Beers & Story South Hadley Funeral Home

Our beloved mother, Louise Blanche Gagne Newton passed away peacefully on August 24th 2023, at Mt. Marie Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. Louise was born on January 4, 1935 in Holyoke MA, the daughter of the late Lena and Arthur Gagne and is predeceased by her sister Rita. She leaves behind her dear brother, Donald Gagne of South Hadley. Louise was a smitten twenty year-old when she married James B. Newton Sr. the love of her life for 56 years. Jim was a twenty-eight year old widower with two precocious toddlers and in the early years worked in sales at the family business. She admits she had a lot to learn, but she embraced her new life with excitement and fortitude and often said,...

Dorothy Spivey Dean, 75, of South Hadley, Massachusetts, passed away on June 17, 2023, at home surrounded by her loving family, her devoted husband, and a very special friend. Born on January 18, 1948, in Philadelphia, PA to James R. and Anna L. (Myers) Spivey. Dorothy was raised in Westtown, PA and has made her home in South Hadley for 39 years. She attended the Westtown Friends School in her hometown, then graduated with a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College. Dorothy participated in many advanced post graduate programs in banking, also earning CFP certification (Certified Financial Planner). Dorothy had a long and successful career in banking spanning 45 years, starting as a trainee...

Local business leader, philanthropist and beloved husband, father and grandfather, Robert Blyth Hazen left this earth peacefully on May 2, 2023. He was 90. Mr. Hazen was born on November 13, 1932, in Springfield, Mass. His father, Edward Hazen, was president of Hazen Paper Company and his mother, Helen (Blyth) Hazen, was a gifted pianist who taught piano at Mount Holyoke College. After attending Westminster School in Connecticut, Bob graduated from Hamilton College in New York where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Bob took a two-year hiatus from college to serve in the Army. A lifelong resident of South Hadley, Bob married Jean Alderman in November 1957. They...

Violet T. (Biernacki) Forni was called safely home on February 25, 2023. Born in Chicopee, she was the daughter of John and Anna (Przybylowicz) Biernacki. Violet grew up in Chicopee and lived in Feeding Hills before her husband's worked moved them to Illinois. Many years were spent in Brewster before relocating to South Hadley in 1998 to be closer to family. Violet worked as a cafeteria worker on both the Cape as well as in South Hadley until her retirement. Earlier on in her working life, she worked for Breck Hair Products and Motorola along with other employments through the years. Violet's creative talents could be seen in her earlier years in crafting and more recently in her...

J. Guy Gaulin, 95, died on Saturday, December 31, 2022 with his daughter by his side after a long life, well-lived. He was a member of the Greatest Generation, born on February 24, 1927 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the son of Donat and Yvonne (Rousseau) Gaulin. He was raised in Lambton, Quebec, Canada, and educated in Quebec City. In 1944 he returned to Holyoke, a young man in pursuit of the American dream. He proudly served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was deployed to the Mediterranean, and later served in the Korean War, stationed at the U.S. Naval Hospital, New Hampshire. The day he met Geraldine Norton, he recognized her; he had dreamt of her for years....

Dr. Leonard Gladstone Abraham Jr was born in Brooklyn, NY, on his mother Ruth's birthday, March 3, 1926. Growing up with his younger siblings Bill, Barbara, and Betty in Madison, NJ, Len sang in the church choir, competed in the high jump, built and flew model airplanes, and experimented with radios. Partway through college at Cornell, Len enlisted in the US Navy in 1944, ultimately serving on Guam; he mustered out two+ years later as an Electronics Mate, 2nd Class. Returning from service, he went on to complete his undergraduate as well as graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering. It was at Cornell that Len met and married Jean Marian Glindmyer. He also continued his love of singing,...

Bashir Ahmed Karamali (age 90) passed away peacefully at home in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on October 28, 2022 after a brief illness. He leaves behind his loving wife of 61 years, Yvonne Karamali; their three children, Riaz (Sumbul) Karamali, Dilara (Hamid) Hafiz, & Nahid (Ned) Markosian, along with 6 grandchildren, Yasmine, Imran, Saiya, Zane, Lina (Noah), & Leila; and brother Rafique (Shaukat) Karamali and sister Nilofer (Afzal) Ebrahim. Bashir was pre-deceased by his sister Mumtaz (Hassan) Rizvi and infant son Suhail. Bashir was born on July 6, 1932 in Pune, India, and lived in seven different countries in the course of an extraordinary life. He was 15 in 1947 during the time...

