College news
• Forrest Lisle of Grafton recently graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., with a bachelor's degree in anthropology.
• The following local students have enrolled in the Class of 2022 at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.: Samuel M. Cowles of South Londonderry, Emma E. Griffith of Halifax, and Guthrie W. Little of Putney.
• Murphy Hicks, a Liberal Studies major from Bellows Falls, has been inducted into the Athletic Director's 3.0 Club at American International College in Springfield, Mass. The Athletic Director's 3.0 Club recognizes returning student-athletes who have achieved a 3.0 cumulative GPA or better after attending AIC for one year or more.
• Olivia Hoos of West Wardsboro has enrolled at Colby-Swayer College in New London, N.H., for the fall 2018 semester.
Transitions
• The Brattleboro Boys & Girls Club introduces four new members of their Board Of Directors: Liz Richards, Connie Snow, Brian Patno and Bill Forchion. Richards has lived in the Brattleboro area since 2002, raising four children and is a practicing pediatrician at Brattleboro Primary Care since 2007. Snow is well-known for her 30 years as former Executive Director of the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust. Patno is best-known for his 23 years of service to Rescue Inc as a paramedic; he is the founder of Windham County Safe Kids and now works at Just So Pediatrics. Forchion is a professional clown/stunt man/performer. While he has done much teaching and performing through New England Circus Arts, he has also written and produced multiple films and books.
• Vermont Commissioner of Financial Regulation Michael S. Pieciak was recently elected to a one-year term as the 101st president of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the oldest international organization devoted to investor protection and responsible capital formation. Pieciak, a Brattleboro native, was first appointed by Gov. Peter Shumlin in July 2016 and reappointed by Gov. Phil Scott in December 2016 to serve as commissioner of Vermont's Department of Financial Regulation. In that capacity, he serves as the chief regulator of Vermont's financial services sector, including the insurance, captive insurance, banking and securities industries. He previously served as deputy commissioner of the department's Securities Division, where he led the Division's investigation into the Jay Peak EB-5 projects.
Obituaries
• Margaret Mary “Marge” Barletta, 53, of Brattleboro. Died at her home on September 25, 2018. Born on June 21, 1965, she grew up in South Orange, N.J., with her parents, the late Patricia Foley Barletta and Harold Barletta, and her three older siblings. She attended Montrose Elementary School, South Orange Junior High, and the Academy of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station. After graduating high school in 1983, she attended Kean College before moving to Keene, N.H., in 1987. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Brattleboro. Margaret studied at Marlboro College and later at Vermont Technical College. She earned a degree in nursing, a profession that suited her caring and empathetic nature. Margaret loved nursing and had truly found her niche as a medical-surgical nurse at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Her greatest thrill in life was being a loving mother to her son, Curtis. They had an exceptionally strong bond and have had many wonderful adventures together. She was a seeker, always looking for the next spiritual path. She had a kind and loving nature, with just the right amount of feistiness. Margaret enjoyed music and going to concerts, and she sang with the Brattleboro Women's Chorus. She loved nature and spent time camping with friends, and she thrived on travel and experiencing new places. Margaret was a true pacifist. She would not want for us to say she battled cancer; she preferred the term living with cancer, which she did since 2005. She was determined to have a positive attitude and to keep moving forward. She was deeply loved and will be missed by so many but especially by her cherished son, Curtis; her siblings Tony, Gina, and Robert Barletta; her partner Margaret Holtje; her sister-in-law Tammy Barletta; nephews Jordan and Ryan Barletta, niece Shannon (Ryan) Waltz, and great niece Mya Waltz; cousins Ellen Conley, Eileen Foley, Gene Thomas Foley, and Paul and Kollyann Normando; her aunts Eileen Foley and Margaret Normando; and her many dear friends and her loving dog Remy. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her stepmother, Patricia (O'Connell) Barletta, and her nephew, Kyle Mason.
