Milan – Lois Burgess Alger, 74, a 50-year resident of Milan, died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon on Tuesday, September 30, 2014, after a two-month effort to recover from a brain aneurysm. She was a former director and trustee of the Milan Public Library, a former columnist, reporter and editor for several North Country publications, and an award-winning freelance writer. She was born in Worcester, Mass., on Jan. 31, 1940, the youngest of three daughters of the late William Burgess and Alice Gilson Burgess of Auburn, Mass. She attended public schools in Auburn, graduating from Auburn High School in 1958. She received her bachelor's degree in English in 1962 from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she met her husband, Richard W. Alger. The Algers moved to Milan in 1964, raising three children. During the 40-plus years that they lived on French Hill, Ms. Alger, like her parents before her, maintained a garden from which she harvested countless vegetables for the family's meals and for canning. She and her husband also boarded horses at their stable for many years. Her civic activities ranged from leading the youth group at the Milan Methodist Church in the early 1970s to unwavering support for the Democratic Party in Coos County and statewide. Ms. Alger worked at Evelyn Brown's luncheonette in Milan village in the 1970s, then found her way into journalism by writing the “Funny Farm” column for the then-weekly Berlin Reporter. She went on to serve there as a reporter, an editor and a photographer – roles she later filled at the Berlin Daily Sun. She also wrote and took pictures on a freelance basis for publications ranging from the weekly Coos County Democrat to the monthly Northern New Hampshire Magazine. In 1998, the New Hampshire Press Association awarded feature story of the year to The First To Fly To The Top, her Northern New Hampshire Magazine piece marking the 50th anniversary of Milan resident Carmen Onofrio’s landing of an airplane at the summit of Mount Washington in 1947.After leaving the newspaper business, Ms. Alger focused her energies away from the farm on improving and maintaining the public library in Milan. She also welcomed the opportunity to spend time with her four granddaughters and with her sister Charlotte Burgess, who joined her on several trips to the Maine coast. With the advent of digital photography, she made a mission of crafting end-of-the-year greeting cards and calendars with pictures of her family, her friends, and her and their pets and livestock. Late in life, she inherited her parents' addiction to the Boston Red Sox, reveling in the team's World Series victories of 2007 and 2013.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, Alan Alger of West Milan and Daniel Alger and his wife Karen Tremblay Alger of Milan; a daughter, Sharon Alger Little and her husband Larry Little of Harrington, Del.; four granddaughters, Ariel Alger of Berlin, Andrea Alger of Milan, and Claudia Little and Christie Little of Harrington, Del.; and three nephews David Corriveau and wife Goodie of Lebanon, NH, Bobby Corr of Tiverton, RI and Bill Morrissey of Leicester, MA. She was predeceased by her parents and her sisters, Charlotte Burgess of Tiverton, R.I., and Ruth Morrissey of Leicester, Mass.
Relatives and friends may call at the Bryant Funeral Home, 180 Hillside Ave., Berlin, on Friday October 3, 2014 from 7 to 9 PM. Interment will be at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Lois Alger may be made to the Milan Public Library, 20 Bridge Street. Post Office Box 263, Milan, New Hampshire 03588.