at 66 on March 14. Paul S. Dean, actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America for nearly 70 years, died April 4 at age 83.

Sierra Croteau, a 21-year-old 2016 graduate of Milford High School, died April 5 of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle crash in Amherst.

Nashua educator Mary Ann (Naceski) Ulcickas, 81, died March 29. Bob’s Tire owner Robert Ehrgott was 94 when he died April 15.

State education official Joseph W. Hogan reached age 104 before he passed on April 26. Local musician Richard Haas Jr. died April 27; played often with Aces & Eights.

Longtime Nashua chiropractor Dr. Norman Fasulo died April 29. Kathleen Hansen, a secretary for various senators and members of congress for many years, was 106 when she passed May 6.

Many baby boomers will remember Robert Bullard, who founded and built the former Turnpike Rollaway on Amherst Street in the 50s. He died May 20 at age 88.

Respected Nashua teacher and guidance counselor Robert Holloran Sr. was 82 when he passed May 25. Longtime farm and feed store owner Alan L. Orde Jr., 87, also passed on May 25.

A motor vehicle crash claimed the life of 23-year-old Christopher Block of Merrimack on May 28. Keith Vaskelionis Sr., longtime president, treasurer, CEO and COO of the former Blue Line Express transportation firm, died at 90 on June 4.

Career cook Conrad “Connie” Caine, who worked for years at the old Howard Johnson’s and Cookie’s restaurant in Hudson, died at 73 on June 19.

Nashua Public Library reference librarian and supervisor Nancy Ann Grant passed June 22; she was 89. Madeleine Gingras, a Nashua educator for nearly 40 years, died at age 84 on June 28.

Retired Nashua Fire Rescue Lt. Michael “Mik” Kass, 51, died July 9 in Bedford. Brookline resident Eddy Ward Whitcomb, who served his town in many capacities and was its 1990 Citizen of the Year, died at 91 on July 13.

Prolific political activist and social advocate Macy Elkins Morse, who willingly submitted to arrest, and even jail time, at protests from New Hampshire to Washington, died July 18.

Former Nashua High track star Sheri Lu Gagnon Warren, who set many Nashua and New Hampshire records in the sport, was just 54 when she died unexpectedly July 21.

Vietnam War-era flight nurse Claudette “Claudie” Mahar, who went on to a 45-year nursing and administrative career at St. Joseph Hospital, died Aug. 4. Retired Litchfield police chief Thomas Iverson Jr. died Aug. 6 at age 72.

Maurice “Moe” Facques, 79, a longtime teacher and basketball coach in Nashua and Milford, died Aug. 12. The Telegraph’s popular facilities and operations manager and avid classic car collector Michael Thomas was 78 when he died Aug. 17. Also on Aug. 17, a car crash claimed the life of Merrimack resident Christopher Lamoureux, who was 21.

Nashua special-education specialist Barbara Rinaldi was 64 when she died Aug. 18. Well-known funeral director Norman E. Hall was 71 when he passed Aug. 20.

Brookline resident and education pioneer Hazel E. Corey, who opened the town’s first kindergarten in her home, died Aug. 21 at 87. Thirty-year Nashua surgeon Dr. Manning Aboozia died Aug. 27 at age 85.

Avid mountain climber, musician, youth sports coach Elliott “Eli” Whitney III, who starred on mid-60s Nashua High basketball teams, died Sept. 5 at age 71.

Nashua police Capt. Jonathan B. Lehto, whose family, and Nashua police officials, spoke openly and frankly about his suicide death on Sept. 9, was 47.

Former Nashua mayoral assistant John J. Everett, who also served as director of French Hill Neighborhood Housing Services, died at 55 on Sept. 18.

Wayne J. MacDonald, who retired as Deputy Nashua Police Chief after 30 years of service, died Sept. 22 at age 63. Former state representative Nancy W. Wall of Nashua, formerly of Hollis, was 91 when she passed Sept. 24.

Retired deputy Nashua fire chief Adrian Pelchat died Oct. 9 at age 91. Longtime Tyngsborough, Mass. Police Chief Charles Chronopoulos, who signed to play pro baseball with the Boston Braves but signed up for the U.S. Marines, died Oct. 12 at 87.

Nashua surgeon Jurgen F. Piper passed Oct. 16. Nashua resident Henry R. DiCicco, an Army major in World War II, was 105 when he passed Oct. 18. Former Merrimack state representative Peter L. Batula died Oct. 19 at age 82.

John R. Kreick, a research physicist who went on to become president of Nashua’s former Sanders Associates and who held nine patents, died at 75 on Oct. 20.

Marion Savage, who, along with her husband, Albert, spent 66 years working for the betterment of area youth through various programs and organizations, especially the Nashua Lodge of Elks, died Nov. 5. She was 93.

Pelham Municipal Court Judge J. Albert Lynch died Nov. 18. Former Nashua state representative Roland H. LaPlante was 86 when he died Dec. 2.

Charles Clough, businessman best known for turning around Nashua Corporation and staving off bankruptcy some 35 years ago, died Nov. 29 at age 89. Longtime Hudson firefighter and town official Harry J. Chesnulevich was 91 when he died Dec. 11. Retired Nashua High School educator Paul Tringoson died Dec. 16 after a period of failing health.

Best wishes to all for a happy, safe and productive 2020.

Dean Shalhoup’s column appears Sundays in The Telegraph. He may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com