Robert Riehl Engle
Robert Riehl Engle, 91, died peacefully on August 10, 2024, at Bel-Aire Skilled Nursing Facility in Newport. Bob had broken his hip in May, and dementia had been taking its toll. COVID added to his challenges.
Bob was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on October 16, 1932. He lived most of his young years in Washington, D.C., and most of his adult life in the surrounding area, especially Maryland.
In October 1977, he married Kathryn Crisbacher, and immediately began calling her ‘the Meatball.’ The nickname, often shortened to ‘MB,’ stuck, and he and MB remained inseparable. Together, they bought land in the Frederick, Maryland, area and over the years they built their timber frame home by themselves, with occasional help from a few family members and friends.
As years passed, they fell in love with the state of Vermont, and after finding the perfect land in Holland, made the move north in 2018 to spend their retirement in what Bob called “paradise.”
Bob was bright, often irreverent, quirky, well-read, even-tempered, and easygoing. He was never angry. He never argued. Even the most mundane thing was an adventure for him. Aphorisms rolled off his tongue. He had a sparkle in his eyes. He did not have a mean bone in his body. He loved his ‘Meatball’ with all he had; her happiness was always his priority.
In addition to his wife, Bob is survived by his sister Ann, his two children from his former marriage — Kathryn and Christian — and their families.
He was a very good man and will be remembered with love and laughter.
Byron “Sonny” Dana Fish Jr.
“At One with Nature”
Byron Fish of Charleston died on July 25, 2024. His heart failed him just three days prior to his eighty-fourth birthday. Byron was a very much-loved husband, father, grandfather, and uncle. He was a long-time educator, teaching geometry primarily to hundreds of students at North Country Union High School. Some kids in the hallways may have had cause to “hate” Mr. Fish, but many more inside the classrooms found him “Cool!”
Byron was called “Sonny” by his parents. He was born in 1940, in Rutland, to Vida and Byron Dana Fish. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and daughters Lori and her husband, Eric McGraw, and Didi and her husband, Jeff Kinaman, as well as his prized grandchildren Erin, Dana, Ally, and Ben. He is also survived by nieces and nephews: Janet, Jean, John, Darlene, and Debra as well as their spouses, children, and grandchildren.
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Written by BDF: “When Mom was 32 and Dad was 37, I entered this world. I was premature weighing in at only 4 pounds and I was “blue,” from de-oxygenated blood. Luckily, Mom was able to eventually take me home and raised me into being a big, healthy boy. At home I joined older sisters Wilma, 13, Doris, 11, and Betty, 9.
Both of my parents worked, and with my sisters in high school, my parents enlisted the help of a former schoolteacher for my care. I called her “Auntie” Hazel. She let me wind up her Victrola to play her records (78s). My favorites were Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Her husband had a pipe rack with four smoking pipes by his chair. Auntie Hazel let me sit there and pretend to smoke — yum! But that indulgence may have led to my bad habit of pipe smoking which spanned many decades before I finally quit. Kids — Please do not ever start smoking!
Hydeville Elementary Grades One – Eight. I had Miss Rail for first and second grade. She was firm but kind… she cared for kids. The principal was my seventh and eighth grade teacher Reverend Brown. We connected over mathematics. I attended Fair Haven Union High School, “Go Slaters,” where I played four seasons of football for tough Coach Ralph P. Kehoe. He was a University of Vermont Hall of Famer for three sports. He was fresh out of serving in the Army in the Korean war. He cut the “Slaters” no slack! These three plus Auntie Hazel shaped my approach to education and kids. After high school, I enlisted in the Vermont Air National Guard for six years. My hopes of becoming a navigator were dashed when it quickly became clear I was too big to even fit inside the fighter jet cockpits.
