Notable New Hampshire Deaths: Investigative Reporter Talbot; State Official Sweeney

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.

A. Allan Clark, 92, of Chichester, died April 16, 2026. He was a teacher in the Bedford and Concord school districts, and he served on the Chichester School Board for more than 20 years. He served for 30 years on the board of directors for N.H. Federal Credit Union. (Roan Family Funeral Home-Still Oaks Chapel)

Yvon J. Cloutier Jr., 73, of Belmont, died April 15, 2026. He spent many years in the restaurant industry alongside his wife and children, owning and operating The Country Mile in Lincoln (1980–1987), The Sidewalk Café in Bristol (1992–2005), and Granny Judy’s Kitchen in Franklin (2006–2021). (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)

Frederic E. Copp, 94, of Meredith, died April 20, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran, he joined the volunteer Meredith Fire Department in 1960 and worked his way up from an on-call firefighter to become Meredith’s first full-time fire chief in 1986, retiring 10 years later. He owned Meredith Fire Equipment, selling and servicing fire extinguishers. Earlier in his career, he worked for the highway department for the town of Center Harbor, then he moved on to working on a logging truck. From there, he worked at different gas stations, finally ending up at AMATEX, the mill in downtown Meredith, where he worked as the head of the maintenance department for 27 years. (Mayhew Funeral Home)

Miklos "Nick" Czifrik, 81, of Salem, died April 19, 2026. A native of Hungary, he served in the U.S. Air Force. He was a self-employed private health-care practice consultant and was a founding member of the Greater Salem Rotary Club. The club’s scholarship program was named in his honor. He organized the annual fishing derby for the Town of Salem. And volunteered with the Rotary to assist with the Special Olympics. He served on the school board of Saint Joseph’s School and volunteered with the Greater Salem Caregivers. He founded Salem Youth Soccer in 1984, and was director of the New Hampshire Olympic Development Program. He was a board member of the N.H. Soccer Association. (Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home)

Roger Michael Damphousse, 85, of Hollis, died April 20, 2026. He was an electrical engineer who began his career at Avco, where he contributed to early Apollo space missions. He worked for Sanders Associates and Harris Corporation, eventually leading that company’s operations. He later joined Calcomp, which was acquired by Lockheed Martin, and he was president of the Commercial Electronics Division, which was sold to Benchmark before he retired at age 60. He was president of the United Way in Nashua and served on the boards of Rivier College and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua. (Farwell Funeral Home)

Robert F. Guyre Jr., 83, of Windham, died April 20, 2026. He was a shift-test engineer on the nuclear carrier USS Enterprise and established Guyre Associates, a marketing and advertising business in Windham in 1979. He volunteered as a baseball coach, member of the Windham Master Plan Committee, and was a founding member of St. Matthew Parish, Knights of Columbus Council 7572. He became a fourth Degree Knight, and as Grand Knight he organized the council to become a Star Council. A scholarship by the Knights is given each year in his name. (Carrier Family Funeral Home)

Walter Maxwell “Chip” Hastings III, 83, of Hampstead, died April 17, 2026. Chip spent his professional career at the family business, NH Fence Company in Raymond, while serving, since 1967, on the Hampstead Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter. He was a firefighter for more than 50 years, including 30 years as fire chief. He was also a forest fire warden for 28 years. He was a member of the Fire Engineers Capital Needs Committee and played a key role in developing the town’s Emergency Operations Plan. He served on the Hampstead Budget Committee and Historic District Commission. The town report was dedicated to him in 2008 and the Hampstead Fire Station was dedicated in his honor in 2023. He worked for Atlas Pyrotechnics in Jaffrey and helped produce synchronized fireworks shows, including international competitions in Montreal, First Night celebrations in Boston and July 4th displays on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He was a skilled blacksmith and member of the New England Blacksmiths and served on their executive board. (Brewitt Funeral Home)

Robert Larry Jodrie, 94, of Gorham, died April 18, 2026. He was recreation commissioner for the town of Gorham and a coach for Little League. He served as police chief in Milan and a member of the Milan Fire Department. He was a construction supervisor and highway foreman for the state for 22 years. (Bryant Funeral Home)

Sylvia T. Lehner, 89, of Wolfeboro, died April 21, 2026. She was a nurse at Huggins Hospital and started a home daycare business before becoming the Carpenter School/local HeadStart nurse in 1968. She and her husband Gene bought Gene’s Hardware in 1970 and transformed it into Gene’s of Wolfeboro. They retired in 2001 after 25 years in business. She was a charter lifetime member of the American Motorcycle Association and a member of the International Women on Wheels. (Lord Funeral Home)

David Edward Parker, 67, of Meredith, died April 20,2026. He was a captain on the Meredith Fire Department, a title that he held until his death. He was an emergency dispatcher for Lakes Region Mutual Fire aid for 21 years until his retirement in 2023. (Wilkinson- Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home)

Lorraine A. (Fereshetian) Strube, 70, of Lyndeborough, died April 18, 2026. She was a legal secretary for 17 years with the N.H. Public Defender’s Office and served as a Lyndeborough selectwoman. She was a long-time member of the Lafayette Artillery Company, and, for more than 20 years, led and organized Lyndeborough’s Memorial Day observances. (Smith & Heald Funeral Home)

Earl Martin Sweeney, 88, of Belmont, died April 19, 2026. A lifelong public servant, he was a law enforcement leader and a driving force behind modernizing police training and professional standards in New Hampshire. Early in his career, he was a stringer and photographer for several newspapers and ran a portrait photography business. He joined the Belmont Police Department at the age of 20, to become the youngest police chief in New Hampshire history at age 23. He helped uncover a plot to assassinate President-elect John F. Kennedy by a former Belmont resident. He was director of the Police Standards and Training Academy and assistant commissioner of the Department of Safety. During his 60-plus year career, he helped shape statewide police and fire training systems, accreditation standards, and key legislative reforms. He served on the Belmont School Board and was town moderator. (Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services)

Roger Gerard Talbot, 83, of Pembroke, died April 22, 2026. He was an award-winning journalist for the New Hampshire Sunday News. Early in his career, he taught special education at Kennett High School. He began his reporting career at the Salem (Mass.) Evening News and was a reporter for the Davenport (Iowa) Times-Democrat before joining the Concord Monitor staff in 1970. In 1979, he reported for the Manchester Union Leader, now the New Hampshire Union Leader. He became an investigative reporter for the New Hampshire Sunday News, and his work earned him many awards, including a 1989 First Place for investigative reporting award from the New Hampshire Press Association. He doggedly pursued the story of disgraced Newport District Court Judge John C. Fairbanks, who stole $1.8 million from clients and fled to Canada to elude justice before committing suicide in a Las Vegas hotel. He was honored in 2002 as a “Master Reporter” by the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. He retired in 2005. (Legacy.com)

WORDS OF WISDOM: “The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” —Henry Miller, American novelist, Dec. 26, 1891, to June 7, 1980

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