Merton L. Ward, 94, died on Oct, 12, 2009 at the Memorial Hospital in North Conway. His son, Ronald, his faithful caregiver for the past several years, was at his side. A lifelong resident of Bartlett, Merton was born on Nov. 4, 1915, the son of the late, Fred J. Ward, and Addie (Richards) Ward. He was pre-deceased by his wife of 59 year, Mary Libby Ward, in 1997. Merton was the last born of five siblings, predeceased by two sisters, Alice W. Burke and Marion W. Dinsmore, and two brothers, Irving J. Ward, and Everett W. Ward. He is survived by his son, Ronald Ward, of Bartlett, and several nieces and nephews. During World War II, Merton served in the U.S. Navy Seabees in the Pacific Theater with tours at Pearl Harbor, Guam and Tinian. After his military service, Merton was employed by the New Hampshire State Highway Department maintaining the state highways and plowing through many harsh winter seasons. Merton was an honest, quiet man and was blessed with many years of peaceful living. He liked to repair items in his work shop and enjoyed crafting his own wooden creation, which he shared with friends and family. At Merton's request there will be no visiting hours or funeral. A private graveside service will be held at a later date. Memorial gifts in his memory may be made to the Visiting Nurses and Hospice Care, Box 432, North Conway, NH, 03860.  

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Ronald M. Ward :    Peacefully, with dignity and courage, Ronald M. Ward passed away on December 24, 2010 at the Wolfeboro Bay Care and Rehabilitation Center. On Dec. 1, 2010, Ron was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He was 63 years of age. Ron was born Oct. 2, 1947 at Memorial Hospital in North Conway. He was predeceased by his mother, Mary (Libby) Ward in 1997, and his father, Merton L. Ward, in 2009. Ron was dedicated to his parents and personally cared for them at home in their fi nal days. Except for three years of military service in Vietnam, Ron was a lifelong resident of Mount Washington Valley. He was an accomplished photographer and a favorite pastime was cruising the back roads in his Corvette and photographing the splendors of the valley. For many years Ron worked as a chef at the former Scottish Lion Restaurant in North Conway. Ron was noted for his quiet generosity to community organizations and their efforts, and for his thoughtfulness and kindness to his family and valued lifelong friends. Many hearts are saddened by Ron’s passing. At his request there will be no viewing or memorial service at this time. His desire was for a memorial committal service in the spring for him and his mother and father at the family gravesite in Bartlett. Ron was a dedicated supporter of Visiting Nurses and Hospice Care in North Conway and requested any memorials in his name be made to that organization. The Furber and White Funeral Home in North Conway is assisting with arrangements.

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Helen Tasi Ware — Helen Tasi Ware, 69, died Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010 at her home in Bartlett after living with multiple myeloma for six years. She was born Jan. 25, 1941 in Lynn Mass. to the late Niqe and Tasi Kureta. She graduated from Lynn Classical High School in 1958. She was a secretary in Lynn until 1969 and would later recall her fondness for this work, most notably at Lynn 5 Five Cent Savings Bank and the General Electric Company. After a year with the U.S. Foreign Service in Tokyo, Helen married Kenneth R. Ware in Lynn on Oct. 25, 1970. They traveled throughout the United States, living in several states along the way; Helen particularly liked time spent in Gig Harbor, Wash., Steamboat Springs, Colo, and New York City. They settled in New Hampshire in the early 1970s. For the next few decades, Helen enjoyed living in Bartlett, where she devoted time to school and community projects. In recent years, Helen loved to volunteer as a dining room server at the Gibson Center in North Conway. Survivors include daughters Niqe Ware, of Northampton, Mass., and Lindsay Ware, of Keene; brother, Manny Kureta and his wife, Barbara, of Peabody, Mass.; sister, Ruth Dylingowski and her husband, Richard, of Newburyport, Mass.; sister, Lilyan Savory and her husband, Doug, of Lynn, Mass,; and cousin Virginia Rapo and her brother, Vasil Rapo, of Southbridge, Mass. Arrangements were handled by the New Hampshire Cremation Society in Manchester. Memorial gifts in Helen’s name may be sent to Jen’s Friends Cancer Foundation, PO Box 1842, North Conway, NH, 03860. A memorial service will be held in spring.

