Transitions
•William B. Gurney is the new President and CEO of the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Austine School in Brattleboro. Gurney will be replacing Bert Carter, who will be leaving at the end of June to take the position of President and CEO at the Willie Ross School in Longmeadow. Mass. Gurney has has been in the field of education for over 30 years and holds a B.A. in History, a M.A. in Administration and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Education Leadership. He has worked in the Keene (N.H.) School District in a variety of administrative roles.
• Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has hired Lynne Vantassel as Program Director for the new BMH Center for Wound Healing, opening in early May. Vantassel will be responsible for achieving clinical, operational and financial results at the center. Prior to joining BMH, Vantassel served as the Director of Global Program Management at WPP in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BSBA in Business Management from Western New England University.
College news
• Londonderry resident Jenna Jordan performed in the Second Violin section with the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on April 19. Jordan is a sophomore Music Education major in the Ithaca College School of Music.
• Caleb E. Wiley of South Londonderry was a member of the men's track & field team at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa.. Wiley, a graduate of Burr and Burton Academy, is a senior early childhood education and special education major.
Obituaries
• Mitchell Allen, 55, who later changed his name to Ben Jacob Yahiel, formerly of Westminster. Died March 18. He lived on a small island off Hawaii called Roto Island with his wife, Carole Squires Yahiel. He was a fisherman by trade but also loved carpentry and gardening/farming. He leaves behind his wife, Carol; his parents, Russell and Peggy Allen; and his siblings, Larry Allen and his wife, Diane; Delce Porter and her husband, Jack; Brenda Eno and her husband, Tim; and Tammy Staudter and her husband, Rob. Memorial information: No information provided.
• Dorothy Maxine Smith Hutchins, 92, of Brattleboro. Died April 23. Wife of the late Rev. Richmond N. Hutchins for more than 60 years. Mother of Susan Heimer and her husband, Tim Ragle, of Putney; Margaret Hutchins and her husband, David Kennard, of Portsmouth, N.H.; and the late Mark Hutchins. Sister of the late Evelyn Badenhop. Born in Mapleton, Iowa, the daughter of the late Howard and Elfreda Smith, she graduated as Salutatorian of her class in 1939, then worked in a bank in Colorado, where she met her future husband when he was stationed there during part of World War II. They were married in 1945 in Colorado Springs, and moved to California, where he attended seminary to become an Episcopal priest. She supported his ministry as he served in parishes in Colorado, the Finger Lakes, and the Thousand Islands, as a chaplain in the Air Force in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and finally as a priest associate at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro. She was a talented seamstress and dressmaker, and she did beautiful ecclesiastical embroidery. Creative pursuits also included quilting, baking (especially from her German heritage), and making dried and fresh flower arrangements. Her greatest joy was her garden, where she usually knew her plants by their botanical names. She was involved in altar guilds, church choirs, and a handbell choir. Travel included many Elderhostel trips and visits to the Holy Land, Alaska, the Caribbean, and Europe, where the Hutchinses made a point of visiting churches, cathedrals and other historic places. Memorial information: A funeral service will be held May 18, at 1 p.m.,at St. Michael's Episcopal Church. Donations to the church, Hilltop House in Brattleboro, or Thompson House in Brattleboro, where she was cared for so lovingly during her last year of life.