• John Raymond Brunelle, Sr., 87, of Brattleboro. Died Sept. 19, 2018, following an extended illness. Born in Northfield Falls, Vt., on Sept. 29, 1930, the son of Adelard J. and Mary M. (Hanchett) Brunelle, he was raised and educated in Northfield, where he attended public schools. He worked most of his career as a truck driver for Fleming Oil Company in Brattleboro. Later, he worked for the Montpelier Public Works Department, which he retired from in 1985. He was a former resident of Leesburg, Fla., for 18 years. Following the death of his wife Geraldine (Beckwith) on May 1, 2018, he relocated back to Brattleboro to be close to his family. He enjoyed riding motorcycles and actively rode up until the time of his death. He purchased used motorcycles, rebuilt and sold them for many years. He also enjoyed watching boxing and wrestling, puttering around his home, landscaping, and time shared with his family. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles in Florida for 18 year, and was a communicant of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Brattleboro. Survivors include two sons, Steven Brunelle of Brattleboro and John Brunelle Jr. and his wife, Lori, of East Dummerston; four daughters, Donna Fitzsimons and her husband, David, of Keene, N.H., Theresa Knickerbocker and Bob of Plymouth, Mass, Debra Brunelle of Brattleboro, and Anita Woodcock and her husband, Mark, of Putney; stepchildren, including Robert Burroughs and his wife, Cheryl, Deborah McShinsky and her husband, Bob, and Edward Castor Jr. and his wife, Sally. Additionally, he leaves many grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews and his beloved dog, “Riley.” He was predeceased by several brothers and sisters. Memorial information: In keeping with his final wishes, there are no public services scheduled. A memorial mass will be held for the immediate family at Saint Michael's Catholic Church. Donations to the Windham County Humane Society, P.O. Box 397, Brattleboro, VT 05302. To sign an online register book or send messages of condolence to the family, visit www.atamaniuk.com.
• Alfred “Big Al” Calderon, 73, of Brattleboro. Died unexpectedly at his home on June 27, 2018. Born in Geneva, Ohio, on April 11, 1945, he grew up in Florida and later joined the Army, where he served for three years as a tank mechanic. He met his future wife, Rosie, in Ohio in 1978, and they later married in Florida. They spent nearly 40 years together. The Calderons came to Brattleboro in 1989 and, 10 years later, settled into Glen Park in West Brattleboro. Al held a variety of jobs, but the one he liked best was being a trailer-truck driver. He drove for Webster Trucking in Brattleboro for about seven years before having to stop due to poor health. He and his wife liked driving around to flea markets and taking in the sights. They both belonged to the Eagles and the American Legion in Brattleboro. He loved shooting pool and playing shuffleboard. He enjoyed meeting people and making them laugh with his jokes. Besides his wife, he is survived by a brother, Matt Calderon, and his wife, Barb, of North Carolina; a good friend, Danny Hutchins of Brattleboro; and many nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and nephews. Memorial information: A graveside service will be held in Locust Ridge Cemetery in Brattleboro on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m. After the service, all are invited to American Legion Post 5 on Linden Street for coffee, doughnuts, and conversation.
• Gary M. Chaffee, 59, of Bellows Falls. Died Sept. 25, 2018. Born in Bellows Falls on May 3, 1959, the son of Carl and Nancy (DiBernardo) Chaffee, he grew up in North Walpole, N.H., and was a 1978 graduate of Fall Mountain Regional High School. Gary was a self-employed wood worker, using reclaimed wood. He enjoyed cooking, baking, creating new recipes, as well as drag racing and touring Vermont to photograph covered bridges. In 2004, he married Dawn McCullough, who survives him. Also surviving is his mother Nancy Chaffee of North Walpole, N.H.; his daughters Vanessa Chaffee and her partner, Jonathon Gibbs, Caitlin Chaffee and her partner, Tyler Langlais; stepchildren Dalton Morse and Jordan Morse; his brother Gregory Chaffee and his wife, Lorraine; his sister Carla West and her husband, Todd; one grandchild and many nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Carl Chaffee. Memorial information: A funeral service was held Oct. 1 at Fenton & Hennessey Funeral Home in Bellows Falls, with burial in Westminster Cemetery. Donations to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Neurology Research, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756.
