Tag Archives: Williston Academy

Bruce Brown ’52

Bruce BrownIt is with acute sadness that I tell you my beloved husband Dr. Bruce Scott Brown (class of 1952) died in my arms on October 18, 2015.  He’d had a cancerous kidney removed exactly one year earlier, and I thought we were home free, though probably he knew otherwise.  That accursed disease lurks.  Four months later other smaller cancers showed up on X-ray, and Bruce began chemotherapy.  But in the end, it was pulmonary fibrosis that took his life.  To have the one person you love most in the world die in your arms in his hospital bed is sad beyond the telling.

Bruce and I were married when we were but twenty-one years old.  Our wedding pictures show two young people, madly in love, clutching each other’s hand as we, beaming, emerged from the Church.  We were eighteen when we met.  It was love at first sight.  We loved each other so much for so long.  Well, he was a wonderful guy.

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Mark Hannabury ’71

Mark HannaburyMark David Hannabury, 63, passed away on December 19th, 2015 after a 4-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

He was predeceased by his parents, Herbert and Ruth Flaherty Hannabury and step father Leo Flaherty.

He leaves sisters Susan Hannabury Sheridan and Tracy Hannabury and nephew Marcus Sheridan, aunts, uncles, cousins and a loving circle of friends including Eric and Liz Barklund and family.

A successful attorney Mark also enjoyed reading, art, music, running, photography, cartooning and he just recently obtained his parachuting certification. He was possessed of an endless curiosity, amazing wit and profound intelligence.

John “Mike” Beever ’52

BeeverJohn S. “Mike” Beever, 83, passed away on December 5, 2015, due to complications from cancer.

Born on July 15, 1932, to Granville H. and Harriet (Shepherd) Beever, he was raised in Sharon, Massachusetts, attended local schools, and then graduated from Williston Academy. At the University of New Hampshire as an engineering student, he first met his future wife, Sarah Jane Andrew. Mike left school to serve his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Upon returning to the States he married Jane in 1956 and finished his degree in Civil Engineering at UNH.

He was employed after graduation at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh, but then with a growing family moved to Gorham, Maine, in 1961. He worked for a short time at L.C. Andrew Lumber Company, and then bought the C.E. Carll Insurance Agency, which had been named for Jane’s grandfather. The insurance office grew and was successful under his direction for over 30 years. In 1992 his son Jason Beever joined the company and took over leadership as the fourth generation in the family business when Mike retired in 1994.

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William “Bill” Cohen ’58

William E. “Bill” Cohen, 75, a longtime resident of Medina, passed away Monday, August 18, 2014, at Hospice of Medina County, of cancer.

Bill was born July 2, 1939, to the late Morris and Ida (Kelman) Cohen in Westfield, Massachusetts, and raised in Laconia, New Hampshire.

Bill attended Baylor University, majoring in English. Following college, Bill was employed by Clark Discount Department Stores, then Cooks Discount Stores. While employed at both, he opened new stores, as well as managed stores throughout the U. S.

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Dr. John G. Daley ’47

daleyJohn G. “Jack” Daley, MD, passed away Sunday, March 29, 2015 in Georgia.

From 1977 to 1993 he served as Assistant Director of the UNC OB/GYN residency program affiliated with New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

He was born in Easthampton, Massachusetts in 1926 into a working class family. He used his GI Bill from service as an Army clerk at the end of World War II to become the first in his family to attend college. He continued to Yale Medical School, graduating in 1955, and completed his residency at Yale Hospital in 1960. Before coming to Wilmington, he served 22 years active duty in the U.S. Air Force.

In 2007 he lost his beloved wife Pat and son Stephen, and moved to Alpharetta, Georgia to be close to remaining family. He is survived by his son John, daughter-in-law Marta, grandchildren Kevin and Laura, of Milton Georgia, and sister Mary Pat Daley of Kennebunk, Maine.

Henry C. Meagher ’44

Henry MeagherHenry Meagher, of Hyde Park, New York and Vero Beach, Florida passed away on Saturday, October 17th. He was 89 yrs old.