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Marion Lucy Warren, 90, died on Jan. 19, 2015, at Mineral Springs Healthcare facility in North Conway after a brief illness.

Her husband, Edmund M. Warren, predeceased her in 1975. She leaves two daughters, Lucy Howland and Helen Goss both of Conway; her granddaughter, Elizabeth Howland, of Seattle, Wash., along with extended family members. Marion was one of six children born to Irene and Arthur Lucy raised on the West Side in North Conway. She had five brothers. Marion was predeceased by her brothers, Fred Lucy, Kenneth Lucy, and Robert Lucy. She is survived by her brothers Chester Lucy and Herbert (Bun) Lucy who still reside on the West Side.

She graduated from Plymouth State Teacher's College in 1946. Her closest friends were her college buddies that she shared life's most precious moments with over the years. Marion taught first grade and kindergarten in the valley before kindergarten went into the public schools. She touched many young lives and has students across the country that remain in touch. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star, Daughters of the American Revolution, and 80 years an active member of the First Church of Christ, Congregational United Church of Christ in North Conway. She supported many local non-profits, especially if they benefited children. She was proud to be a native of the valley and took great pleasure in sharing her family history with all she met.

In  her memory, the family suggests donations be made to Vaughan Community Service, Inc., P.O. Box 401, North Conway, NH, 03860 to benefit the North Conway Daycare. At Marion's request there will be a private committal service later in the spring. The Furber and White Funeral Home in North Conway is in charge of arrangements.

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RICHARD A. WARE    -    BARTLETT — The valley lost a lion on Oct. 29, when Kearsarge resident Richard A. Ware passed away at his Hurricane Mountain Road home. He would have turned 96 this Saturday.

Moderator of the Kearsarge Lighting Precinct, former chair of Vaughan Community Service Inc., and a former trustee and past treasurer at the First Church of Christ Congregational of North Conway, Ware brought decades of experience in government and private sector work to his various positions.

Longtime caretaker and friend Drew Phillips of Kearsarge said he was with Ware when he died of natural causes last Thursday morning.

Phillips was Ware's personal assistant for six years but had known him well for over 40 years. 

"Richard spent summers here as a kid, and grew up with my wife, Patty's, father, Glen Gray. He and Glen used to play golf at the old Russell Cottages golf course in Kearsarge," said Phillips, who said Ware was at one time a passionate golfer, avid hiker and Appalachian Mountain Club member who long ago completed the 48 New Hampshire 4,000-footers.

"Richard was such a wonderful man. He was always ready to give a free hand to those who needed it."

Ware, who served under President Richard Nixon as acting assistant secretary of defense and who was later appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the Board of Foreign Scholarships, was married twice and had four children, three of whom survive him.

Fellow Kearsarge residents State Rep. Karen Umberger (R-Conway) and husband Jim Umberger, chair of the North Conway Water Precinct, were frequent dinner companions of Ware's.

"He will be greatly missed," Jim Umberger said. "The insight he had into things, his knowledge of history, of politics — his intellect was unsurpassed. He had so much life experience, so much of a varied background, you would be mesmerized just talking with him."

Karen Umberger, like her husband, a retired Air Force officer, recalled that "at dinner, we would talk about everything, from politics to economics, all policy-based.

"We would talk about World War II, about Vietnam; about what was in (David) Shribman's political column in the Daily Sun that day — about so many things."

