Births
• In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), Nov. 5, 2014, a daughter, Aubree Kathleen Moore, to Alice Gay and Benjamin Moore of Williamsville; granddaughter to Gary Gay, Stephanie Fouriner, Barbara Pacific, David Moore, and Kathleen Moore.
• In Brattleboro (at home), Oct. 15, 2014, a daughter, Beatrix Elizabeth Blood, to Katharine Manthei Audlin and Christopher Scott Blood of Brattleboro.
College news
• Garth LeMessurier of Putney was one of 48 graduates from Lyndon State College during the college's December ceremony. LeMessurier received a degree in psychology.
• Madison Hinrichs, a senior majoring in math and secondary education from West Halifax, was inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education at a Dec. 6 ceremony at St. Anslem College in Manchester, N.H.
• Lyndon State College has awarded Savannah Barcomb of Brattleboro the Gilson-Reeves Scholarship for the 2014-15 school year. The award is set aside for a student who is enrolled full-time, is in good academic standing, and who demonstrates the motivation and perseverance necessary to overcome academic obstacles. Barcomb is a freshman majoring in criminal justice.
Transitions
• Stacey Conn of Keene, N.H., has joined Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro as its new general manager. Conn earned a Master's of Business Administration degree from Babson College in 2014. Before joining Strolling of the Heifers, Conn spent eight years at the Boston investment management firm Wellington Management as global relationship group assistant, including several years as a member of its charitable foundation grant review committee. Prior to her business career, Conn earned a M.S. in Educational Psychology from Northeastern University and worked as a school counselor in Wellesley, Mass. and Pleasanton, Cal. Because of her love for animals, she also worked as a veterinary technician.
• Steven L. Monette has been appointed as the Brattleboro Retreat's new chief financial 0fficer (CFO). He comes to the Retreat with extensive experience in health-care finance. His most recent position was at Valley Regional Healthcare in Claremont, N.H., where he served as CFO and treasurer since 2006. Before assuming that position, he served for one year as Valley Regional's controller. Past employers also include Central New England Health Alliance in Leominster, Mass., and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in accounting from Western New England College in Springfield, Mass.
• Katie Buckley is the new director of development and community relations at the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) in Brattleboro. She has worked for the past six years as town administrator for the town of Guilford. She worked closely with WWHT in the development of the Tontine building and the extension of municipal water in the village of Algiers. Since 2009, she has been an active member of the citizen group Friends of Algiers, and in that capacity participated in the outreach and fundraising effort for the redevelopment of the Guilford Country Store.
• Sara Poplawski has been promoted to branch manager of River Valley Credit Union's Bellows Falls office. Poplawski was previously the head teller at River Valley's Brattleboro main office, and has been employed at River Valley for four years. A graduate of Hinsdale (N.H.) High School, she and her husband are Hinsdale residents.
Obituaries
• Joan Sweet Boyce, 93, of South Burlington. Died Dec. 17 at Burlington Health and Rehab. Wife of the late Dr. Frank Gordon Boyce Sr. for 46 years. Mother of Frank Gordon Boyce Jr. and his wife, Barbara, of Blue Ridge, Ga.; Johanna Boyce and her husband, Dr. Richard Munson, of Williston; and the late Jonathan Charles Boyce. Born in Binghamton, N.Y., the daughter of the late Charles and Margery Eden Sweet, she was the salutatorian of her high school class at Binghamton High School and attended Duke University. She was often described as a classy lady. Her panache was both refined and tough, but she was fundamentally a people pleaser who loved to laugh and be of help to others. Her curiosity and kindness gave her the special ability to talk to anybody. She supported her husband's pursuits at Colgate University, then worked beside him for 25 years when he was president of The Experiment in International Living in Brattleboro. She was deeply committed to The Experiment and was very proud of her efforts contributing to furthering goodwill and understanding between nations. She joined her husband traveling the world extensively, making friendships, and sharing cultural values. She also worked as a volunteer at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Throughout her life she loved spending time at her precious family cottage on Wyoming Island in the Thousands Isles, as well as participating in the theater. Her favorite role was Emily in “Our Town.” Deeply aware of the preciousness of life and its fleeting quality, she often quoted Emily's lines: “Oh, Mama, look at me one minute as though you really saw me. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?” Her first and foremost commitment was to her family whom she loved dearly. Memorial information: An informal memorial service will be held for Joan at Allenwood Independent Living, 90 Allen Rd., So. Burlington, Vt. on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. Donations to The Experiment in International Living at www.worldlearning.org/donatenow or by sending a check to the attention of Tom Navin, World Learning, 1 Kipling Road, P.O. Box 676, Brattleboro, VT 05302.