Bashir Ahmed Karamali (age 90) passed away peacefully at home in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on October 28, 2022 after a brief illness. He leaves behind his loving wife of 61 years, Yvonne Karamali; their three children, Riaz (Sumbul) Karamali, Dilara (Hamid) Hafiz, & Nahid (Ned) Markosian, along with 6 grandchildren, Yasmine, Imran, Saiya, Zane, Lina (Noah), & Leila; and brother Rafique (Shaukat) Karamali and sister Nilofer (Afzal) Ebrahim. Bashir was pre-deceased by his sister Mumtaz (Hassan) Rizvi and infant son Suhail. Bashir was born on July 6, 1932 in Pune, India, and lived in seven different countries in the course of an extraordinary life. He was 15 in 1947 during the time...

Normand "Norm" F. Cloutier, 84, passed away peacefully on Thursday, September 29, 2022. Husband, father, grandfather and friend, Norm left this world having been loved by many. Born April 19, 1938, in Holyoke, MA, Norm was the son of the late Roland and Leona (Champagne) Cloutier. Norm grew up in Holyoke and graduated from Sacred Heart High School where he played on the varsity basketball team all four years. After graduation, Norm served in the US Army for six months and as a reservist for six years. He attended Holyoke Community College and transferred to Bentley College where he earned his degree in accounting in 1961. During his career, Norm worked in the accounting field for several...

David H. Schmidt, Jr., age 96, formerly of Melrose, MA and Port Charlotte, FL, passed away on September 6, 2022. He will have military service at Agawam Military Cemetery. His full obituary and service details will be available at beersandstory.com

Casimir John Stankiewicz, 75, passed away August 22, 2022 surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born on February 21, 1947 in Menden, Germany to the late Waclaw and Aniela (Chelapin) Stankiewicz. Casimir proudly served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War Era. Besides his parents, Casimir is preceded in death by his brother, Victor, his sister, Alice Jessup, and his daughter, Tanya Lastra. He is survived by his loving wife, Laurel (Miles) Stankiewicz; son, Mark D. Stankiewicz and wife, Carrie; grandchildren, Tyler and Natalie Stankiewicz, Kyle and wife Jessica Kazunas, and Kevin Lastra; and great-grandchildren, Paislee Kazunas and Nolan Lastra. He...

South Hadley?Donald Joseph Piquette, 79, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at Baystate Medical Center. Son of the late Frederick and Rhea (Duval) Piquette, he was born in Holyoke on October 15, 1942. Donald grew up in Chicopee, the youngest of 6 children. He began working in his father's family business as a bricklayer at a young age. He proudly served his country in the United States' Army as a PFC E3 and was honorably discharged in 1967. After his dedicated service, he continued working as a skilled bricklayer. When driving around in the car, he would always point out the brick houses or chimneys he worked on. He spent his last 20 years of...

Alice E. (Kleindienst) Keyes, 92, passed away August 7, 2022. Born January 6, 1930 in Springfield, she was the daughter of John and Annette Henault Kleindienst. Alice grew up in Chicopee and lived in Granby for many years. In 2011, Alice was predeceased by her beloved husband of 63 years, Edwin A. Keyes. She leaves her children, Allen and his wife Judith of Cheshire, CT and Allison E. Craig and her partner Michael Carr of Springfield, granddaughter Heather Keyes, 2 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. Alice is also survived by her sister Claire Couture, her brother Robert Kleindienst and family friend Bonnie Carpenter of N.C. whom she fondly referred to as her "other...

Cynthia Louise (Gallup) Phelps passed at her home on June 6th, 2022 with her husband of 52 years by her side. Born in Holyoke on May 18th, 1943 she was the daughter of William W. and Jean (Valentine) Gallup. A native of Granby, Cynthia was a teacher of Library Science (and Dinosaurs) to all ages. She was an equestrian, conservationist and avid reader with love and respect for children of all ages. She was educated in Granby Schools, South Hadley High School, Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in English and The University of California at Berkeley with a M.A. in Library Science and education. She taught and worked in Otis, MA, Marin County CA, Bristol, CT, East Hartford, CT, the Mount Holyoke...

