File photo J. Joseph Grandmaison

As we transition this weekend from a rather topsy-turvey 2022 to a 2023 full of hope, I once again devote this final column of the calendar year to paying tribute to local folks we lost over the course of 2022. I see it as an opportunity for all of us to silently appreciate those folks, be they family members, close friends, or acquaintences we lost too soon, and those who left their community, and the world, a better place for others.

Each year I also 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. Indeed, every life is worth celebrating, and every passing is worth mourning.

Dr. James Brocoum, for 40 years a physician at St. Joseph Hospital, passed Jan. 5 at age 94. Retired Nashua High business teacher Barbara Whitmore, 80, also died Jan. 5.

Longtime Nashua auto dealer John Lanoie was 90 when he died Jan. 28.

Londonderry resident Christopher M. Brooks, a 20-year U.S. Army reservist and former police officer, died in a crash in Bedford on Jan. 28. He was 47.

Nashua teacher William Marcoux Jr., who served as Ward 6 alderman and a Hillsborough County commissioner for years, died Feb. 9.

Earl W. Munson Jr., who much preferred the nickname “Dirt,” the original drummer for legendary Nashua band Aces & Eights, “went on to join the Rock and Roll Heaven band” on Feb. 14. He was 70.

Nashua legend Adam Gureckis Jr., a “great athlete … even better person,” “one-of-a-kind gentleman” died Feb. 21 at age 71 after long, valiant cancer battle.

Career attorney Steven Maynard was 74 when he passed April 2.

“Casual Cat Picture Framing & Gift Shop” owner Cynthia M. Doyle passed unexpectedly April 7. She was 66.

Roger W. Gaskill

Kindergarten teacher Jane Solomon Bangert, a professor at the former NEAI who retired as the Nashua School District’s special services director, passed April 8 at age 86.

An April 22 motor vehicle crash claimed the life of Debra “Debbie” Slingerland of Hudson, age 55. And on April 23, Hollis resident died of injuries sustained in an April 9 crash in Nashua.

Avid swimmer and longtime Rockingham Ambulance emergency medical technician Laurie Zibolis, 68, passed May 1.

Thomas Hooker, a Georgia native who grew up in the Jim Crow era and eventually came to Nashua to serve as director of the former state Division of Welfare, passed at age 89 May 5.

Longtime Nashua teacher and driving school instructor Delma A. Langille was 96 when he passed May 15. Noted realtor Ellen Arouchon, a tireless advocate for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua for 50 years, died May 20 at age 79.

Cynthia "Cindy" Doyle

Roger W. Gaskill, perhaps Crown Hill’s best known resident, a noted trumpeter deeply involved at the local and state level with the Masonic fraternity for 50 years, was 97 when he passed May 26.

A June 12 motorcycle crash claimed the life of Adam E. Young, who was 42 and a former athelte at Milford High School.

John “Jack” Cantara, a friend to all who bought TV’s or had them serviced at Jerry’s Radio and TV, his family’s longtime business, passed June 14 at 87.

J. Joseph Grandmaison, a Nashua native who became a prominent local, state and national figure in the world of Democratic politics, was 79 when he died from the effects of Parkinson’s disease on June 11.

Carl J. Tamulevich, Nashua High, Holy Cross and U.S. Naval Academy star athlete inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, passed July 17.

Dottie Silber

George Kariotis, co-founder with his wife, Madeline, of the venerable eatery Nashua House of Pizza, died July 25 at age 72 while fishing in his native Greece.

Retired Nashua firefighter Bobby Edwards, who attended numerous funerals for fallen 9/11 FDNY members, passed in August.

“Dedicated and compassionate emergency medicine physician” David H. Walker was 75 when he passed Aug. 8. Star NHS South athlete Jenna Chiavelli was just 20 when she passed at home on Aug. 23.

Well-known auto mechanic and longtime teacher at Nashua Community College Charles Leonard III also died Aug. 23, as did Nationally known radio personality Francis “Frank” Boyle Jr., 96, a World War II veteran who got his start in Nashua and won numerous awards as a media broker.

Aug. 23 was also the day a tragic car crash in Amherst claimed the life of 17-year-old Chandler Thomas Leo, a young man with an “adventurous spirit” who loved fashion, his Jordan 5 sneakers and “all genres of music.”

Dr. David Walker

Another beloved Nashua teacher, Tekeste Berhanu, passed Aug. 25 at age 48.

Shirley Cohen Lelchuk, longtime Temple Beth Abraham board member and 1985 Hadassah Woman of the Year was 99 when she passed Oct. 8.

U.S. Marine Edward B. Garone, a nearly six-decade police officer who rose through the ranks at Derry PD and retired as its longtime chief, died Oct. 17 at age 79.

Gerald “Gerry” Prunier, a “lawyer’s lawyer” who served on countless civic committees and boards throughout a long, notable law career, died at 81 while playing golf on Oct. 18.

Prolific government building contractor and Jaycees Man of the Year John E. Pearson died Oct. 21 at age 89.

On Oct. 29, Richard “Dick” D’Amato, Milford native who “spent his life giving back in whatever way he could,” died at age 84.

Stanley Elevator Company co-founder Richard I. Stanley was 93 when he passed Oct. 31. A tragic Nov. 6 car crash claimed the life of SPC Peter Cameron, a New Hampshire Army National Guardsman.

Baby boomers paid tribute to retired longtime Nashua High office secretary Lucille J. Chartier when she passed Nov. 22 at age 97.

Dotty Silber, who also passed Nov. 22, was founder and president of Double-Oh-Seven, a promotional products agency, and co-owner of Boulder Morty’s climbing gym.

Jasper Scott Zduniak, who “lived his life a quarter mile at a time,” was just 27 when he passed Nov. 23.

Popular Nashua area DJ and karaoke host Paul A. Roy passed Nov. 27 at age 71.

Well-known Nashua attorney and prolific marathoner Robert “Bob” Welts was 89 when he passed Nov. 28.

Former Board of Public Works commissioner and teacher Tracy Pappas passed unexpectedly on Nov. 30 at age 59.

Thornton John “Skip” Cleaver Jr., a well-known figure on the local and national competitive running scene as well as a former city alderman and state representative and columnist for The Telegraph, was 78 when he died Dec. 1.

Wilton resident and retired New Hampshire State Police trooper Christopher AuCoin died Dec. 7 at age 52. A Dec. 19 crash on Route 101 in Amherst claimed the life of Milford resident Holly Wheeler, 49, who worked for years with her family’s motorcycle dealerships.

Dr. James W. Squires, a Nashua surgeon who with three other doctors established the state’s first HMO — Matthew Thornton — and represented his home town of Hollis in the state legislature, passed Dec. 9 at age 85.

One-of-a-kind New Hampshire newsman John D. Harrigan, who got his start in the newspaper business at The Nashua Telegraph in the late 1960s then went on to the Union Leader before assuming ownership of newspapers in his native North Country, was 75 when he passed the day after Christmas.

Here’s wishing everyone a safe, prosperous and happy New Year.

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

Earl W. "Dirt" Munson

Gerald "Gerry" Prunier