The Memorial Wall

Nancy Gorr left her mark on the town of Peterborough, making history as the first female president of the Rotary, and a long-time leader of the Chamber of Commerce and the Parent Guidance Center.

Gorr, 86, a resident of Summerhill Assisted Living, passed away Aug. 22 after a period of failing health related to her ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Gorr was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and came by her civic-mindedness, helping her father tend the family “victory garden.”

She and her husband, Arthur Gorr, raised four children together. When her children chose to attend colleges in New England, Gorr began to look for a home in the area. When she walked into what would become her Pine Street home for the first time, she knew immediately it was the right fit.

“She turned to the real estate agent and said, ‘This is it. This is the house,’” her daughter, Ellen Gorr of Harrisville said. And from that moment, Gorr was all in as a member of the Peterborough community.

Though a transplant who landed in Peterborough in 1982, the Pennsylvania native lost no time in putting her civic-mindedness to work in her new hometown.

“She was always on a committee,” said Ellen. “If you were out in public with her, she knew everybody in town.”

Gorr jumped in with both feet into several town committees and charitable boards, as well as joining the Rotary Club, where she would eventually become the club’s first woman president.

In 1986, she became the Executive Director of the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, a post she held for nearly 10 years. In 1995, she was recognized as Peterborough’s Citizen of the Year for her work at the Chamber. But her “retirement” wasn’t to last. The next year, she became the executive director of the Parent Guidance Center, the organization that would eventually become The River Center. She held that position for another five years.

But she wasn’t only involved with civic and charitable endeavors. Gorr was a fixture in Peterborough, and could often be found at the Peterborough Diner or Nonie’s, singing with the Monadnock Chorus, among the audience at the Summer Lyceum series, or volunteering at the Union Congregational Church.

And she always had time for the people in her life.

Her grandson, Seth Blake, and his mother lived with Gorr for most of his childhood, he said in an interview Friday. And though his grandmother was always busy with one thing or another, she always had time for a conversation.

“She drove me to school, picked me up – she always had time for me, which was amazing,” Blake said. “As a little kid, you don’t think so much about it, but in retrospect, knowing how busy and active she was, it’s remarkable.”

Gorr had a personality that made it easy to open up to her.

“She was very warm, and very much made people feel comfortable,” Blake said. “She had a gentle sense of humor. She was very jovial and quick to laugh.”

“She was very accepting of all people,” said Ellen Gorr. “She really liked meeting people and building relationships.”

Gorr was a strong believer in supporting the local economy, and would eat out multiple times a week, with several “favorite” spots.

“People should know – if there was any doubt – that she was who she appeared to be, which was just an incredibly passionate and compassionate person,” Blake said. “She loved this town, was uncynical in her civic life and causes. She’s the kind of person who devoted herself to making life, and society, in her own small way, better for everybody. She had a devotion to service and volunteerism, and trying to leave the world a better place than she found it.”

Parkinson’s Resource Organization lost a friend. The world lost a legend, a philanthropist, an enormous talent of which we will be hard-pressed to find again. He was an honorary Board member of Parkinson's Resource Organization since 2005, he was Jo Rosen’s winning dance partner in Dancing With Our Stars in 2006, he created, donated, and performed the concert at PRO's 20th-Anniversary Gala 10 years ago. He appeared at each of our three Mitch's Pitches PRO events at Mitch's on El Paseo- took pictures with our guests and signed autographs, he came to the Don Cavanaugh day at the Blue Coyote Grill Palm Springs to remember Don Cavanaugh who died of Parkinson's. We are forever touched by his graciousness and generosity of self. To his family, personal and extended, we send our deepest condolences.

• Radio presenter Richard Cartridge diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2016
• His family claim the BBC treated him as a 'weak old man' following his diagnosis 
• Daughter Lucy claims he felt 'bullied' by colleagues and received £20 cut in pay 
• The 72-year-old died just six weeks into his retirement during pandemic in 2020

The BBC has launched an investigation after the family of a radio presenter who died two months into retirement complained about his treatment following a life changing diagnosis. 

Richard Cartridge, 72, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2016, worked at the BBC for 47 years, but his family claim he was treated as a 'weak old man' following his diagnosis.  

His daughter Lucy claims he was treated differently in the workplace by senior staff, had his pay cut by £20 and felt 'bullied' by his colleagues, according to The Sun.

