Notable New Hampshire Deaths: Former Seabrook Police Chief Cronin, Nashua Deputy Fire Chief Telgen

By InDepth NH

InDepthNH.org scans the websites of New Hampshire funeral homes each week and selects at random some of our friends, relatives and neighbors to feature in this column. The people listed here passed away during the previous weeks and have some public or charitable connection to their community. InDepthNH.org is now offering obituaries through the Legacy.com service. We view this as part of our public service mission. Click here or on the Obituaries tab at the top of our home page to learn more. And if you know of someone from New Hampshire who should be featured in this column, please send your suggestions to NancyWestNews@gmail.com.

Peter Bissell, 78, of Surry, died June 12, 2026. He was a member of the Surry Planning Board and served with the Surry Boy Scouts, the Monadnock District, and the Order of the Arrow. He was a member of the Surry Players Theater Group for more than 40 years. He was employed by Markem Corp. for 35 years and in retirement started his own septic design company. (DiLuzio Foley and Fletcher Funeral Homes)

Paul J. Cronin, 86, of Seabrook, died June 21, 2026. A veteran of the U.S. Army from 1960-1963, he also served in the U.S. Army Reserves. He was employed by New England Telephone Company from 1965 to 1970 and as a part-time patrolman in Hampton. He became a full-time police officer in Hampton in 1970 and advanced to become a detective sergeant. He was chief of police for the town of Hillsboro from 1974-1979 and was the first non-elected chief of police in Seabrook from 1979-1982. He then worked at the Seabrook Power Plant from 1982-1986 and returned to the chief of police position in Seabrook in 1986, retiring in 2003. (Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory)

Jane Marie Usher Cunningham, 93, of Jaffrey, died June 15, 2026. She was postmaster at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, and then worked at Bean Fiber Glass in Jaffrey for 21 years, beginning as a secretary and retiring in 1994 as controller. She served on the boards of St. Patrick School in Jaffrey, the Thorndike Club, the Jaffrey Center Village Improvement Society, and the Jaffrey Historic District Commission. She was past president of the Monadnock Garden Club. (Cournoyer Funeral Home & Cremation Center)

Paul Dantos Karamourtopoulos, 61, of Hampton, died June 23, 2026. He was a police officer in Lawrence, Mass., for 11 years, then worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. (Methuen Family Funeral Home)

Susan Leach, 84, of Bonita Springs, Fla, and formerly of Jaffrey, died June 13, 2026. She was a reading specialist and became principal of the Marlborough School. She was president of the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce and chair of Shelter from the Storm. She was founder and president emeritus of the Community Center of Jaffrey. She volunteered at the Jaffrey Swap Shop, drove for CVTC, and served as a CASA volunteer. In 2013, she was named Jaffrey's Citizen of the Year. (Cournoyer Funeral Home & Cremation Center)

Evalyn Susan (Block) Merrick, 72, of Lancaster, died June 20, 2026. As a cancer patient, she found relief through the use of cannabis and became an advocate for medical cannabis in New Hampshire, serving as a member of the N.H. House of Representatives from 2006 to 2012, serving on the Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee, leading the effort to bringing medical cannabis to the state. She volunteered with Hospice of Lancaster, served on the Lancaster Zoning Board and the Weeks Hospital Auxiliary Board, chaired the Lancaster Democrats, and advocated for blood cancer research through the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. She performed, directed, and choreographed with the Lyric Theatre of Performing Arts, Colonel Town Players and the Weathervane Theatre. (Legacy.com)

Richard James Aloysius Mueller, 78, of Warner, died June 16, 2026. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel. He worked for the First National Bank of Chicago and then as a bookkeeper for R.R. Donnelly and Sons. In 2001, he started a second career as a high school teacher at Bishop Brady High School, where he was fondly known as “The Colonel.” (Holt-Woodbury Funeral Home)

Roger Hale Osgood Jr., 86, of Bedford, died June 8, 2026. He was a captain in the U.S. Air Force and became president of his family’s Osgood’s Hardware business in 1981. He was a member of the Nashua Rotary Club, serving as president. He was a board member of Nashua Federal Saving and Loan and the Nashua Public Library. He taught courses in economics, accounting and business at Southern New Hampshire University and Nashua Community College. (Legacy.com)

Susan Postlewaite, 75, of Center Sandwich, died June 16, 2026. She was an editor, journalist, media trainer, and professor. She began her career in journalism in 1972, writing for the Carroll County Independent in Wolfeboro and The Caledonian Record in St. Johnsbury, Vt. She was managing editor for the Daily Business Review and the Miami Herald, and then a correspondent for Bloomberg BusinessWeek and The Associated Press. She and her husband Mike worked at the American University of Cairo in Egypt, Business Week Cairo, The Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bangalore, and The American University in Bulgaria before they landed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to teach young journalists and cover the Khmer Rouge Tribunal for Associated Press. She was an editor of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. (Lord Funeral Home-Crematory)

Glenn Telgen, 46, of Weare, died June 18, 2026. He was a firefighter in Hudson, then joined Nashua Fire Rescue in 2002. He advanced within the department, earning promotions to lieutenant in 2011, captain in 2020, and deputy chief in 2023. He was also a registered hunting guide in New Hampshire and Maine. (Rivet Funeral Home-Crematory)

Mary Jane “MJ” Turcotte, 82, of Webster, died June 21, 2026. She was a veteran of the U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and assisted Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon. After WAC was disbanded in 1978, she integrated into the U.S. Army as a member of Quartermaster Corps. She was later stationed in Korea, eventually leaving active duty in 1979. She also served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, retiring in 2004. She taught physical education at Tilton-Northfield High School. From 1983 to 1999, she worked for the N.H. State Legislature in the Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant and in the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Commissioner. (Legacy.com)

WORDS OF WISDOM: "Life imposes things on you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this." — Céline Marie Claudette Dion, Canadian singer, born March 30, 1968

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.