• Carey Elizabeth Shands Lane, 82, of Brattleboro. Died April 17, a week after her 82nd birthday. Wife of the late Richard King Lane for 50 years. Mother of Jenny Walker, and her husband, Randy, of Royalton; Michael Lane of Kittery Point, Maine; Elizabeth Nowell and her husband, Matthew, of York, Maine; and Timothy Lane and his wife, Jodi, of Richmond. Sister of Courtney Shands, Jr. of Kirkwood, Mo. Born in Long Beach, Calif., to Elizabeth Jones and Admiral Courtney Shands, she was a Navy Junior who moved with her family to numerous coastal postings around the world: Manila and Cavite, Philippines; Shanghai, and Tsingtao, China; Pensacola, Fla., Norfolk, Va., and Newport, R.I. She and her mother and brother would return to her grandfather's home in Kirkwood, Mo., for month-long stays during her father's military absences. She graduated from Coronado High School in California. She attended MacMurray College in Illinois, where she was a member of the college swim team and valedictorian of her graduating class in 1953. The summer before her senior year, she married and the newlyweds lived in Washington while attending Gallaudet College and studying Deaf Education. In 1954, she received her Master's of Education. As a mother and wife, she moved her family as her husband was hired for progressively higher administrative positions in the state deaf school system. In 1962, her husband became the principal at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Conn., where they lived in a staff house for three years. They moved to Brattleboro in 1965, onto the campus of the Austine School for the Deaf, where her husband was Headmaster and she taught preschool. In retirement, they moved to West Brattleboro. She loved the song birds so active in her yard, putting up birdhouses and feeding them throughout the seasons. She relaxed in her garden and loved being barefoot, regardless of the weather. There were always vases of freshly cut flowers from her garden in different rooms in her house. She loved living in Vermont and raising her children here. She was a wonderful cook and baker and she knit many beautiful sweaters for her family and sewed clothes and quilts. She loved to read and had ongoing exchanges of books with friends. She was also a faithful letter writer, writing weekly letters to her brother and children over these years. She was a devout and active member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro and was honored to serve as the head of the Altar Guilders. She attended to all of her duties with great care and responsibility. She was also a member of the transportation committee and of the intercessory prayer group. She was a volunteer at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Memorial information: Funeral services were held April 27 at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro. Condolences may be sent to P.O. Box 2308. West Brattleboro, VT 05303, and donations to Audubon Vermont, 225 Sherman Hollow Rd. Huntington, VT 05462.
• Kathryn A. LeBlanc, 60, of Brattleboro. Died April 21 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. Daughter of Liberta Laberge of North Fort Myers, Fla. Sister of Rosemary LeBlanc of North Fort Myers, Fla., Louis S. LeBlanc Sr. of Winchester, N.H., and Anthony M. LeBlanc of Indian Lake, N.Y.; and her beloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was a longtime employee of Brown & Roberts Hardware in Brattleboro, having worked there for the last 31 years. She enjoyed fishing and also doing crafts. She will be missed by all. Memorial information: A graveside service was held April 29 at Evergreen Cemetery in Winchester, N.H.
• Francis Russell Manix, 88, of Putney. Died April 19 in Venice, Fla. Husband of Frances Walker Manix for nearly 65 years. Father of Jack Walker Manix, and his wife, Karen, and the late Alan T. Manix. Born in South Deerfield, Mass., the son of the late Attorney John T. and Alice Manix. He graduated from Deerfield High School and Deerfield Academy. He lived in East Haven, Conn., Stamford, Conn., and Framingham, Mass., before retiring to Vermont. He served in the Navy during World War II, spending two years on duty in the South Pacific. He then joined with the Marines in the invasion of the Marshall Islands. He was later assigned to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Princeton. Upon discharge from the Navy, he worked as a telegrapher throughout the country. He was later promoted to General Sales Manager for the New Haven Railroad and headed their office on Madison Avenue in New York City. Through railroad mergers, he served as New England sales manager, ending his career in Boston. Memorial information: A private graveside service will be held at the Dummerston Cemetery at a later date.
• Ricky S. May, 3, of Readsboro. Died April 18 at his home. Born in Greenfield, Mass., the son of Kyle and Tanya (Plumley) May, his favorite thing to do was go to “Chinese food on Putney Road.” He enjoyed riding dirt bikes with his Dad, singing, playing the drums, fishing, going to Six Flags and to Boston to see the Red Sox. He will always be remembered by his family for his contagious smile. Besides his parents, he is survived by a sister, Gracie May; maternal grandparents, Kelly and Scott Plumley of Readsboro; paternal grandparents, Laurie and Timothy May of Vernon; nine uncles, Scott, Jr., Gage, Thai, Sag, Tate, Christian, and Cale Plumley, and Zachery and Cody May; maternal greatgrandparents, Louis and Nancy Bobee; and paternal greatgrandparents; Robert and Shirley Miller and Harold and Elizabeth May. Memorial information: A funeral service was held April 29, with a private burial at Tyler Cemetery in Vernon.