Jacqueline F. (Nadeau) Leduc, 94, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Friday, June 3, 2022. Born on March 22, 1928 she was the daughter of the late Joseph and Lydia (Chadonnet) Nadeau. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her, including her son, George Leduc of Easthampton and daughter, Nancy Hamel of Amherst; 6 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; and many other extended family members and friends. Visitation will be Tuesday, June 7, 2022 from 4:00pm-7:00pm at Beers & Story South Hadley Funeral Home, 646 Newton St. Friends and family may gather Wednesday, June 8 at 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home to process to St. Theresa's of Lisieux, 9 E...

Elizabeth Ann Crowell, 82, passed away on April 26 at Holyoke Medical Center, following a long illness. She was born on September 1, 1939 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. After high school, Elizabeth received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art, and in 1987, she received a Masters Degree in Administration from Clark University. Her many jobs included Legislative Aide to Massachusetts Senator Robert Wetmore, Executive Assistant to Pittsfield Mayor Anne Wojtkowski, Communications Director of the Massachusetts AHEC Program, Coordinator of the Pittsfield Anti-Tobacco Coalition, and foster parent to several therapeutic foster children. She was also a poet, and a member of...

Elizabeth (Dimock) McArthur, daughter of the late Earl and MaeBelle (Thompson) Dimock, born June 11, 1918, died on April 22, 2022 in Framingham, MA. A resident of Framingham, she was born and educated in Scranton, PA. She studied piano at the Scranton Conservatory of Music, graduated from the Sherman School of Expression and from Keystone Jr. College. She received a Bachelor's degree in Religious Education from the Hartford Seminary, Hartford, CT and a Master's degree in Education from Central Connecticut State University. She also studied piano at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Under the auspices of the Connecticut Conference of Congregational Churches she was co-founder and...

Linda E. (Thurston) Boisselle, 66, passed away unexpectedly on February 17, 2022 at home. She was born March 6, 1955 in Greenfield, attended primary schools in Turners Falls, MA, then attended and graduated from Stoneleigh Burnham School. She graduated from UMASS Amherst in 1977 with a Bachelors degree in bilingual social work. After moving to South Hadley and prior to starting her family, Linda worked for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She then worked in the South Hadley School System for over 25 years, retiring from Mosier Elementary School in 2020. She was the owner and president of Architectural Roof Management Inc. for 13 of years, working alongside...

Pliny Allen Stebbins, 78, died peacefully on February 13, 2022, in South Hadley, MA. The arc of Pliny's life began on December 16, 1943, born on that day to William and Penelope (Allen) in Worcester, MA. He spent much of his youth in Spencer, with brief but formative time in Kentucky and the Philippines. Pliny graduated from Spencer's David Prouty High School and went on to attend Dartmouth College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. As an adventurous young man in the 1970s, Pliny was drawn to the colorful community in Wendell, MA. He settled there and later in Pelham, where he raised his five children and built his livelihood as a craftsman skilled in stone masonry and then as...

Pliny Allen Stebbins, 78, died peacefully on February 13, 2022, in South Hadley, MA. The arc of Pliny's life began on December 16, 1943, born on that day to William and Penelope (Allen) in Worcester, MA. He spent much of his youth in Spencer, with brief but formative time in Kentucky and the Philippines. Pliny graduated from Spencer's David Prouty High School and went on to attend Dartmouth College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. As an adventurous young man in the 1970s, Pliny was drawn to the colorful community in Wendell, MA. He settled there and later in Pelham, where he raised his five children and built his livelihood as a craftsman skilled in stone masonry and then...

Pittsburgh cycling legend Mathew Brady Harris, 57, passed away Wednesday, January 26. Son of Forrest "Bud" Harris and Maria Harris (nee Evans), Mat was a beloved father of five, business owner, and BMX racing pioneer, winning two BMX national championships, the 1982 Murray Cup, and the 1983 pro cruiser world championship in Holland. A native of Squirrel Hill, Mat graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and was always at the center of the city's cycling community, initially riding on teams sponsored by small neighborhood shops, and working in the shops part-time to hone his abilities as a mechanic. For his contributions, Mat was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of...