• Edmund W. Bujnofsky, 87, of West Wardsboro. Died Dec. 13 in Grace Cottage Hospital. Born at home in Bridgeport, Conn., he was a veteran of the Army during World War II and had worked for the City of Bridgeport at Sikorsky Memorial Airport for several years before his retirement. He is survived by several nieces and nephews in Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon. He had lived with the Larson family for the last 35 years. He will be sadly missed by all his family and friends. His smile and gentle soul will be remembered by all who knew him. Memorial information: A funeral Mass was held on Dec. 17 at Our Lady of the Valley in Townshend. Graveside committal services and interment will take place in Connecticut at the convenience of the family. Donations to Our Lady of the Valley, 92 Grafton Rd., Townshend, VT 05353, or to Our Lady of Ephesus House of Prayer, 35 Fawn Ledge Lane, Jamaica, VT 05353.
• Harold F. Igoe, 85, of Grafton. Died Nov. 30. Husband of Lois Deegan lgoe. Brother of Dorothy Muller of New Hartford, N.Y. Born in Valley Stream, N.Y., the son of the late Ervin and Amber (Waldron) lgoe, he worked as a tax assessor for the state of New York. Memorial information: A memorial service was held on Dec. 22 at Fenton & Hennessey Funeral Home in Bellows Falls. Donations to the Grafton Public Library, P.O. Box 129, Grafton, VT 05146.
• Ryan M. Ostebo, 76, of Saxtons River. Died Dec. 14 while playing hockey. Husband of Mary Hepburn for 40 years. Father of Jane Fiore and Amy Hepburn of Lake Forest, Ill., and their spouses, Robert Fiore and Neil Gardner; and the late Eric and Tim Ostebo. Brother of Lynn Peterson of Colorado Springs, Colo., and her husband Norman; Robin Ostebo of St. Paul, Minn., and his wife, Kathy; and Randy Ostebo of St. Paul. Born in St. Paul, the son of the late Clarence and Viola Ostebo, he attended local schools and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1960 with a degree in history. After serving three years in the Marine Corps, including tours in Okinawa, Subic Bay, and Japan, he earned a master's degree in U.S. History from the University of Minnesota. He taught for three years at the Millbrook School before joining the faculty of Vermont Academy as a teacher, dorm parent, and coach of hockey and soccer. He also worked as a financial planner for Northwestern Mutual Life from 1975 until his retirement in 2010. He was an active participant in his community as a member of the Bellows Falls Rotary Club, Saxtons River Village Board of Trustees, Saxtons River Park Committee, Saxtons River Fourth of July Committee, Main Street Arts, and the River Singers, and he was a volunteer at the Greater Falls Warming Shelter and in the local school system. His lifelong interest in ice hockey began at a young age. He was a member of the Johnson High School State Championship team in 1955, where one of his teammates was future U.S. Olympic Team coach Herb Brooks. This passion continued at Dartmouth College, where he was named All-New England in his junior year and All-Ivy in his junior and senior years. He and his roommate Russ Ingersoll were recognized as being “the last of the 60-minute defensemen” in S. Kipp Farrington's book, “Skates, Sticks, and Men,” a book about the history of college hockey. His love of hockey led to his co-founding of the Pleasant Valley Hockey Association for area youth. Something of a local legend for his athleticism, stone-work, community projects, creative wood crafts, theater sets, over-the-top Fourth of July parade shenanigans, numerous marathons, and boundless enthusiasm for his neighbors' chores, he made an indelible mark on his community. Memorial information: A celebration of his life will be held in Vermont Academy's Shepardson Dining Hall on Saturday, Dec. 27, at 4 p.m. Donations to the Saxtons River Park Fund, c/o Village Trustees, P.O. Box 243, Saxtons River, VT 05154.
• Nathan Straus III, 98, of Brattleboro. Died Dec 16 in Brattleboro. Husband of the late Rebecca Straus for 64 years. Father of Andrea, Joseph, and Martha. Born in New York City, he lived all but the last two years of his life in New York and Westchester County. His father was a New York State senator and the administrator of the U.S. Housing Authority under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His grandfather, Nathan Straus Sr., was a philanthropist who co-owned the R. H. Macy and Abraham & Straus department stores. A great-uncle, Isidor, who went down on the Titanic in 1912, was a congressman and co-owner of Macy's; another, Oscar Solomon, was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and President Theodore Roosevelt's secretary of commerce and labor. Continuing the legacy of public service, Nathan Straus served over the years as President of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, President of the National Association for the Prevention of Addiction to Narcotics, Chairman of the National Committee for Immigration Reform, and Chairman of The State-City Nationalities Division of the Democratic State Committee. He attempted in both 1966 and 1968 to become a congressman representing a district in the Bronx. He was a businessman until his reluctant retirement at 94, selling restaurant and hotel equipment. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1938, and got his master's in business at Columbia University. He served in the Navy during World War II in the European Theater of Operations, and attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.Memorial information: No service information provided. Donations to Holton Home, 158 Western Ave., Brattleboro, VT 05301.