Obituaries
• Shirley Anna Brown Adams, 90, formerly of Jacksonville. Died April 29, 2021 at Thompson House nursing home in Brattleboro. Shirley was born in Greenfield, Mass., on Jan. 8, 1931, the daughter of the late Walter and Mina Hillman Brown. She was an Arms Academy graduate and attended Community College of Vermont at the age of 58, where she studied writing and had some of her work published. She worked for New England Telephone in Brattleboro, Wilson's Department Store in Greenfield, and as an Auditor for the town of Whitingham for nine years. She was a member of the Red Hat Society, and the Order of the Eastern Star Mayflower Chapter #19, where she was a Past Matron, District Deputy, and Grand Chaplain. She was a 4-H leader for many years, where she taught sewing and was the leader of the Joyful Jackies. She enjoyed walking, reading, and quilting, but her greatest joy was spending time with her family. Shirley is survived by her children: Nancy Adams Lentz and her husband, Russell, of Pace, Fla., Jacqueline Adams-Howes and her husband, Jason, of Jacksonville, and Cheryl Adams Crawford and her husband, Roger, of Wilmington; as well as five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband James Adams Jr, whom she married in 1949; grandson Benjamin Birch, sisters Barbara Bernard and Bernice Caron, and brothers Gerald, Robert, Roger, Malcolm (who died during World War II), and Forrest Brown. Memorial information: Funeral services will be held June 18, at 11 a.m., at the Jacksonville Community Church. Interment will follow in Jacksonville Cemetery. Donations to Deerfield Valley Rescue, Jacksonville Community Church, or Families First, in care of Covey-Allen & Shea Funeral Home, P.O. Box 215, Wilmington, VT 05363.
• David Michael “Dave” Chase, 63, of Chesterfield, N.H. Died April 30, 2021 at Thompson House nursing home, where he had been a resident since March 2019. David was born in Brattleboro on September 16, 1957, the son of Charles and Theresa (Letourneau) Chase. He attended Chesterfield schools and was a graduate of Keene (N.H.) High School, Class of 1975. He worked most of his career as a food distributor employed for Koffee Kup Bakery, making deliveries to businesses in the southern Vermont area. He also had delivered milk in the area for Garelick Farms. Previously, he owned and operated his own Pepperidge Farm distributorship, his route being in the greater Keene area. Dave had a lifelong love for the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing with his brother Tom. He was gifted with a “green thumb” and annually produced bountiful vegetable crops from his garden which he gladly shared with family, friends and neighbors. An avid sports enthusiast and very athletic, he played in several local baseball and softball leagues. First and foremost, Dave was a devoted family man whose life centered around his family. In 2008, he was married to Lisa Fitzgerald, who survives. Besides his loving wife, he leaves two daughters, Christa Hill and her husband, Louis, of Keene, and Becky Cassaro and her husband, Joshua, of Las Vegas; and two sisters, Sharon Wessel and her husband, Bill. of West Chesterfield and Christine Guerin and her husband, Charles “Butch,” of Palmer, Mass. David was also happy to welcome into his family Lisa's children: Erica Whitehouse of West Springfield, Mass., Samantha Peet of East Longmeadow, Mass., and Christopher Whitehouse of Virginia Beach, Va. Additionally, he is survived by a sister-in-law, Rose Chase of Chesterfield, 15 grandchildren, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents; two brothers, Dennis and Thomas Chase; and his beloved springer spaniel, “Riley.” Memorial information: In keeping with David's final wishes, there are no formal funeral services scheduled. Donations to Thompson House Nursing Home, 80 Maple St., Brattleboro, VT 05301. To share a memory or send messages of condolence, visit www.atamaniuk.com.