I graduated from Castleton State Teachers’ College and began my teaching career in 1962. That year I married my first wife, Barbara Dolan. We had two daughters, Lori and Didi. In 1968, I took a job at the newly opened North Country Union High School in Newport, where I stayed for the last 25 years of my teaching career. I also worked many side jobs. Standouts are mowing lawns, running the Derby-Port Drive-In theater, managing the Newport Cinema theater, and teaching at CCV. I enjoyed being a board member of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
The last 40-plus years I have had my soulmate, Suzy, by my side. She gets me… and I guess I get her. We built a log house on gorgeous Echo Lake. We also enjoy a rustic yet idyllic little fishing camp on Seymour Lake where we spend summers with our 5-plus generations of relatives in residence, but not all at the same time. Adding to the experiences of fishing, boating, and swimming, our lives have been shared with our treasured dogs (Bridgette, Lacey Jayne, and Major) and ten cats… so far.”
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Byron was predeceased by his parents; his sisters and their spouses; his uncle Russ (a WWII veteran); his niece Donna; and nephews Joey, Dale, and Jerry. He also experienced the loss of a valued brother-in-law Glenn Bonin. He lost a handful of his very closest friends in recent years.
Family sends their most sincere thanks to Orleans/Essex VNA for 21 years of “on & off” excellent home care of nursing and physical therapy; 46 Lakemont Road, Newport, Vermont 05855. Also, deep appreciation to Newport Ambulance Service (especially Morgan) for their caring responses and aid; 830 Union Street, Newport, Vermont 05855. If you desire, donations in memory of Byron Fish can be made to either of these organizations.
When responding to assist Byron with his various injuries over the years, EMTs were often aided by members of Charleston’s Volunteer Fire Department. To “KS” of North Country Hospital Radiology — Thank you for stepping in the way you did for Byron. What an impressive community we live in!
Many of Byron’s family were able to host an impromptu, private Celebration of Life at his camp on Seymour on his birthday, July 28. Online condolences may be made at curtis-britch.com.
Reverend John P. Keenan
The life of Reverend John Peter Keenan was celebrated by family and friends at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Newport on Monday, July 29, 2024, followed by committal at Derby Center Cemetery. John was born October 13, 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of John P. and Mary Connelly Keenan. He died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on July 19, at the age of 83.
Educated in the parochial schools of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, John Keenan graduated from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1966, serving as curate in Philadelphia area churches. In 1968, he left the priesthood, deeply discouraged in his effort to address issues of racial discrimination in the neighborhoods he served, and took an administrative position in the government’s poverty program in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Again, dissatisfied with what he could accomplish in that role, John turned his focus from barriers of race to differences in religious belief. To that end, he studied Chinese language and culture at the University of Pennsylvania and earned a doctorate in Buddhist studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. After two years serving on the staff of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, he joined the Department of Religion at Middlebury College, where he taught courses on Buddhism until his retirement as professor in 2003. John was received into the Episcopal priesthood in the Diocese of Vermont in 1988, and served part-time in several Vermont parishes, most recently as rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Newport from 2004 to 2009.
Over his career, John wrote, translated, or edited more than twenty books and numerous academic articles. Some of his works focused specifically on Buddhism, while others placed his reading of Christian texts (the Gospels of Mark and John, as well as Philippians, Ephesians, and James) into conversation with Buddhism. Harvard University Professor of Divinity Francis X. Clooney, SJ, wrote of John’s recently-published book — Volume 4 of Earthing the Cosmic Christ of Ephesians — that “[Keenan] brings a lifetime of multireligious learning to bear in this volume, doing effortlessly what few of us could even imagine.” He was also known among friends and family for his mischievous sense of humor, provoking one friend to eulogize him as a “rare combination of scholar and juvenile delinquent.” Others have concurred with that description.
John is survived by his wife (and editor) of 52 years, Linda Klepinger Keenan; son Daniel Keenan and his wife, Teresa Bolton, of Norton; daughter Melanie LeGeros and her husband, Life LeGeros, of South Duxbury; beloved grandchildren: Ayla, Eliza, Thomas, and Zoe; and nephews Paul and Steven Slowik of Middletown, Delaware.