• Steve Friedman, 75, of East Hardwick, formerly of Bellows Falls. Died peacefully in his sleep following a long illness. He was born in Duluth, Minn. in 1943. When Steve was 8, he won a prize in a local talent show and recorded in a note to himself, “secured ambition to be an artist.” He studied at the University of Michigan, and earned in B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota. Steve's professional theater work began with the Firehouse Theater in Minneapolis in the mid-1960s, where he appeared in world premieres of plays by Megan Terry and Sam Shepherd. In 1968, he joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he worked as playwright, actor, and collective member for nearly a decade. Best known for his “Gutter Puppet” short plays, and his Brecht adaptations, Steve's sharp wit helped define a new era of radical popular comedy. He gained instant fame in a protest meeting at the San Francisco board of supervisors when he identified himself as toilet paper tycoon Harold Smellybucks, who was there to speak for the mighty rich. A cream pie aimed at his face missed him, and landed instead on Supervisor Diane Feinstein. She was not pleased. Steve performed as President Nixon in solo street shows, on KSAN radio in his own “Watergate Follies,” and in the feature film, White House Madness. With his partner of 45 years, Denny Partridge, he founded New York's Modern Times Theater, an Equity company that produced original work on timely political subjects. He toured widely as an actor in his own plays, including Freedom Days, The Bread and Roses Play, and Hibakusha, A Love Story for Hiroshima, for which he won an NEA Playwriting Fellowship. His work was produced in France, India, and England; on stage and on the radio in Sweden; and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where his Lear Lesson won a Fringe First nomination. With Denny, they raised their daughter, Rose; he was at home every day when she returned from school. He taught playwriting and acting at Antioch College, and with a grant from the Asian Cultural Council went with his family to Dhaka, Bangladesh to create a new play about the 1971 War of Liberation. For more than a decade he taught acting, playwriting, and solo performance at Barnard College/Columbia University, where he mentored a generation of students. In 2007, he started Mud Time Theater with Partridge, in order to bring original plays to year-round Vermonters; Mildred Taken Crazy and The Nine Questions also toured Europe and the U.S. After creating a new adaptation of Voltaire's Candide for the State Theater of Hannover, Germany, he turned his attention to life in rural Vermont, an existence that included Denny, his daughter Rose Friedman, son-in-law Justin Lander, and grandchildren Eva Josephine and Charlie Garnet Lander, all of East Hardwick. Until and through the last day of his life, he completed The New York Times crossword puzzle; recited plays and poetry from memory; shared the best of film history with his family; and gave generously as a writer and theater-maker, advising former students and colleagues from afar. Memorial information: Donations in Steve Friedman's memory can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org) or to Vermont Vaudeville (vermontvaudeville.com).
• Steven G. Hamilton, 57, of Marlboro. Died unexpectedly on Sept. 22, 2018. He is survived by his mother Sonia (Kerylow) Hamilton, sisters Diana and Julie Hamilton, brother Bill “Butch” Hamilton, his two sons Tyler and Joshua Hamilton, daughter Suzanne Rabideau, three grandsons and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives. Steve will be remembered and missed by so many, and will especially be missed for his famously long voicemails. He was always happy and laughing, he had one of those laughs you can never forget. He loved his home on the mountain and spent a lot of time in his “man cave.” It was his favorite place. Memorial information: The family is planning a private burial, but all are welcome to his celebration of life which will be held Sunday, Oct. 7, at the Eagles in Brattleboro from 1 to 5 p.m.