The 32-year-old said she feels the BBC is 'directly responsible' for his death, six weeks after he left his job. 

She claims issues began when her father requested to work as a BBC Radio Solent host from home but was refused. 

Several months in the coronavirus pandemic, in June 2020, he was told his contract with the BBC would not be renewed. 

In his final broadcast, he told listeners: 'I don't know what I'm going to do now.' 

Mr Cartridge, who had left a staff job at the organization in 2006 and had returned on a freelance basis, was admitted to hospital shortly afterwards and died just six weeks later. 

Daughter Lucy said her father was a 'shell of a person' when she last saw him and added that he received 'no care or empathy' from the BBC. 

She has now written directly to Director General of the BBC Tim Davie.  

A spokesperson for the BBC said: 'Richard Cartridge was a much loved presenter and our sympathies are with his family. We have spoken to his daughter Lucy and remain in contact.'

Mr Cartridge was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2016 - four years before his death. 

The disease is a long-term degenerative disorder which affects the central nervous system, in turn affecting the motor system. 

Symptoms of the disease usually emerge slowly and as it progresses, non-motor symptoms become more common. 

Early symptoms include tremors, rigidity, slowness in movement and difficulty in walking. The person may also experience cognitive problems, which may present with depression, anxiety and apathy. 

Parkinson's Disease dementia also becomes common in the advanced stages. 

On Sunday July 19th our community lost one of its finest citizens. Samuel Reynolds Parke III passed away peacefully due to complications from Parkinsons disease. He was the son of Samuel Reynolds Parke and Elizabeth Lauck and a brother to Ned, and sisters Kay, Pollyanne, and Elizabeth. In his early years, he attended Lawrenceville School where he excelled in Varsity football, basketball and baseball and earned the nickname, ""Herky"" for his Herculean talents on the sports fields. But it was his intellect that allowed him to attend Princeton University where he graduated in 1953. Next for Reyn was the US Navy where he spent three years aboard the USS destroyer Manuel as a lieutenant. It was during that time that his desire and passion for travel took hold. Upon being discharged, he spent the summer traveling throughout Europe on a motor scooter before heading back to the states to attend Wharton School of Business, graduating in 1958. He had sales jobs at high profile advertising firms like McCann Erickson, Doyle, Dane, Bernbach, and ABC television which led to a position of Vice President of Specials at the network. The fast paced New York lifestyle fulfilled him until 1970 when he moved to Los Angeles to work as an agent with Creative Management Associates.

While living at the Marina City Club where he was an avid tennis player, he met the love of his life, Patty. They married and relocated to Manhattan Beach where they raised their daughter Shannon. In the mid 1970's, Reyn re-invented himself at Shorewood Realtors where he became one of the top performing and well respected agents in the South Bay. For close to 40 years, Reyn was a giant in the industry and a tireless advocate for community causes. He was respected and looked up to by so many for his legendary work ethic, professionalism, integrity, and unconditional selflessness. He was a competitor and a mentor, an adversary and advisor, a trend setter and a traditionalist, but most of all, Reyn was a friend.

Patty and Reyn continued their travels throughout the world, and eventually split time between Manhattan Beach and La Quinta. Reyn loved fine wines, classical music, reading, collecting history books, the Lakers, walking on the Strand, excellent dinners and conversations with friends, successfully closed escrows, and continually mastering the art of learning.
Reyn is survived by those he loved the most, his wife Patty, his daughter Shannon Shelton, his son-in-law Jeremy Shelton, his grandchildren Parker and Kendall, his brother-in-law Peter Smith and his wife Patti and his many nieces and nephews. His radiant smile will be deeply missed by his family, friends and all who knew him.

On July 10, 2020, Sandra "Elena" Weiner Hoffman said goodbye to her loved ones and to Parkinson's. She is survived by her three loving daughters, Kimberly Hoffman, Debra Hoffman and Diana Hoffman-Richmond, as well as by her adored grandson, Ethan Finn Hoffman-Mithra, and her sons-in-law, Greg Richmond and Eric Bergel. She was born to Dorothy Harris Weiner and Morris Weiner and grew up with her brother Burt in Minneapolis before eventually settling in Los Angeles. She is forever in our hearts.

Published in Los Angeles Times from Jul. 12 to Jul. 20, 2020.