Carl Lindblade, moderator of the First Church of Christ Congregational of North Conway, said: "I think it would be accurate to say Richard was a true Renaissance man. The breadth of his public and private career was amazing. I think it was what made him so incredibly special: from finance, to Scripture, to politics — his knowledge was wide … He was sharp until the end, and to be as sharp for as long as our days are given to us, is a gift."

His thoughts were shared by Dan Jones, a local Realtor who serves as church's finance secretary, as well as director of the church's outreach program, Vaughan Community Service, posts that Ware formerly held.

"He was kind of the sage of the church," Jones said. "He was like E.F. Hutton: When Richard spoke, everyone listened." Jones said Ware "was extremely well-respected."

Karen Umberger and Vaughan Community Service Administrator Denise Leighton both made the point that despite his many accomplishments and ties to the academic and political world, Ware enjoyed talking with people of all ages and backgrounds.

"He taught me so much about finance and other matters," Leighton said. "As intelligent and knowledgeable as he was, he never talked above you — he talked with you. I loved that man. He lived a good long life, but it still hurts a bit, knowing that now he is not here."

Paul Whetton, one of the Kearsarge Lighting Precinct's three commissioners and a former Conway selectman, said Ware enriched his life.

"He was just a good neighbor, and very approachable, with such an intellect," said Whetton, who said when he battled prostate cancer in the 1990s, Ware wrote him a heartfelt note, saying that he, too, had battled the disease.

"He told me that 99 percent of the battle in that kind of situation was attitude, and he was right: I focused on his suggestion as I went through it."

On the eve of this past Memorial Day, the quiet-spoken Ware was profiled in a cover story in The Conway Daily Sun, reflecting on a career that spanned from World War II to the Defense Department during the Nixon Administration.

A few months before that cover story, The Sun also reported on the tiny Kearsarge Lighting Precinct’s annual meeting last March.

That session was attended by 17 of the precinct's 31 registered voters. Karen Umberger — who is the precinct's checklist supervisor — praised Ware for his decision to run for another yearlong term as moderator.  "I was happy to see you sign up again for another term, Richard," said Umberger."I'm 95 — I'm an optimist," quipped Ware to the small gathering crammed into the confines of the former Kearsarge Post Office.

His remark drew a friendly laugh from those present. He then got serious, thanking the cadre of voters for attending the annual meeting, noting that small districts such as Kearsarge's are "the core of our nation's democracy."  And in an interview at his Kearsarge home in May, he reiterated that belief.

"It's very unique the way people in this valley and in New Hampshire get involved," said Ware, regarding not only the active participation of precinct voters but also of New Hampshire voters in holding the first-in-the-nation presidential primary every four years. "It's not that way everywhere, even in my former home state of Michigan, which has rural areas like here in the northern part of the state. It's great to see."

Asked how best to honor Ware's legacy, Karen Umberger said people in the valley would be well-served to emulate his record of community service.  "Richard was always a person who was behind the scenes, making things happen but not looking for any credit — not being out front, but making sure that things got done. If all of us were to remember that example, we would be a better community," she said.

Funeral services will be held Friday at 11 a.m. in the First Church of Christ Congregational in North Conway with the Rev. Gilman Healy, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in the Kearsarge Cemetery in Kearsarge.

Richard A Ware Papers 1930 to 2005 - Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Philadelphia Society - In Memorium

Intercollege Studies Institure - Archives

Conway Daily Sun - Richard Ware Reflects on a Full Life - August 4, 2017

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Dorothy E. Webster, 105, died April 22, 2014 at Mineral Springs in North Conway. Born in Bartlett, the daughter of Selden and Mary (Fernald) Rogers, she grew up in Bartlett and lived in Rochester for twenty years before moving back to Bartlett. Mrs. Webster worked at the former Hansel & Gretel Restaurant in Bartlett, Conway Cafe in Conway and Colby's Restaurant in Rochester for several years The family includes: three daughters, Joyce A. Eaves of Milton, Donna Garvin of Waltham, MA and Judy Cummings of Peterborough; ten grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; four great-great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Howard L. Webster and two daughters, Betty Jackson and Rita Jackson and a son, Paul Webster. Funeral services will be held Saturday April 26, 2014 at 11 a.m. at the Furber and White Funeral Home in North Conway with Pastor Robert Novak, officiating. There will be no visiting hours. Burial will be in the Bartlett Village Cemetery later.

