Gilbert “Gil” Wattis Richardson
Gilbert “Gil” Wattis Richardson, 65, passed away on July 24, 2026, from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Born in Concord, New Hampshire on July 11, 1961, he moved to Nashua in 1966 where he grew up with a large, close-knit family and life-long friends. He graduated Nashua High School in 1979 and University of New Hampshire in 1983. He played youth hockey from 1973 to 1979, loved to juggle, and was an avid hiker and backpacker. He finished New Hampshire’s 4,000 footers at age 17 and hiked most of the Appalachian Trail at age 18.
Gil worked in the electronic prepress manufacturing industry for 20 years – installing systems, training customers around the US and world, as well as testing software and writing manuals.
He met the love of his life, Laura, in 1993, and they married in 1996 at the Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, NH.
Gil and Laura moved from Nashua to Benton, NH in 2000, first to the one-room “honeymoon hideout” cabin they built with friends in 1997 and then into their off-grid, solar-powered dream home in 2001.
Laura and Gil co-founded the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association (now Clean Energy New Hampshire) in 2003 and helped educate thousands of people about the benefits of solar power, energy efficiency, and sustainability. More than 1,500 people have toured their home looking for ideas and inspiration, and almost 500 people have toured the Veg Mahal since its creation in 2018.
In 2007, he left the prepress/printing industry to become an energy auditor and consultant on residential energy and sustainability issues.
He was the Town and School District Moderator for Benton, NH for 20 years. He was a member of several boards including the Nashua Rail Trail, the Grafton County Energy Committee, and Benton’s representative on the Scenic Byways committee.
He was predeceased by his parents, Tom and Veda, and his brother, Hamilton. He leaves behind a devastated wife, Laura, and their ornery inherited-adopted cat Koyungi; siblings Tom (Betsi), Harvey (Pam), and Ann, as well as nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, out-laws, and friends galore.
Gil loved family and friends, the outdoors, and helping others live a more sustainable and healthy life. His story-telling, jokes, and word play enthralled Laura on their first date and every day of their marriage, even when ALS stole his voice. He was a fun competitor in thousands of games of 500 Rummy. He donated eight gallons of blood to the Red Cross to help others, saying that his few minutes of discomfort every couple of months were nothing compared to whatever the recipients were experiencing. His passion was working to maintain and constantly improve their home and property, especially on the John Deere tractor. Gil’s hobbies included hiking (and trudging in later years), gardening, canoeing, swimming, mountain and road biking, sledding, watching critters on their land via trail cameras, as well as traveling back roads and to off-beat spots in the US and abroad. He loved hosting a party with new and old friends. His favorite dessert was the one in front of him, but he prioritized anything with dark
chocolate or ice cream, claiming he had a different stomach for those delicacies. He cared deeply about the real history and future of the United States.
As their final legacy project together, Gil and Laura recently donated land to the White Mountain Conservation Burial non-profit organization to start New Hampshire’s first natural burial cemetery. They are thrilled at the progress made to conserve that property with a land trust. Adhering to his ethics and love of maple syrup, he will be buried next to a huge sugar maple tree, fondly called Ace, on the property now known as the Oliverian Everlasting Natural Burial Cemetery.
Please, no flowers, the cat is allergic, and Gil doesn’t want to support the Floral Industrial Complex.
Donations in his name may be made to Clean Energy NH, the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative, White Mountain Conservation Burial, the ALS Association, or I AM ALS.