I made a list of people
within the First
Degree of Separation from me who have died over
the years since I became aware. Not counting early on
ancestors such as parents and grandparents, and not counting
others whom I have yet to remember at this writing, sixteen
people have died out of my first circle, from Steven Sloper,
at about 13—a Boy Scout in my group from the early 1960s—to
Susan Rice, my sister of ten years younger than me, and
David Kirwan first son of my mother's kid-sister; my cousin,
and latest, Marty Engstrom at 86, Transmitter Engineer at
WMTW CH8.
1962 - 1992 - ? - 2002 - 2007 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 -
2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2019 - 2023
1 1
1 1
1 2
1
1 2
5
3 1
1 Who am I missing?
1962 - Steven Sloper, at about 13 in
Billerica MA—a Boy Scout in my group from the early
1960s.
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1992 - Rosemary Howard Turner, West
Ossippe NH, author of Mascots
of Mount Washington
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???? - Eileen Loring, Massachusetts,
friend, co-leader on 50-Miler.
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2002 - Casey Hodgdon, Gorham NH,
friend, OO, OH
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2007 - Manjula Cook, Franklin MA,
formerly of Erode Tamil Nadu India, wife of my good
friend Dick Cook.
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2009 - Dave Goodwin, Salem NH,
friend, hiker, traveller with me, ham radio operator
N1CMD. Dave, who had so many stones so
often that we monikered him: "Stones". His doctor
once told him that if he was going to continue to
eat so much ice cream then he should also drink more
beer. Eventually he drank himself to death.
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2009 - Matt Houseal, TeXas, friend,
OAE, military, ER Doctor, killed in action.
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2010 - Roger Brown, Zephyrhills FL,
cousin, friend, ham radio operator KA1IIP. And
his wife Joan Brown. Joan and Roger, both Browns in
their own right, are both cousins in different
branches of my tree.
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2011 - Bobby Loring, Colorado,
friend, co-leader on 1970 50-Miler.
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2013 - Ted Everett, Concord NH,
friend, ham radio operator W1ALE
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2013 - Sara(h) 2001-2013:
Sara(h) La Gata conMigo Booger Mesquite La Rubia
Frankencat Sinte Ikusheya Cat o' Mine Tales 11-11
TacoCat. Her name was a storey in itself.
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2014 - Mack Beal, Jackson NH, friend,
mentor, ham radio operator, W1PNR
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2014 - Gordon L (not to be confused
with my brother Gordon S) Datil NM, friend,
employer, survivalist. We built solar arrays
together.
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2014 - Richard P. Cook, Franklin MA,
good friend, mentor, benefactor of Manjula's
Children Charity.
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2014 - Theodore Brooks Oxton, 7 Jul
1945-19 Feb 2014 Lowell MA, brother.
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2014 - Glen Alan Oxton, 24 Dec
1947-28 Apr 2014 Lowell MA, brother.
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2015 - Susan Kathleen Rice (nee
Oxton), Nashua NH, sister.
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| 2015 - David Kirwan, first son of my
mother's kid-sister; my cousin. |
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2015 - Robert Loring, friend,
co-leader on 1970 50-mile hike.
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2019 - Gordon Scott Oxton, 25 Jan
1944 - 31 July 2019, brother.
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c.a 2020 - Betty Gosselin - Gorham
NH, Mount Washington Obs
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2023 - Dennis Ahern 1943-2023 Boyhood
best special friend, fellow Scout, and family
genealogist.
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2023 - Nita
Larronde - The Trail Angel of the Toaster House in
Pie Town, New Mexico, a hiker hostel along the
Continental Divide Trail, has gone away to be with
the rest of the angels and we have to carry on
without her. Every time one of my extended family
passes away I am reminded of my own mortality and
lack of preparedness for that eventuality. Rest in
peace Nita and thank you for showing me the Way.
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Another of
my hero-class and early mentor friends bites the
dust.
Marty Engstrom, Transmitter
Engineer for 38 years at WMTW Channel 8 in The Land
of The World's Worst Weather, died
Thursday 20230104 at his home in Fryeburg. He
was 86 years old.
Marty worked at the WMTW
transmitter facility on Mount Washington in Gorham,
New Hampshire. Known for his weather reports from
Mount Washington, he delivered weather conditions
with a grin in his thick Maine accent.
I had dinner many times with
Marty Engstrom and Donny Disconnect at the WMTW TV
transmitter. Marty got me started on the
World's Worst Weather (...the original WWW?...)
slide show circuit back in the BC days of Kodak
Carousel 35mm Slide Projectors.
Marty was a great cook and turned out
many a fine Sunday evening dinner.
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Another Hero Blown Away: Guy Gosselin
1933-2024
Click on image for readable copy.
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Greetings
Virtual Travellers: 
I do not know what I may appear to
the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy
playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then
finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me. 