Notable NH Deaths: Disabilities Advocate Joe Hatch Of Salem, Formerly Of Concord

By Staff Report, InDepth NH

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.

Bradbury D. Cliff, 84, of Bedford, died Nov. 8, 2025. He retired from National Life of Vermont in 2018 and also owned two bookstores in the 1980s. He was a baseball standout at Wellesley (Mass.) High School and in the Sagamore Cape Cod League. He signed with the Boston Red Sox in January 1960. He coached for the Hooksett Youth Athletic Association and the Little League Program. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)

Freda (Keli) Smith Douglass, 85, of Ossipee, died Nov. 6, 2025. She was an operating room nurse at Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro and Memorial Hospital in North Conway. In 2003, she accompanied a team of nurses and surgeons to perform surgeries on children with orthopedic deformities in remote areas of Nicaragua. She was also an actress with the Wolfeboro Playhouse. (Lord Funeral Home)

Richard Gillespie, 78, of Nashua, died Nov. 3, 2025. He served in the Vermont National Guard for six years, achieving the rank of second lieutenant. He was a structural geologist for Stone & Webster Engineering, specializing in site studies for nuclear power plants. He served eight years on the Nashua Conservation Commission and 20 years on the Mine Falls Park Committee. (Davis Funeral Home)

Margaret Goslin, 82, of Farmington, died Nov. 10, 2025. She and her husband Ron provided affordable housing through the properties they managed. They built many of their own businesses, including Gozzie’s Garage, Peg’s Keg, and the assisted living home, Our Place Inn Time. (Peaslee Funeral Home)

Joseph Ernest Hatch, 60, of Salem, died Nov. 5, 2025. He was a master sheet metal craftsman for Macy Industry and later Metro Sign and Awning. His daughter’s birth set him on a lifelong journey advocating for families and individuals who experience disabilities. He defended their needs and rights through the Parent Information Center and testified in front of the N.H. Legislature for educational and community needs. He started an educational support group for families of school-age children with disabilities and taught math at Amesbury (Mass.) High School. He also tutored in Lawrence, Mass., and taught a manufacturing processes class at Nashua Community College. (Carrier Family Funeral Home & Crematory)

Bolesaw Mazur, 80, of Rye, died Nov. 5, 2025. He was born in what is now Zambia after his parents were displaced from their home in Poland by the Soviet Army in 1940. He eventually settled in England and was a popular teacher of Polish language and literature at the University of London. He published a range of scholarly articles and the book, “Colloquial Polish,” which has been a mainstay of Polish language learning for many years. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home – Crematory)

Edmond Merrill, 93, of Franklin, died Nov. 5, 2025. He worked in construction and owned Merrill Farm, raising beef cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens. He was the former president of N.H. Maple Producers and N.H. Pork Producers’ associations. He served on the Franklin Cemetery Board and was a former Franklin alderman. (Thibault-Neun Funeral Home)

Irena J. Parhiala, 86, of New Ipswich, died Nov. 5, 2025. She opened Noah’s Ark Kindergarten in 1965, the first kindergarten in the area, still operating today. She was manager of the Riverside Restaurant in Ashby, Mass., co-managed the Redbrick Inn in Greenville, and owned Irena’s Restaurant in New Ipswich. (Cournoyer Funeral Home & Cremations Center)

Lt. Col. John Paul Penasack, U.S. Air Force (Retired), 89, of Merrimack, died Nov. 5, 2025. He was in the Merchant Marines, then joined the U.S. Air Force after earning a degree in aeronautical engineering from Texas A&M. He served 20 years and worked on the SR71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft, and early-stage B-1 bomber test flights. He retired from the Air Force in 1982 and worked for Sanders Associates (now BAE Systems) running the software quality assurance program. (Legacy.com)

Lucille Juliette (Lavallee) Poliquin, 95, of Nashua, died Nov. 4, 2025. She established and operated Poliquin Insurance Agency and Real Estate. (Davis Funeral Home)

Loretta V. Rayno, 89, of Wilmot, died Nov. 6, 2025. She was a veteran of the Women's Army Corps during the Korean War, serving with the 7774th Signal Service Battalion. After her discharge, she was a member of the 368th Army Reserve in Concord. She worked for 27 years at Freedom Acres in Wilmot, New London Agency for eight years, and at Colby-Sawyer College for 21 years, retiring in 2014. She was a founder, past president, and director of the Wilmot Community Association. She served on the Tannery Pond Dam Committee, 10 years on the Wilmot Zoning Board, the Wilmot Master Plan Committee, and Concerned Citizen Sub-Committee for zoning ordinance. She was a committee member of the restoration of the Wilmot Veteran's Memorial, charter member of the Women's Memorial Foundation in military service, and a director and president of Pine Hill Cemetery from 1990-2014. (Chadwick Funeral and Cremation Service)

Sol Rockenmacher, 87, of Bedford, died Nov. 8, 2025. He began a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Children’s Hospital in Boston after graduating from Harvard College, then was a pediatrician for 16 years at Dover Pediatrics. After returning to Boston to complete his training as a pediatric cardiologist, first at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover, then in Manchester, he established the Strafford Learning Center and Strafford Guidance Center in Somersworth. (Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory)

Eleanor R. Sarcione, 86, of Derry, died Nov. 10, 2025. She served on the town's conservation committee from 1999 through 2010 and was assistant moderator for town elections. (Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium)

Brien L. Ward, 73, of Littleton, died Nov. 8, 2025. He was an attorney with a law practice in Littleton for 35 years. He was assistant Grafton County attorney for six years. He served as president of Littleton Little League, a founder of Littleton's Economic Development Task Force, chairman of the planning board, president of Main Street, Inc., and chairman of the Earth Day Committee. He was also a member of the Littleton School Board, Industrial Development Corporation, a selectman, and state representative. He was Littleton Citizen of the Year in 1993. (Legacy.com)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.” - Roy T. Bennett, author of “The Light in the Heart”

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.