• Jacqueline Zahava Lichtenberg, 82, of Putney. Died Sept. 16, 2018. She was a beloved sister, mother, grandmother (mémé), aunt, social worker, psychotherapist, teacher, and mentor to many. Jacqueline was born Nov. 1, 1935 in Ramat Gan Palestine, and grew up in Paris. She was a survivor of the Holocaust, and shared her story with many. At 19, Jacqueline and her family moved to New York, where she met and married Ben Lichtenberg. She was a teacher in New York for 20 years, first at the Lycée Francais and then at the Fleming School. From 1977 to 1979, she attended Hunter School of Social Work and, after receiving her MSW, she and Ben moved to Putney in 1980. In 1983, Jacqueline co-founded the Children and Parents Project in Brattleboro, in collaboration with local psychiatrist Norton Garber. She practiced for 31 years as a therapist at CAPP, working with people of all ages. She also taught French at The Putney School for several years. She was passionate about her work throughout her life, with deeply held principles designed to protect the humanity of all people she came into contact with. She strongly believed and taught that no therapy could proceed effectively if the person or family seeking support was not authentically loved and appreciated by the therapist. She also insisted that her colleagues use language without jargon, so that clients and community members would be able to participate fully in all conversations. Jacqueline was a fierce advocate for children and taught that children have complex thoughts and feelings they will share when a caring adult offers opportunities to talk and play at their level. She included anything and everything in her work that could be effective. She played, created puppet shows, sang songs, told personal stories, built things from wood, wore wigs and played dress up with children, met in groups, went to people's homes, fed people, consulted to schools and community groups, wrote poems, and laughed. Jacqueline also taught that those in the helping profession should readily reach outside the therapy office to effect change wherever they can. Practicing what she preached, she was a founding member of Putney Family Services, on whose board she served for many years. She forged life-changing relationships with her colleagues and those she mentored. Outside of work, Jacqueline was an avid reader and loved music, long walks, Paris, and great conversations. She was fiercely independent, courageous, kind, creative, patient, wise, private, strong, playful, and adventurous. She will be missed by her daughter Julie, her partner James, her grandson Marc, her niece Raven and nephews Sasha, Aaron, Jordon, and family. All will forever cherish Jacqueline's unconditional love, the wisdom she shared, the French songs she sang, and the stories she told. Memorial information: A celebration of life gathering will be held Saturday, Oct. 13, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Currier Center of The Putney School. All are welcome to this potluck gathering. Bring food to share, and memories and stories of Jaqueline.
• Dorothy Bills Percey, 73, of Putney. Died on Sept. 22, 2018 at her home. Memorial information: A service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 1 p.m., at Windham Community Church in Dummerston. There will be a memorial reception following the service. Arrangements have been entrusted to Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home in Bennington. To send personal condolences, visit www.sheafuneralhomes.com.
• Patricia A. Soboleski, 87, of Rockingham. Died Sept, 23, 2018. Born in Schenectady, N.Y., on January 23, 1931, the daughter of Cecil and Anne (Small) Bissonnette. She was a 1949 graduate of Bellows Falls High School and worked for Whitney-Blake and Greater Falls Insurance Company. She was a member of the American Legion Post 37 Auxiliary and a communicant of St. Charles Church. She was a sweet and lovely lady who enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren, and volunteered at the Bellows Falls Senior Center. On July 4, 1953, she married Edward Soboleski, who predeceased her. Surviving are her children Paul Soboleski and his wife, Kim, and David Soboleski and his wife, Debbie, all of Rockingham, and Nancy Guadagnoli of Attleboro, Mass.; her sister Margaret Nowers and her husband, Don, of Dunedin, Fla.; and four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Memorial information: A funeral Mass was held Sept. 27 at St. Charles Church in Bellows Falls, with burial in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Westminster.
Memorials
• The family of Philip Grassi invites all who knew him to a gathering in his memory. The event will take place Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Carl M. Dessaint VFW Post 1034, 40 Black Mountain Rd., Brattleboro, from 1 to 4 p.m. Grassi died July 2 in Venice, Fla.