GROSSER, William E. William E. (Bill) Grosser of Spokane Valley, Washington passed away July 2, 2020 at the age of 81. He was born March 1, 1939 in Dickinson, North Dakota to Bernard Grosser and Elizabeth (Schmidt) Grosser and was the youngest of six children. Bill attended St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School and graduated from Dickinson High School in 1957. After a four-year tour in the US Navy, he was honorably discharged. He returned to Dickinson and married Angeline (Angie) Braun in August 1962. They moved to Wahpeton, North Dakota where he completed a two-year course in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration at the Wahpeton State School of Science. They later moved to Havre, Montana where he worked for the OB Lund Company. In 1966, he took a Civil Service position for the Havre Radar Station where he worked until its closure in 1979. During this time Bill was selected as an administrator to several programs in addition to his air conditioning and refrigeration duties including Base Grounds Manager, Civilian Over Hire Program and Youth Aid Program enabling under privileged teens to gain temporary employment. Bill also served in the Montana Air National Guard and in 1979 was selected as the Outstanding Noncommissioned Officer of the year. He served on several local community programs overlooking low-income federal funding. As an active member of the Air National Guard, he represented both civilian and military sides of the house. Bill was active in the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs in Havre as a Scout Master and later as a District Trainer.

In 1972, Bill was approached by the Dean of the Vocation Department at Northern Montana College to develop and instruct an automotive air conditioning course which he taught for two-years. After the closure of the Havre Radar Station, Bill accepted employment in the Azores at Lajes Field on Terceira Island, Portugal. Upon his return to the United States in 1981, he was employed at Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Washington. In 1988, Bill moved to the Central Heating plant at Fairchild AFB where he managed the high-pressure boiler operation, along with the steam distributions system increasing the 50-year-old plant's overall efficiency. The plant was awarded the William H. Bordner award for efficiency in the category Air Force wide. He continued in his field as shop supervisor and completed his 37-year Civil Service career retiring January 2, 1999 and proudly received the Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award.

In retirement, Bill continued to pursue his leather crafting hobby and enjoyed other interests, including photography, gardening, woodwork, eagle watching, travel and especially rockhounding. Bill and Angie also enjoyed ballroom dancing for a number of years. His Parkinson's diagnosis did not slow him down for most of 20 years. Bill was so much more than his career and family was everything. He loved doing handyman jobs for his family and never missed an opportunity to spend time with them. He was greatly involved in his grandsons' Scouting careers from Pinewood Derbies to helping organize and facilitate an Eagle Scout project supporting the Parkinson's Resource Center. He was larger than life and was dubbed "Superman" by his family; a title he enjoyed very much and was assumed by his fabulous caretakers these last few months at Ridgeview Assisted Living and Sullivan Park Care Center. Bill is survived by his wife, Angie, of 57 years and three children, Barry of Tacoma, WA, Lori (Louis)Schussman and Karen (Brian) Ankley of Spokane Valley, four grandchildren, Gabriel and Adrian Grosser, Aran(Kendra) Patchett, Josh Patchett and five great-grandchildren as well as a sister, Rose Moldenhauer, brother-in-law Gayle Blecha and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Bernard, John and Frank, sister Betty Lech and sister-in-law Marie Blecha. The Memorial Service is scheduled for Monday, July 20, 2020 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 503 North Walnut Road, Spokane Valley, WA., followed by the Committal Service at St. John Vianney's Columbarium and a reception in the Parish Hall.

In lieu of flowers the family requests you provide a Memorial Gift to your charity of choice.

Natalie Brenot, age 82, passed away on Friday, June 19, 2020 at Lutheran Village at Wolf Creek. Natalie was born on February 27, 1938 in Shirley, MA to parents Arthur Gendron and Anita (DePontdriand) Gendron. Natalie moved to Ohio in 1957, spending the next years raising her family in West Toledo. Mom was a devoted Catholic and it was her strong faith and huge heart that characterized her life. She loved going to mass, being a lector, volunteering at fish frys and other activities. She also spent countless hours working with the ladies auxiliary at VFW 606 on public service projects. Most of all Natalie lived for her family. She was a loving sister and mother who took great joy in being a wonderful grandma to her four grandchildren. A visit to grandma's home usually turned into a sleepover and the kids only complaint was having to go home. In her later years she developed a special bond with her granddaughter Erin, who provided unending love and companionship for her grandma.