William “Bill” J. Mares
William “Bill” J. Mares, author, beekeeper, brewer, legislator, and teacher, died at home on July 29, 2024, following a diagnosis of cancer. Thanks to hospice and Vermont’s Act 39 Death with Dignity law, he was able to see many friends in his last weeks and end his life without pain.
Bill was born on November 8, 1940, in St. Louis, Missouri. His father, Joseph Mares, was a chemical engineer and his mother, Delia Mares, was a high school teacher and foreign policy activist. From his parents, he received a love of travel and books. He was raised in Dickinson, Texas, and graduated from St. John’s School in Houston, Texas. He earned a cum laude degree in Middle East history from Harvard College in 1962, and a law degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He served in the Marine Corps Reserve for six years.
After three professional stumbles — the foreign service, banking, and law school — he fell into journalism as a reporter and photographer in Chicago and eventually worked for newspapers in five states. Although he never intended to become a writer, books found him through his friends and his own curiosity.
Bill’s books are an eclectic mix covering topics from Marine Corps boot camp to economic democracy, from war memorials to presidential fishing, from desert travel to beekeeping. He wrote the majority of them with friends and experts in their fields. Four of the books were about his principal hobbies: running, fishing, beekeeping, singing, and brewing beer. In all, Bill wrote or co-authored 20 books, including his memoir Better To Be Lucky Than Smart. The final piece of luck was to finish this last book in the couple of months before he died.
Bill taught history and American foreign policy for two decades at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg. He also taught over 1,000 potential beekeepers through CVU’s evening access classes and classes at Burlington’s Intervale. His 30 marathons included three ‘Bostons,’ a couple of ‘New Yorks,’ and numerous ‘Burlingtons,’. Bill’s singing “career” began with the Harvard Glee Club and ended with Aurora in Burlington. He also served three terms in the Vermont legislature, where his proudest accomplishments were to be vice-chair of the Vermont Bicentennial Commission and sponsor of a law enabling the creation of brew pubs in Vermont. In all this, he aspired to be more than a dilettante, and less than a ‘renaissance man.’
Bill served on numerous non-profit boards: the Intervale Foundation, Fletcher Free Library, Vermont Brewers Association, Vermont Beekeepers Association, VTDigger, the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Food 4 Farmers, and the Vermont Council on World Affairs. He gave generously to a wide variety of organizations, schools, and causes, in particular, the University of Vermont, Harvard University, and Pennsylvania State University.
He could not have done any of this without Christine Hadsel, his best friend and wife of 53 years. Survivors include his wife, Chris; son Timothy, and his wife, Natt, and grandson Bo of Thailand; son Nicholas and his wife, Chelsea, and daughters Delia and Vivian of South Burlington; and brother Jan, his wife, Lois, of Washington, D.C., and their children Joe Mares and Dorothy McCuaig. Another brother, Tom, died in 1957.
Bill was a faithful member of the Episcopal Church. His home parish was St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Colchester, where there was a celebration of his life on Saturday, August 10.
There also will be a gathering of friends and relations to tell stories and have a good time in his memory in September. Friends are invited to donate to their favorite charity or to VTDigger, the Green Mountain Club, or the Apis Fund at the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont.
Dorothy T. Morey
The family’s dear mother, Dorothy T. Morey, sadly died on August 7, 2024, at the age of 100, in Enfield, New Hampshire. She was a resident of Troy and Live Oak, Florida. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, who was always there when her family needed her the most, offering support, wisdom, and love in abundance.
Dorothy, Dot, Dottie, Mom, Grammie was born in Newport on January 31, 1924, to Asa and Florence (Brown) Thayer. She attended Newport High School, class of 1942, and North Hampton Massachusetts Commercial College where she obtained her teaching certificate. She taught school at Derby Academy for 22 years, 2 years at the Troy Elementary School, and at Lake Region Union High School. She retired in 1990, with over 38 and a half years as a teacher. In between all those years she found the love of her life, James Morey Sr. They were married on October 1, 1950, in Newport. Besides being a teacher, wife, and mother, her summers were spend helping Jim on the farm.
