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,
twenty-six 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 and Guy Gosselin, Chief
Observer at The Mount Washington Observatory. Then
there are the non-Human people: Sara(h) La Gata and
Hurricane Hazel-Rah.
1962 - 1992 - ? - 2002 - 2007 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 -
2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2019 - 2020 - 2023 - 2024 - 2025
1 1
1 1
1 2
2
1 2
5
3 1
1
2 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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HRH Hurricane Hazel-Rah
28January2013-16August2025
Hurricane Hazel-Rah prefurred music of the early
days of wireless broadcasting as well as Cat
Stevens, The Alley Cats Doo-Wop, Aristocats, Duetto
buffo di due gatti (Humorous Duet for Two Cats),
and of course the musical "Cats". Her hero was
Busterfur Jones In White Spats, who is of course the
father of Puss in Boots. But HHR was only one with a
Ham Radio call, me0w.
HRH HHR was most at home on 40 meters where her
favourite mode of operation was CW (Cat-Whisker
sending & receiving), this XYK has worked all
the lower 48 states during her 12 years of hamming
it up on the road in /The Cat Drag'd Inn/. For
portable operation her tail doubled as a
quarter-wave vertical antenna for the 440mHz UHF
band. Her Ham call sign, me0w, is now inherited by
Ostensible Orca.
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Michael [Barefoot
Mike] Schrody, 1958-2026, passed away after a long
illness of cardiac arrest in hospital at 0128 Friday
16 january 2026.
Born back east, matured in
Arizona, Field Service Engineer by trade, Wizard by
temperament, Amateur Radio Licensee (KD7TKQ), and
Ordained Minister. Michael’s tagline was “No Shirt,
No Shoes, No Gods, No Worries.”
He carried a letter from the
Health Department attesting that there was no law
prohibiting bare feet. Going barefoot was a way of
life for Mike, a religion if you will—he sometimes
used that argument with store managers who
complained about his dirty feet. “My feet are
cleaner than your shoes.”
Loquacious, forgiving,
opinionated—especially in matters of coffee and
clothing—Mike was a hoarder who gave freely of his
time and his stuff.
A worthy friend who will be
sorely missed.
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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. 