Natalie was preceded in death by her parents; and her grandson, Kevin. She is survived by her sisters, Iris Aube and Rollie (Art) Cournoyer; sons, Mike (Mary Ellen) Luffy, Howard (Karen) Luffy; grandchildren, Brad (Abigail) Luffy, Erin (Chris) Livingston, Eric (Julie) Luffy; along with eight great grandkids. She also leaves behind many cherished friends, including Myrna, Judy and Joanne.

Professionally known as Ian Holm, the versatile British character actor who earned an Oscar nomination for his turn as the athletics trainer in 'Chariots of Fire' and portrayed the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in four movies, has died. He was 88.

Holm died “peacefully in hospital” of an illness that was related to Parkinson’s disease, his agent said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Holm gained many sci-fi admirers for his performances as Ash, the decapitated android who keeps on going, in Ridley’s Scott’s Alien (1979) and as the office manager Mr. Kurtzmann in another classic, Terry Gilliam’s fantastical Brazil (1985).

Holm was at his subtle best as Gena Rowlands’ emotionally unavailable husband in Woody Allen’s Another Woman (1988) and as an inscrutable big-city lawyer in the tragedy-laced The Sweet Hereafter (1997), written and directed by Atom Egoyan.

At 5-foot-6, Holm was always an excellent candidate to play a certain pint-sized French emperor, and he did so three times, in the 1974 nine-part miniseries Napoleon and Love, in Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981) and in The Emperor’s New Clothes (2001).

And in one of his rare performances as a leading man, he was excellent as Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie in the 1978 BBC miniseries The Lost Boys.

A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company starting in the 1950s, Holm collected Tony and Olivier awards before a case of stage fright that blindsided him during previews for The Iceman Cometh left him queasy about working in front of a live audience for more than a decade.

Holm cemented his place in British cinema history when he played the eccentric track coach Sam Mussabini in the historical sporting drama Chariots of Fire (1981). The film, one of England’s most beloved, took the Oscar for best picture, and Holm was nominated for best supporting actor (he lost out to countryman John Gielgud of Arthur).

Holm later portrayed Bilbo, all for Peter Jackson, in The Lord of the Rings films The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Return of the King (2003) and in The Hobbit installments An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

The chameleon-like actor also played King John in Robin and Marian (1976), the father of the scientist in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), a nasty restaurateur in Big Night (1996), a New York City cop in Sidney Lumet’s Night Falls on Manhattan (1996), a holy man in The Fifth Element (1997) and Zach Braff’s psychiatrist father in Garden State (2004).

“I’m never the same twice,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2000, “and I’m not a movie-star type, so people don’t demand that I’m always the same.”

“I had such a good time and a fruitful one with Ian, and my only regret was not to have worked with him once again,” Scott said in a statement. “Ian talked to me during production quite a lot, which I found to be very helpful. A great talent and a great man — we’ll miss him.”

Ian Holm Cuthbert was born on Sept. 12, 1931, in Goodmayes, England. His Scottish parents worked in a psychiatric hospital; his mother was a nurse and his father a psychiatrist and early innovator in the technique of electroshock therapy.

In a 2004 interview with The Independent, Holm said he spent a great deal of time around the asylum as a youngster.

“I wasn’t allowed near any of the dangerous patients,” he noted, “but I do remember one who was called Mr. Anderson. He was always immaculately dressed and, most days, he would fill a wheelbarrow with soil and then spend the rest of the day picking every grain of soil out of the wheelbarrow and putting it on the ground. I rather liked that.

“My childhood there was a pretty idyllic existence. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was happy, but it passed without too much trauma.”

Holm studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, then spent more than a decade at the Royal Shakespeare Company starting in 1954. In a 1959 production of Coriolanus, Laurence Olivier cut Holm’s finger during a sword fight, and he wound up with a scar that he was quite proud of.

He made several appearances on British television in the early ’60s, including a stint as King Richard III in the BBC miniseries The Wars of the Roses.

In London in 1965, Holm starred as Lenny, one of the sons of a retired butcher, in the first staging of Harold Pinter’s eerie The Homecoming. He accompanied the play to Broadway two years later and won his Tony award, then reprised the role for the 1973 film adaptation. (All three versions were directed by Peter Hall.)