Henry was born on December 17, 1925 in Saranac Lake, NY to Florence and Raymond Meagher. He was a husband of 59 yrs to his loving wife Janice Crimmins Meagher and father to Debbie Stanley, Janice Trojan and Jennifer Convery. Henry served in the Navy during World War II in the South Pacific. He graduated from Williston Academy and then Williams College where he was a member of Chi Psi fraternity and made many life-long friends. Following Williams, he returned to Poughkeepsie, NY where he founded the Mechanical Construction Corporation while attending NYU Business School. Henry married Janice Crimmins in 1956 and they raised their three children in Hyde Park, New York.

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James Walles ’52

James WallesJames Alton Walles (Jim), 82, passed away peacefully on September 24, 2015, at the Rockingham County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Brentwood, New Hampshire.

Jim is predeceased by his parents, Harry Alton and Josephine Walles; his loving wife of 46 years, Betsey Walles and his brother, David Vaughn Walles. Jim is survived by his wife, Carole Walles.

Jim and Carole married in Exeter, N.H. on August 5, 2005. Their romance rekindled when Jim tracked Carole down in 2004. They were just as happy together these last ten years as when they were teenage prom king and queen. Jim was very proud of his children, Jane Walles Hall (Steve) of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Robert Alton Walles (Jennifer) of Wen-ham, Massachusetts and Elizabeth Walles Duda (Aaron) of Tega Cay, South Carolina. He also delighted in his grandchildren, Gretchen and James Hall of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Mackenzie and Zackery Walles of Wenham, Massachusetts and Charles, Harry and Josephine Duda of Tega Cay, S.C. His family admired Jim for his intelligence, morals and love for his family.

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H. Clark Island ’51

150x172-3710025Clark Island, 82, of Hobe Sound, Florida passed away peacefully on September 17, 2015 at Amore Dementia Care in Stuart, Florida surrounded by his loving family.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Joanne, his sons, David and his wife Tracy , Curt and his wife Erin, his daughter Lynn Shouse and her husband David; and his grandchildren , Kristen, Steven, Emily, Bobby, Matthew, Olivia, Jack and Phoebe. He was Uncle Clark to three nieces and a nephew.

Clark was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Williston Academy and Meriden High School and he is a graduate of General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University) with a mechanical engineering degree. Lieutenant Island served in the US Navy as a Navigator on P2V’s. Following his military service he worked as a sales representative in the ball bearing and stamped metal parts industries in Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York and ultimately Connecticut.

Clark began a second career in selling long term care insurance that covered a span of 20 years and moved to Florida in 2001.

Clark has served in the M.W. Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Connecticut for 50 years. Additionally, he served with the Acacia Lodge in Stuart Florida for the past 14 years and was active in the Republican Party.

Without a doubt, Clark’s deepest passion was singing. He participated over most of his lifetime in school choirs, church choirs, the Society of Barbershop Singing in America (via the Big Apple Chorus in NY) and more recently the Treasure Coast Community Singers in Stuart, Florida.

Harding “Hardy” Reemsnyder ’43

ReemsnyderHarding E. Reemsnyder, longtime Guilford resident, passed away peacefully at CT Hospice in Branford on Mon. September 14, 2015.

Hardy was predeceased by his wife, Florence (Misbach), and parents C. Victor and Edith (Carr) Reemsnyder.

He is a graduate of Williston Academy and Yale University and was owner of Victor Advertising Service, which was established by his father in 1938.

He was most proud of his Naval military career which began in 1943, retiring as a Commander overseeing Fort Hale, New Haven in 1972. His love of the sea was evident in his lifelong pursuit of boating in Long Island Sound, the Thimble Islands, and a favorite destination, Block Island.

He is survived by his first wife, Gloria (Dickerson) Reemsnyder of Madison, his companion, Jan Jette of Killingworth, his children, Laurie E. Reemsnyder of Mill Valley, CA; Robert (Bonnie) Reemsnyder of Old Lyme; David (Tracey) Reemsnyder of Clinton; Debra (John) Fetherston of Madison; Susan (Derek) Cummings of Durham; and step children, Michael (Kim) Denison of Guilford; Bruce Denison of Guilford; Laura Fellows of Arlington, TX. He was also blessed with 20 grandchildren and step-grandchildren.