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Washburn, Fred---___?___ to 1971

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Carroll E. Young, 85, passed away peacefully in his sleep at Grafton County Nursing Home on Monday, July 24, 2023. He was born in North Haverhill, N.H., on Dec. 25, 1937, to Gerald and Katheryn (Gray) Young and was raised in Glen, N.H., with Ivan and Myrtle Taylor.

He graduated from Bartlett High School with the class of 1955. Carroll worked various jobs in the Glen area after graduation and in the 1970s he owned and operated Valley Construction. In the late 1980s, he moved to North Haverhill, N.H., and worked for several years at Morrill Construction.

 In his free time, he enjoyed auto racing, and drove the No. 3 car at Oxford Plains Speedway for several years in the 1960s and 1970s. He also enjoyed spending time hunting, fishing and enjoying everything the outdoors had to offer.

He is predeceased by a wife, Florence (Pimental) Young; and the mother of his children, Nancy (Nason) Karz; his birth parents, Gerald and Katheryn (Gray) Young; and his adoptive parents, Ivan and Myrtle Taylor; a daughter, Valerie Rawson; a stepson, Michael Burleson; five brothers, Benny Young, Barry Young, Brian Young, Gary Young and Freddie Taylor; four sisters, Anne Douglas, Pat Naylor, Margaret Taylor and Carolyn Taylor. Carroll is survived by his wife Verna (Davis)Young of Woodsville, N.H.; a son Michael Young and wife, Rebekah, of North Haverhill; a daughter Miranda Mahaney and husband, John, of Glen; a stepson Joe Shackford and wife, Helen, of Glen; four step daughters, Laurianne Rowden and husband, Robert, of Wells River, Vt.; Sandy Parker and husband, Wade, of Ryegate, Vt.; Bonnie Boyce of Wells River; and Dawn Burleson of Woodsville; a brother Paul Taylor of Intervale, N.H.; two sisters, Bernice “Bonnie” Hanson and husband, Hiram “Butch,” of Haverhill; and Margaret “Peggy” Donlon and husband, David, of Benton, N.H.; 21 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and several loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

There will be a service on Friday, Aug. 4, at 4 p.m. at Ricker Funeral Home, 1 Birch Street, Woodsville, NH 03785, and a burial at Glen Cemetery on Monday, Aug. 7, at 11 a.m. To offer the family an online condolence, please go to rickerfh.com. Ricker Funeral Home & Cremation Care of Woodsville is assisting with arrangements.===

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Rita Helen Whittum Heaven gained a beautiful angel and a big piece of our hearts, when Rita H. Whittum, 78, formerly of Center Conway, N.H., passed away peacefully in her sleep at her Mountain View Community home in Ossipee, N.H.

 Rita was the fourth of five children born to Arthur and Marie (Desgroseilliers) Bellerose, on April 9, 1945, in Berlin, N.H., Rita moved to Bartlett, N.H., when she was 6 years old and attended Kennett High School in Conway, which was a place in which many, many lifelong friends were made. She married her husband, Wendell, on Oct. 6, 1962, and together, raised their three children in Bartlett.