“He puts on my shoe and it fits!” Pinter once said of Holm. “It’s really gratifying.”

Things did not go as smoothly for Holm in 1976 when stage fright struck during work on Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh.

“I got into my first preview, which I just managed to get through,” he recalled in 1998. “Then in the second preview, on the following night, I just walked off the stage and into the dressing room and said, ‘I’m not going back. I cannot go back.’ And they had to put the understudy on. My doctor said, ‘The Iceman goeth.’

“Something just snapped. Once the concentration goes, the brain literally closes down. It’s like a series of doors slamming shut in a jail. Actors dry up all the time. Well, I wasn’t just drying; I was stopping. My fellow actors were looking at me in amazement.”

Holm starred in Pinter’s Moonlight in 1993, then completed his stage comeback four years later when he disrobed completely in Richard Eyre’s acclaimed RSC production of King Lear and won an Olivier award.

Holm’s big-screen résumé also included The Fixer (1968), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Mary Queen of Scots (1971), Juggernaut (1974), Greystoke — The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), Dreamchild (1985), Henry V (1989), Hamlet (1990), Naked Lunch (1991), The Madness of King George (1994), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Joe Gould’s Secret (2000), The Aviator (2004) and Strangers With Candy (2005), and he voiced the grumpy chef Skinner in Ratatouille (2007).

For all this, Holm was named a Commander of the British Empire in 1989 and knighted nine years later. He published his memoir, Acting My Life, in 2004.

Survivors include his wife, Sophie. He was married four times (his third wife was Downton Abbey actress Penelope Wilton), was in another yearslong relationship with a photographer, and had five children.

On the day of June 16, 2020, Robert (Bob) Minnihan of Rancho Mirage, CA died at the age of 83. Bob was born to Louis and Katherine Minnihan on Dec. 10, 1936 in Jefferson, IA. He received his degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1958 from Iowa State University.

Bob enjoyed racquetball, skiing and sailing. He is known affectionately as "Captain Bob." He believed in being fair in all matters. Bob started Dynamic Systems Inc., a successful business in waste water treatment technology, where he served as CEO and President until his retirement in the year 2000. His blue eyes, silver hair and warm smile touched everyone he met.

Bob is preceded in death by his father, mother and son, Peter. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia, son, Paul and his mother Katharine, his stepdaughter, Erin Johnson and his grandson, Conor Crissy. He is also survived by his brother Richard (Linda) and sister Marcia.

Services are pending.

The family of Raymond R. Caffarelli announced his passing on June 4, 2020, at the age of 84. For 17 years, Ray bravely battled Parkinson’s disease, during which he demonstrated persistence, courage, compassion and faith even as the disease intensified. 

Ray is survived by his wife, Mary Linda (Huot) and his four children, Brian (Stacy Dalton), Kimberly (Dan Richmond), Melissa (Dan Muroff), and Craig (Caryn). Ray was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Ann (Simone) Caffarelli and by his sisters, Jo Ann (Caffarelli) Prasack and Camille Caffarelli. He adored his grandchildren, Samantha (Richmond) Filip (Adam Filip), Michael Richmond (fiancee Brittany Shroba), Anna Caffarelli, and Gina Caffarelli, and his only great grandchild, 10-month old Adeline Filip, was his ray of sunshine. Ray was blessed with a large family and was a loving uncle of many nieces and nephews.

Ray and Mary Linda met at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and were inseparable from the start. While he and Mary Linda raised a family of four children, he built an impressive insurance career, garnering the respect and admiration of his colleagues. He was the family patriarch. After Ray’s father’s death, he and Mary Linda shared their home with his mother, to whom both were devoted. Ray was fiercely committed to preserving and cultivating the family ties of his and future generations. Notwithstanding the busy household schedule, he insisted on family dinners each night and traditional hours-long Italian lunches on Saturdays. His loyalty extended beyond family to country; Ray served honorably in the Air National Guard of Wisconsin for eight years during their early years of marriage.

Ray was larger than life, charismatic, magnetic, and unforgettable. He loved music, landscaping and carpentry. His willpower was nearly invincible; from his youth, he had a reputation for accomplishing the impossible. During his retirement, he focused on building the capacity and community of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Bolingbrook, IL, where he served on the Finance Committee and the Building Committee.