Robert Compton
Robert Compton, 79, died at his home in Barton on August 30, 2024. He was born in Hamburg, New Jersey, on March 22, 1945, to Nathan and Eleanor Compton.
Bob proudly served in the United States Navy aboard the submarine USS Thomas Jefferson. Bob was a friend to all, kind and humble. He was a gifted artist, selling some of his paintings but mostly he gave them to family and friends. Bob loved to go on rides; stopping for breakfast at Martha’s Diner was one of his favorites. Folks may remember him when they did their recycling in Barton, where he worked until his retirement.
Bob is survived by his sister-in-law Barbara Compton and cousins Sonny Trucott, who he would visit every day for coffee, niece Adrienne Hutchin and family, cousin Helen Perron of East Hampton, Connecticut, niece Cheryl Daniels, nephew Ricky Lewis, and good friend David Pund, nephew Alvin Simard and his wife, Paulette, Joe Simard and his family, very special family and caregivers Jennifer and AJ Simard, and Ed Young who cared for him during his last weeks at home. Bob was predeceased by his parents, Nathan and Eleanor Compton, and brothers Keith and Jim Compton.
Bob will be missed very much. May God take good care of him. Services will be held at the convenience of the family.
Joan Winnifred Parry
Joan Winnifred Parry, 86, of Barton, died on September 11, 2024, in Newport. She was born on December 21, 1937, in Albany, to the late Norman and Jeannette Michaud. On May 2, 1964, she married John “Jack” Parry who predeceased her on January 11, 2022.
Joan was a graduate of Orleans High School, class of 1955. She was a star basketball player and later named to the Orleans High School (OHS) Basketball Hall of Fame. After graduating from OHS, Joan went to Burdett Business College in Boston, where she met her husband. After spending several years in Massachusetts, she was happy to return to Vermont with Jack and quickly embraced her Vermont community. She enjoyed playing golf and her many friends at the Orleans Country Club. She served on the club’s board of directors for many years.
She is survived by son Jeffrey and wife, Michele, of The Villages, Florida, grandchildren Ethan Parry and his wife, Hillary, of Huntington, Jenna Davis and her husband, Kyle, of Ft. Myers, Florida, Morgan St. Germain and Alexandra St. Germain both of Lady Lake, Florida, by her great-grandchildren Faith Davis and Phoenix St. Germain, her niece Lori Leopold and her husband, Ken, of Connecticut, and the many beloved cousins and family in the Laconia, New Hampshire, area.
She was also predeceased by her son Jonathan Parry and sister Jacqulyn Verna (Michaud) Daniels.
A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25, at Irasburg Cemetery with Reverend Laurence Wall officiating. If friends desire, memorial contributions in Joan’s name may be made to the Maple Lane Nursing Home Activities Fund, 60 Maple Lane, Barton, Vermont 05822. Online condolences may be made at curtis-britch.com.
Richard Ernest “Skip” Wheeler
Richard Ernest “Skip” Wheeler died on September 11, 2024. He was born in Westmore on February 27, 1933, and was predeceased in death by his parents, Percival and Irene Wheeler; a younger sister Claudia; stepdaughter Melinda K. Watts; his former wife, Patricia Brown, of Barton; and by his wife, Judy Ann, of Conway, Arkansas. He is survived by his son Kevin John Wheeler of St. Johnsbury; sister Ann Marie Green of Napa, California; and brothers: Edward C. Wheeler of Hebron, Connecticut, and Alton D. Wheeler of Orleans. He also leaves behind stepson Michael Watts, step-grandson Michael Riley, both of Arkansas, and step-granddaughter Malia K. Watts of Conway.
Skip grew up in Millbrook Village in Westmore and went to school in the one-room school on the east side of Lake Willoughby, graduated from Lyndon Institute in 1951, and then attended Norwich University for three years. He joined the Vermont Air National Guard in 1954, became an F-86 jet fighter pilot in 1956, and then returned to the Vermont Air National Guard while earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Vermont in 1959 and an MBA from Webster College. He flew with the Arizona Air Force National Guard and worked for Dun and Bradstreet until 1964, when he returned to active duty in the U.S. Air Force at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Skip amassed 10,000 hours of flying time, mostly in multi-engine aircraft, until retirement in 1983. He had assignments in 1966 and 1967 at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, in Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas from 1973 to 1978, at the Travis Air Force Base in California from 1967 to 1973, and at the Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines from 1978 to 1980, staying in the country through 1983.
On retirement, Skip and Judy lived in Bellingham, Washington, and Corpus Christi, Texas, until 2002, when they moved to Fairfield Bay, Arkansas, then in 2017 to Conway. He was a life member of Disabled American Veterans, Military Officer Association of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4513, and the American Legion Post 333 in Fairfield Bay. A military plaque will be placed in Lakeview Cemetery, Willoughby Lake, Westmore, next Memorial Day, where he will finally settle down.
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