• Joyce (Bover) Cook, 91, of Southbridge, Mass., formerly of Brattleboro. Died peacefully on April 10, 2021 in the Southbridge Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. She was born Feb. 6, 1930 in Brattleboro, the daughter of the late Harold G. and Anna (Gembarowski) Bover. Joyce started playing the piano at the age of 3. This passion continued throughout her life and took her to many venues. At 18, she had a jazz trio on Nantucket; in the 1970s she was employed as a harpsichordist at The Club 33 as well as a pianist at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland in California. After this, she played a grand piano in the lobby of the South Coast Plaza Hotel in Costa Mesa, Calif. Her final “gig” was entertaining the residents of the Southbridge Rehab. Joyce did not have a mean bone in her body and was adored by everyone she met. Joyce was a friend of Bill W. for more than 60 years. She leaves two daughters, Abigail Veshia and her husband, Michael, of Southbridge. and Sydney O'Connor and her husband Jerome of Moultonborough, N.H.; two grandsons, Mark Denault and his wife April of Southbridge and James Denault of Framingham; her great granddaughter, Samantha Denault; two brothers, Raymond Bover and Douglas Bover and his wife Lynne; and two sisters, Irene Hull and Ann Reed. She was predeceased by Charles Bover, Peter Bover, Gloria Brooks and Beverly Kaye. Memorial information: Funeral services and burial will be private.
• Wayne Paul London, 82, of Brattleboro. Died May 5, 2021 after a long “dance” with Parkinson's disease. He leaves behind a daughter and her partner in Vermont, a son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren in New York City, a brother in Oregon, and four nieces. He was predeceased by his sister and parents. Wayne was born in Johnstown, Pa., in 1938, the middle child of Irving and Cecelia London. He obtained a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School and a Master's in Mathematics from the University of Maryland. Wayne worked as a psychiatrist treating those deemed not guilty by reason of insanity in Washington, D.C. He moved to Vermont to work at the Brattleboro Retreat and raise a family. He was an Assistant Professor and later an Adjunct Research Associate at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center before pursuing his own research and life's work of alternative medicine. Wayne was an early adopter of full-spectrum lighting. His letter describing the reduction of sick-days in his children's school following the installation of full-spectrum lighting was published in The Lancet and noted on the first page of The Wall Street Journal. He published papers on alcoholism, seasonal affective disorder, breast cancer, dyslexia, and left-handedness. One of his favorite movies was the 1950 film, Harvey, which perfectly portrayed his frustration with aspects of Western medicine, his love of alternative thinking, and his unusually optimistic disposition. Like Elwood P. Dowd, Wayne handed out business cards for London Research that said: “Ideas that are simple, elegant, and possibly true. Well, two out of three ain't bad.” He was a committed runner and life-long athlete, completing several marathons and a 36-mile ultra-marathon. He liked to do 30-mile training runs in Washington, D.C., on a three-mile loop, fueling with flat Coca-Cola. In Vermont, he loved to cross-country ski in Craftsbury, run the dirt roads of Brattleboro and Dummerston (especially Kipling Road), and “compete” in cycling time trials (on a mountain bike) on Route 30. He organized road races and ensured no one finished last by adding fictitious names to the results, calling such runners “pookas,” as opposed to the “rabbits” of competitive racing. He played tennis at the Brattleboro Outing Club into his late 70s. In his 80s, he sought to keep his strength by repeating one step sometimes 40 times a day. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Wayne was a “stay-at-home dad” while his then wife worked in northern Vermont. He liked to transport his young children through downtown in a wheelbarrow. He received a Lewis Hine Award for service to children for co-founding The Children's Place, a museum and play space, and frequently guest-taught elementary school biology - many Brattleboro students participated in Wayne's tree walks. Wayne's passion for his research inspired Brattleboro artist William H. Hays to paint his portrait. In the background are some of Wayne's favorite equations and proportions. Wayne felt a deep connection to the seven-path labyrinth and helped many with chronic pain and other conditions install walkable labyrinths. His sense of humor was constant and enduring. When the walk signal sounded in downtown Brattleboro (especially at Elliot and Main), Wayne would proclaim, “Come on, they're playing our song!” and run to the center of the intersection to perform a pretty good Charleston Bee's Knees. Years later, he greeted his hospice workers by telling them that hospice had always been on his bucket list. Wayne sought to solve life's mysteries with his beautiful mind until his final days. His last years were at Bradley House, in the neighborhood he loved, and Thompson House. Memorial information: A private burial will be held at Meetinghouse Hill Cemetery. In lieu of funeral services, those so inclined are encouraged to contribute to the Brattleboro charity of their choosing and, when traffic is safely stopped, perhaps do a little Bee's Knees in any Brattleboro crosswalk. To share a memory or send condolences to the family, visit www.atamaniuk.com.