William B. Rotch
Former top executive at N.H.’s Cabinet Press Inc. newspaper group
William B. Rotch of Peterborough, N.H., former editor and publisher of the Milford, N.H.-based Cabinet Press Inc. newspaper company that his family owned, died Feb. 1 at RiverMead Retirement Community in Peterborough. He was 100, and formerly was a longtime resident of Milford, N.H.
After graduating from Dartmouth College, Rotch began his career as editor and publisher of The Cabinet of Milford and the then-Wilton (N.H.) Journal, which had been owned by his family for five generations. After a Navy stint in World War II, Rotch returned to Milford to resume his position at the Cabinet.
He also wrote extensively for the newspaper, covering news and writing an editorial column 52 times a year for almost 50 years. He also wrote a weekly column of personal reflections – first titled Letter from the Editor and later titled Letter from the Publisher – until 2008, when he was 92.
Rotch was a former president of the New Hampshire Press Association. He also co-founded and was president of the New England Weekly Press Association, later named the New England Press Association and now part of the New England Newspaper and Press Association. He was inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2001.
In October 1956, Rotch was invited by the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission to visit the state. The purpose of the visit was “to give representatives of the northern ‘grassroots’ press a true picture of Mississippi …,” he wrote. The resulting stories, published soon after in the Cabinet, foreshadowed the civil rights movement that would emerge in full force a few years later.
Rotch was an active member of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. In 1989, he received the group’s Eugene Cervi Award, which recognizes newspaper editors who embody the conviction that “good journalism begets good government.”
In 2007, The Telegraph of Nashua, N.H., which purchased Cabinet Press in 2013, honored Rotch, with Daniel Webster and other influential New Hampshire residents, in a story titled “175: The people who made a difference.”
He leaves four children, Peter, Elizabeth, John, and Martha, who with her husband, Frank, bought Cabinet Press in 1994; 12 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren.
Helen (Woodman) Harrington
Helen (Woodman) Harrington, 74, of North Conway, N.H., and formerly of Medford, Mass., died Jan. 23 in her home.
Harrington began her career at the New England News Service in 1962 before serving in the press office of the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C., beginning in 1972.
She then went on to be the owner of the State House News Service in Boston.
She leaves two siblings, Wendell and Roy, and nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
Alfred K. ‘Buddy’ Driscoll
Alfred K. “Buddy” Driscoll, 88, formerly of Weymouth and Dorchester, Mass., died Jan. 29 at the Wingate at Silver Lake Nursing Facility in Kingston, Mass.
Both before and after his service in the Korean War, Driscoll was employed at the former Boston Herald Traveler. He went on to be employed at The Boston Globe.
He was a member of the Mailers Union until he retired in 1991.
Driscoll leaves many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.
Ann C. (Sprague) Bruce
Ann C. (Sprague) Bruce, 78, of Walpole, Mass., died Jan. 26 in the Ellis Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Norwood, Mass.
Ann C. Bruce was business manager at the Walpole Times beginning in 1980, before moving on in 1988 to The Pilot, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. She retired from the Pilot in 2003.
She was a member of Walpole’s Fiscal Committee and secretary of Walpole’s Democratic Town Committee.
She leaves four children, William, Daniel, James and Suzanne; 10 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; four siblings.
Leo L. Chabot
Leo L. Chabot, 80, formerly of North Andover, Mass., died Jan. 23 of natural causes.
During the 1960s, Chabot was a reporter and photographer for The Courier-Gazette of Rockland and the Bangor Daily News, both in Maine. He also was a television correspondent for WCSH-TV, based in Portland, Maine, covering Midcoast Maine. In the 1970s, he was chief photographer for the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette.
Chabot was employed at The Eagle Tribune of North Andover for 22 years. He was involved in two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams there, as Sunday editor in 1988 and as wire editor in 2003.
Chabot was a member of the North Andover Zoning Task Force and the North Andover Historical Commission.
He leaves his wife, Connie; five children, Jacques, Marc, Michelle, Aimee and Nicole; eight grandchildren.
Gloria Smith Russell
Gloria Smith Russell, 90, of Westerly, R.I., died Jan. 28 at the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence, R.I.
In 1966, she became the first female reporter for The Westerly Sun.
Before that, Russell hosted a call-in radio program, “Party line with Gloria,” on WERI-AM in Westerly.
She also was employed at the then-Groton (Conn.) News and, later, the Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin. She also was a correspondent for The Providence (R.I.) Journal.
Stories of Russell’s in the Westerly Sun made up her two published works, “Reminiscing” and “Reminiscing II.”
Russell was inducted into the Rhode Island Press Association Hall of Fame in 2003 for her work at two radio stations and four newspapers during 40 years in the media..
Russell leaves a daughter, Lea; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.
Dezsoe ‘Dezi’ Rottler
Dezsoe “Dezi” Rottler, 89, of South Burlington, Vt., died Jan. 29. at the McClure Miller VNA Respite House in Colchester, Vt.
He had been a photographer in the Army. After he returned to Burlington, Vt., in 1957, he was a freelance photographer until 1959 when he became a photographer for The Burlington Free Press. He retired in 1990.