 For 53 years they rode life’s journey side-by-side, until his death on Dec. 11, 2015. Rita always enjoyed being outdoors, whether she was hiking up Cave Mountain in Bartlett, walking along river trails or basking in the sun — no matter what the temperature was! Skiing became a new hobby of hers the day her father came home with a pair of downhill skis he had found. Since they didn’t have the money to ski at a mountain, she found the next best thing right in her own backyard! They had a massive granite boulder, the size of a small bunny hill, and she would climb up with her skis and zoom down, over and over again. Finally, after 40 years, she got her first ski lesson and enjoyed skiing until she was 68. Then there was skating! Every day after school, she would skate. She loved practicing twirls, small jumps, backward foot glides, and crossovers … Oh, how she loved skating! She used to say that maybe in her next life, she would master the triple axel! Drawing was something she enjoyed even before kindergarten. Painting soon followed. Seeing so many beautiful paintings and always admiring the techniques that were used, made her want to paint like the artists she thought so highly of. She saved 5 1/2 books of Green Stamps, and got a case with oil paints, brushes, two 8 by 10 canvases and a paint pallet. Her very first painting on thick white paper was a beautiful night scene of the New York City skyline. She recalled how easily the paint floated onto the paper, and how calming it made her feel as she was painting, often saying that was when her love for painting began. Painting gave her so much joy throughout her life, and she shared paintings with countless friends, family — and a stranger or two along the way! She felt so proud when she displayed her work at TD Bank and had a monthlong display at Conway Public Library. Even in her final days, when her hands were not as steady as they once were, Rita continued to pursue her passion, showing the incredible determination and love for art that defined her life. Rita had many fond memories of attending painting retreats with her other artist friends, especially at Monhegan Island, which held a very special place in her heart. She described how they would stay for a week, choosing cabins with no electricity, collecting wood for the fireplace, visiting by the warm light of the kerosene lamps, and hiking on the cliffs, hoping not to fall! They would take plein air art lessons overlooking the ocean and surrounding islands, and eat the delicious, warm, homemade doughnuts waiting for them at breakfast!

Rita loved to involve herself in many areas of work that included being around people. She enjoyed people from all walks of life, and the people in her life were always a priority for her. Some of the jobs that held treasured memories for her included volunteering at a preschool, being a 4-H leader, being a Cub Scout leader, starting the bakery at Grant’s Supermarket, working at Mallett’s Store, working at the Littleton Stamp and Coin Co., and traveling to Winston- Salem, N.C., to open a retail store. However, her most precious and cherished memories were those spent with her loving family.

Rita is survived by her daughter, Pamela Dethlefs, and her husband David (of Center Conway), her son, Bill Whittum and his wife, Lauren (Conway, N.H.), her son, Jamie Whittum and his wife, Kate (Freedom, N.H.), her grandson, Corey Whittum (Bartlett), her granddaughter, Sarah Whittum (Conway), her great-granddaughter, Avery Whittum, and her great-grandson, Gavin Whittum, and their mom, Rachel Waterhouse (Littleton, N.H.).

She also leaves behind her sister, Mary Jane Daugherty (Massachusetts), and brother Steven Bellerose (Virginia), and many wonderful nieces and nephews, and numerous friends whom she considered family. She loved all of them dearly … and they all loved her just as much!

Rita was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Wendell, brother, Roland Bellerose (Alabama) and nephew Remo Bellerose (Alabama), and most recently, her beloved sister, Mary Ann Leavitt (Ossipee, N.H.), whom she enjoyed playing Scrabble with for countless hours.

Rita’s family is deeply grateful and thankful to the Mountain View Community Nursing Home in Ossipee, and the Merriman House in North Conway, N.H. There, she was surrounded by wonderful, kind, professional people, who cared for her in ways she could not care for herself, and did so with compassion for her well-being. Finally, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Charlie and Colton at Furber & White Funeral Home, for assisting us with grace and professionalism.

A celebration of Rita’s life will be on Sunday, Nov. 12, at Tin Mountain Conservation Center, 1245 Bald Hill Road, Conway, N.H., from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. We invite friends and family to bring with them a cherished memory or meaningful story to share. We encourage those who were fortunate enough to receive one of Rita’s paintings to bring it, so we can all enjoy the enduring legacy of her creativity and generosity.=

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