Coos County Democrat Obituaries, Lancaster, New Hampshire, Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Copyright of the newspaper. Permission to include in the USGenWeb Archives was received. Robert J. Collins GROVETON — Robert J. Collins, 65, of Mountain View Street died on Monday evening October 13, 2003, at Weeks Medical Center in Lancaster after a courageous battle with cancer. Mr. Collins was born in Lancaster on October 30, 1937, the son of Theodore and Frances Collins Stevens. A lifelong resident of Groveton, he was a graduate of Groveton High School and was employed at the Groveton Paper Mill for 44 years. He enjoyed the outdoors and loved to go hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and spend time at his Maidstone Lake camp. He also enjoyed his grandchildren and attending their sporting events. He was a member of the United Methodist Church of Groveton, the Fish & Game Club, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Maidstone Lake Association, and the Groveton Trail Blazers. Family members include his wife of 46 years, Valerie Mills Collins of Groveton; three children, Mark Collins and wife Louise of Groveton, Patsy Buteau and husband Gerry of Moultonborough, Keith Collins and wife Jill of Raleigh, N.C.; his twin sister, Rachel Gould of Punta Gorda, Florida; a brother, Ted Collins of Enfield, Conn.; a sister, Barbara Berry of Lancaster; and eleven grandchildren, Marc, Chad, Tod, Kristy, Nicole, Benjamin, Kelley, Michael, Jasmin, Sarah, and Christopher. His parents; his stepfather Harold Stevens; and two brothers, Clarence Collins and Eddie Collins died previously. Memorial visiting hours were held on Thursday, October 16, at the Bailey Funeral Home, Lancaster. A Memorial Service was held on Friday morning at the United Methodist Church of Groveton. Rev. Peter Parent, pastor, officiated. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made in his memory to the Groveton Ambulance Corp, Town of Northumberland, 2 State Street, Groveton, NH 03582. Paul Craig Fisk CARRIERE, Miss. — Paul Craig Fisk, 71, died on October 15, 2003 at his home in Carriere. A native of Groveton, N.H., he was an electrical engineer at NASA, and he was the founder of the Slidell Moving Company in Slidell, La. Mr. Fisk leaves four sons, Stephen and Lynne Fisk of Deerpark, Tex., Clinton Alan Fisk of Slidell, La., Dana and Cindy Fisk of Pearl River, La., Roger and Cindy Fisk of Slidell, La.; a daughter, Diane And Don Denton of Bolivar, Mo.; one brother, David and Charlene Fisk of Watertown, N.Y.; a sister, Joan and Arthur Parks of Groveton, N.H.; 14 grandchildren, Steven Wesley, Christopher, Stephen Paul, Joshua, Sarah Lynn, Andrew, Courtney, Sarah Amber, Megan, Amanda, Amy, Michaela, Michael, and Carmen. His wife, Evelyn Fisk and one son, James Kenneth Fisk, died previously. Visiting hours were held on Friday, October 17, at McDonald Funeral Home in Picayune, Miss. Memorial services were held on Sunday, October 19, in the McDonald Funeral Home chapel with the Rev. Dr. Donald Denton officiating. Burial was in the Green Oaks Memorial Cemetery in Baton Rouge, La. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Memorial Hospice and palliative Care or the American Diabetes Foundation. Mr. Fisk’s obituary and a register book can be found on the web at www.mcdonaldfuneralhome.com. Elsie McDade McMann LANCASTER — Elsie McDade McMann, 83, died on Thursday morning, October 16, 2003 at Country Village Health Care Center after a long illness. Mrs. McMann was born in Guildhall, Vt., on May 4, 1919, the daughter of Gilbert and Ora (McLain) McDade. She was raised in Guildhall and was a graduate of Groveton High School. She was a longtime member of the United Methodist Church of Groveton and the American Legion Auxiliary of Groveton providing much assistance and volunteer work for both. She also enjoyed sewing and gardening. Family members include her daughter, Rosalee F. Desjardins and her husband Paul Desjardins of Lancaster; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Her first husband Manuel Ferreira died in 1963; her second husband Benjamin McMann died in 1986; and her sister Nellie Thurston died in January of this year. There were no visiting hours. A funeral service was held Sunday afternoon, October 19, at the Bailey Funeral Home, Lancaster. The Reverend Peter Parent, pastor of the United Methodist Church of Groveton, officiated. Burial followed in the Ridgwell Cemetery, Guildhall, Vt. Memorial donations may be made in her memory to the Sunny Brook Montessori School Scholarship, 129 Main Street, Lancaster, NH 03584. Betty J. Sargent GILMAN, Vt. — Betty J. Sargent, 75, died at her home October 14, 2003, after a long battle with cancer. Mrs. Sargent was born in St. Johnsbury, on January 22, 1928, a daughter of Clifford G. and Helen C. (Wallace) Cutting. She was raised in St. Johnsbury where she was graduated salutatorian of her class at St. Johnsbury Academy. She worked for a time in financial businesses