• Mertina “Tina” Rudie, 92, of Turners Falls, Mass., formerly of Brattleboro and Brookline, Mass. Died Nov. 7 in Boston. Mother of Antony Rudie of Watertown, Mass., and Lynne Rudie of Turners Falls, Mass. Sister of the late Frederick Johnson and Emily Johnson. Born in Everett, Mass., she went to Smith College, and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1941, in the same class as Betty Friedan. She went from there to Julliard as a composition major, and met her future husband, Robert. They were married on Christmas Day, 1942, at her brother Fred's house. Their first big move from New York City was to Oklahoma City, where her husband was concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra. She worked for the orchestra as timpanist. Around 1956, they moved back to the New York City area, living in Yonkers and Scarsdale for a few years before starting work at Riverdale Country School in the early 1960s. At Riverdale, she taught piano and was the registrar for the music school. This meant that, every fall, she assembled the scheduling requests of all the students and all the teachers and the characteristics of all the rooms in the music school, and made up the schedule for the year. In the age of ubiquitous computing, it's hard to imagine that this was the only way to do such a thing, but it was. The job at Riverdale ended, and soon afterward, so did their marriage, which was devastating for her. She moved to Cambridge, Mass., for a year, and then spent two winters in Mexico before relocating to Brattleboro, where she worked for the Brattleboro Music Center and also began doing freelance accompanying for singers, mostly at Keene State College. Accompanying made use of her keen intellect. The routine was that a singer would plop down the score and she would sight-read, and offer to simultaneously transpose it up or down as she read, if the singer needed it in a different key. Through all the years, she looked forward to the Marlboro Music Festival and was a regular attendee. She moved back to the Boston area to be closer to her grandchildren in the late 1990s, and then in 2005 or so, she moved out to Western Massachusetts to share a house with Lynne. While she lived with Lynne, she came to Brattleboro every week to improve her watercolor skills at the River Gallery School and enjoy lunch at the Riverside Café with old friends. Memorial information: A memorial gathering to honor her life will be held Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m., at the home of Edie Thomas, 1563 Ames Hill Road, Brattleboro. Everyone who knew and loved Tina is encouraged to come and look through many photos of her life (bring any you might have), view some of her paintings, and share stories and memories. Donations to the Marlboro Music Festival: Marlboro Music, Box K, Marlboro, VT, 05344. For additional information, email maryellen@svcable.net or call 802-257-0012.
• Camilla Rose “Cammi' Ruud, 70, of Berlin, formerly of Brattleboro. Died April 18 at Berlin Health & Rehab, where she had resided for the last three years. Mother of Donna Barr and her husband, Mark, of Berlin; Thelma Columb and her partner, Dion LaShay, of Bennington; and Mark Columb of Northfield. Born in Brattleboro, the daughter of the late Newton and Rose (Colgrove) Ruud, she graduated from Frances Hicks School in 1961. She worked for many years as a housekeeper at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and the Brattleboro Retreat, before retiring due to health issues. Her favorite pastimes were putting together puzzles, collecting, playing bingo, and sharing jokes with her many friends. Memorial information: No information provided.
• Grace A. Worden, 97, of Exeter, N.H., and a former longtime resident of Hinsdale, N.H. Died April 14. Wife of the late Homer C. Worden for 61 years. Mother of Richard Worden, and his wife, Elaine, of Jordan, N.Y., and Bea Dalton and her husband, Michael, of Exeter. Born in Dalton, Mass., the daughter of the late Ernest and Gertrude Halle, she married Homer C. Worden of Hinsdale and moved there in 1948. While residing in Hinsdale, she worked for many years as the business manager for the former Royce's Garage. She was a Deacon and treasurer at the First Congregational Church until 2006 when they moved to Keene, N.H. She was always a very dedicated, active volunteer for many organizations in the area, usually serving as treasurer. She had been a daily volunteer for over 20 years at the Hinsdale Elementary School. She will be remembered for her ready smile and willingness to help others. Memorial information: A memorial service will be held Sunday, May 5, at 1 p.m., in the First Congregational Church, 36 Main Street, Hinsdale. Burial will follow in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Depot Street, Hinsdale. Family and friends are welcome. There are no public calling hours. Donations to the First Congregational Church, P.O. Box 22, Hinsdale, NH 03451-0022, or to the Hinsdale Historical Society, P.O. Box 194, Hinsdale, NH 03451-0194.