Dorothy was a devoted mother to Deena, Todd, and James Jr., her pride and joy and they felt that in the love and support she gave. Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, James (Jim); her parents; Jim’s parents, Clyde and Dorothy Morey; her sister-in-law Vera Morey Parker and husband, Henry; her brother Donald Thayer and his wife, Marie.
A funny story she always enjoyed telling was the fact that there were two Dorothy Moreys. When the family answered the phone, or someone would stop by, they had three questions they asked. (One) Do you want Dorothy F. or Dorothy T.? (Two) Do you want Dot, or Dottie? (Three) The teacher, or not the teacher? We usually solved the ID of one of them.
Dorothy was very active in her community. She was an Eastern Star member, part of Vermont Retired Teachers, and secretary and treasurer of the Thayer Family Reunions for 27 years. She was the sexton for the Troy Village Cemetery, Missisquoi Historical Society, Vermont Old Cemeteries Association, and AARP. When in Florida, she would volunteer at the Second Hand in Time shop, drive friends to appointments, and helped out at multiple yard sales with David, as well as sewed and hemmed clothes for friends.
Her greatest love was knitting socks and making quilts. Every member of her immediate family had at least two or three quilts she had made for them. Her designs were all her own and she made many for other friends, family and even designed one for the Vermont State House with was hung in the capitol building for Vermont Education.
She leaves behind her children: Deena Morey of Troy, Todd Morey and partner, Tess, of Troy, and James and wife, Linda, of Enfield, New Hampshire. She is leaving behind eight grandchildren: Cody, Troy (Patrick), and Orey Tetreault, Jennifer Morey and Allison Heath (Jordan), Russell (April), and Alexander and Colton Morey. She also leaves behind seven great-grandchildren: Nova and Alister, Hudson and Tucker, Autumn, and Sofie and Piper. She was aunt Dottie to many nieces and nephews. Her adopted children Lyse and Cori, family, friends in Vermont and Florida, and teachers throughout her life.
Funeral services will be held at the graveside in the Troy Village Cemetery on August 17 at 1 p.m. with Pastor Robert Cargill officiating. A Celebration of Life will follow at her home in Troy. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to one’s favorite charity in her memory. Online condolences may be made at curtis-britch.com.
Barbara Jean Null
Barbara Jean Null died at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center on August 6, 2024, at the age of 69, with the loving spirit of her family and friends. Barbara was born on March 16, 1955, to her parents, George Anderson and Vanessa Irene McKenney, in Morgan Center. She was one of four children. She married Warren Null in 1984.
Barbara was known to many in the Northeast Kingdom who cared for her over the years providing her with a home and companionship. More recently she made her “forever and ever” home with Brigitte Moulton and her friend Lucy in Orleans where she was happiest. She enjoyed working on her puzzles, word searches and scrapbooking. Barb was an avid participant in Global Campus for many years where she taught classes on white tailed deer and scrapbooking to name a few. She loved visiting her mom at the Lancaster Nursing Home and catching up on her extended family’s growth and happenings. In Barb’s earlier years she especially loved camping with her family in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
Barbara was predeceased by her father; her husband; her brothers Douglass and Cecile Anderson; and her nephews Daniel Lane Jr. and Derek Lane. She is survived by her mother, Vanessa Knott of Lancaster, New Hampshire; her sister Pearl Lane; her nieces Jennifer and Crystal Lane of Gilman and Amanda Putvain of Coventry; and her great-nephews Garrett Shilafoux, Logan and Levi Lane, Connor Putvain and Daniel Putvain Jr.
Barb was one of a kind who touched the hearts of many and her sudden passing from metastatic breast cancer has left a hole in many hearts. Please join the family in saying goodbye to Barbara for a graveside service at Lakeside Cemetery in Island Pond on Friday, August 23 at 2 p.m. Online condolences may be made at curtis-britch.com.
Susan Ginnett
Funeral services for Susan Ginnett scheduled for August 17, 2024, have been postponed until a later date.
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