in St. Johnsbury. For one year she lived in Glendale, Calif., before returning to Gilman in 1957 to care for her parents. She had been a longtime resident of Gilman where she was a homemaker and wife of a millwright. She was an avid reader and good baker who was politically oriented and had a sense of humor. She will be long missed and long remembered as a loving and caring mother and grandmother. Family members include a daughter, Waneta Jane Sargent of Durango, Calif.; a brother, Paul S. Cutting of Stafford, Conn. and Treasure Island, Fla.; a sister, Priscilla E. Ward of Fairfax; and two granddaughters, Megan Bresnahan and Angela Drew. A daughter, Bonnie H. Drew died in 1987; a son, Scott H. Sargent in 2000; and her husband, Gordon Sargent in 2002. A memorial visiting hour was held on Thursday October 16, at the Bailey Funeral Home, Lancaster, N.H. A memorial service was held immediately after, at the funeral home. The Rev. John C. Gregory of Whitefield, N.H. officiated. Burial followed in the Riverside Cemetery, South Lunenburg. Dr. James H. Trainor NASA scientist LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — Dr. James H. Trainor, 68, of Seal Beach, Calif., died of respiratory failure on Saturday evening, October 4, 2003, in Los Alamitos Medical Center. Dr. Trainor was born on Aug. 22, 1935, in Lancaster, N.H., the son of Peter D. and Bernice E. Trainor. He was graduated in 1953 from Lancaster Academy, where he was the class valedictorian. He attended the University of New Hampshire in Durham, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1958 and a master's degree in physics in 1959. He earned his Ph.D. from UNH in 1964 and made history by being the first graduate of that university to receive a doctorate in physics. From 1962 to 1964, he was a U.S. Air Force research fellow. He later lived in Greenbelt, Md., and Silver Spring, Md., before moving to Seal Beach. Dr. Trainor joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1964 as a research physicist. He served in a number of significant positions that included those of Instrumentation Branch head, associate chief of the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, and, then in 1987, director of the Space and Earth Sciences Directorate, the latter of which contained more than one-half of all NASA scientists. He was a NASA project scientist for many space flight projects and balloon and sounding rocket programs. He was personally responsible for 15 successful experiments launched on NASA and Air Force missions, and was the author or co-author of more than 60 scientific and engineering publications. He was also responsible for the oversight of hundreds of flight instruments. Before he retired from NASA on Sept. 3, 1994, after 30 years of service, Dr. Trainor had been associate director and chief scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for five years and the principal assistant to the center's director for the oversight of science, engineering, computing and technology. Goddard is responsible for managing, developing, launching and operating about two-thirds of all NASA satellites. Since his retirement, Dr. Trainor had served in a continuing role as a consultant and chair of the Review Board for the ACE spacecraft instruments and IMAGE instruments and spacecraft. In recent years, he had made special contributions throughout NASA as an expert in sensor systems, flight electronic systems and nuclear radiation effects. Dr. Trainor received many awards, including the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1974, the NASA Medal for Exceptional Service in 1987, the Meritorious Rank Presidential Award (Senior Executive Service) in 1987, the Distinguished Executive Presidential Award in 1991 (awarded at the White House by President George Bush Sr.) and the NASA Medal for Distinguished Service in 1994. He was a member of many scientific and aeronautical organizations, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which awarded him a Lifetime Fellowship in 1984. He was also a member of Phi Kappa Phi. In 1979, he was awarded a NASA Research and Study Fellowship and was a Visiting Associate at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Dr. Trainor is survived by his wife of 41 years, Mary (Mirijanian) Trainor of Seal Beach; a son, Douglas J. Trainor of Chicago, Ill.; a daughter, Dr. Jennifer L. Trainor of Hindsale, Ill.; two grandchildren, Eli Trainor Seo and Gabriella Trainor Seo, both also of Hinsdale; a brother, Paul D. Trainor of Martinez, Ga.; a sister, Catherine M. Huffman of Peoria, Ariz.; a son-in-law, Dr. Robert M. Seo of Hindsale; a daughter-in-law, Xuan Hong of Chicago; two aunts, Maida Fortin of Lancaster, N.H., and Geneva Daisy of Holyoke, Mass.; and several cousins in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. A special memorial service for Dr. Trainor will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 3 to 5 p.m., at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.