He leaves two children, Maria and Christopher; four grandchildren, Isabella, Cal, Jason and Jennifer; five great-grandchildren; and family members in Holland.
Robert Marshall Lord
Robert Marshall Lord, 83, of South Portland, Maine, former owner of two newspapers in Maine, died Jan. 25 at his home.
Lord began his career in journalism as a photographer for The Haverhill (Mass.) Gazette.
He later was a photographer and reporter for the Lynn (Mass.) Daily Item and the now-defunct Haverhill Journal, and editor of the former Merrimack Valley Advertiser of Tewksbury, Mass. He also contributed frequently to The Boston Globe as a freelancer.
He went on to become editor of The Griffin Report of Duxbury, Mass., a New England food trade newspaper, and was founding editor of the company’s advertising industry publication, Ad East.
After moving to Dexter, Maine, in 1974, Lord and his wife, Jane, bought The Eastern Gazette and the now-defunct Moosehead Gazette newspapers of Dexter. During that time, he received multiple Maine and national journalism awards for photography and writing.
After merging and eventually selling the papers, he continued to write fiction, memoirs and screenplays.
He leaves his wife, Jane; their daughter, Sarah; three children from a previous marriage, Susan, Stephen and Andrew; several grandchildren, nieces and nephews; a sister.
Elizabeth Bues Wittemann
Elizabeth “Betsy” Bues Wittemann, 75, of Glastonbury, Conn., died Jan. 30 at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
In Wittemann’s early career in journalism, she was a reporter in Rochester, N.Y.
She then became a member of the editorial staff at the former Hartford (Conn.) Times.
Wittemann later became head of the public relations department at Adams, Rickard & Mason, an advertising agency in Glastonbury.
She also wrote travel guides about New England, including “Daytripping and Dining in New England;” “Waterside Escapes: Great Getaways by Lake, River and Sea;” and the “Fireside Guide to New England Inns and Restaurants,” published by Wood Pond Press in the 1980s and 1990s. Witteman wrote travel features for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Birmingham, Ala.-based Coastal Living, among other publications.
She was a lifestyle reporter for several years for the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Conn.
Witteman was a part-time tutor in the writing center at Manchester Community College in recent years. She also had been a member of writing groups.
She leaves two children, Audrey and Charles; two grandchildren, Claire and Charles; a brother, Lawrence.
Angelo L. Tirro
Angelo L. Tirro, 100, a lifelong resident of Revere, Mass., died Jan. 21 at the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea, Mass., after a lengthy illness.
Tirro was a commercial artist for 35 years at The Boston Globe. He was a member of the Quarter Century Club at the Globe. He retired in 1982.
Tirro leaves two children, Robert and Donna; six grandchildren, Paul, Allison, Robert Jr., Ann, Dina and Paula; several great-grandchildren; a brother.
Robert Emmett Carroll
Robert Emmett Carroll, 80, of Westport, Mass., died Jan. 19.
He was a correspondent for The Providence (R.I.) Journal and the former Washington (D.C.) Star.
Carroll had been a member of the Westport Beach Committee and the Westport School Committee.
Carroll leaves his wife, Nance; four children, Robert, Matthew, Alicia and Catherine; eight grandchildren.
Eileen G. Quinn
Eileen G. Quinn, 93, of Dalton, Mass., died Feb. 2 at Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center .
For many years, she was the Dalton and Hilltown correspondent for the then-Springfield (Mass.) Union, and wrote numerous Hilltown stories for The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, Mass.
Quinn was a member of Dalton’s Democratic Committee for many years.
She leaves a son, Franklin “Jay,” and daughter-in-law, Karen, and eight nieces and nephews.
William J. ‘Bill’ Kilroy Jr.
William J. “Bill” Kilroy Jr., 85, of Centerville, Mass., died Jan. 21.
Kilroy was employed at the Chelsea (Mass.) Evening Record.
He later was director of publications and public relations for the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Beginning in 1972, Kilroy was employed at the National Education Association, and spent 30 years there, including in communications.
Kilroy leaves four children: Jane, Mary, Patricia and Christopher; eight granchildren; a great-grandchild; a brother.
John J. Daly Jr.
John J. Daly Jr., 85, of Stuart, Fla., died Jan. 22 at the Treasure Coast Hospice House in Stuart, Fla.
At the National Catholic News Service in Washington, D.C., he reported on Roman Catholic education programs as well as White House and congressional activities before returning to his native Connecticut. In Hartford, Conn., he was news editor of the Catholic Transcript, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.
He was assistant vice president of corporate communications at the Hartford Financial Services group before his retirement in 1995 and subsequent move to Florida.
Daly leaves his wife, Mary; three sons, John, Thomas and Patrick; a daughter, Mary Elizabeth; seven grandchildren; two step-grandchildren.
The obituaries were written, at least in part, from published reports by Bulletin correspondents Sophie Cannon, Joseph Dussault, Nico Hall, Bailey Knecht, Joshua Leaston, Peyton Luxford, Michael Mattson, Eloni Porcher and Mohammed Razzaque, undergraduate students at Northeastern University.