LACONIA ---- David Bonhurst Hart, 97, beloved patriarch of the Hart family, passed away on Monday, December 9, 2024, at the Taylor Community in Laconia, NH.
David was born on November 14, 1927. He was the youngest of three boys born to Carrie Louise Bonhurst and Edward Osgood Hart in Fulton, Oswego County, NY.
The family lived in Syracuse, NY after 1928. David was baptized into the Christian faith in the American Baptist denomination at the Eastwood Baptist Church.
He graduated from Eastwood High School, class of 1945, and served in the US Army in Hawaii and Guam from January 1946 to June 1947. Both older brothers served in World War II as well. David graduated from Denison University in Granville, OH, in 1951, where he was a member of the American Commons Club Fraternity, which welcomed members of all races and creeds. He earned a master’s degree in education from Columbia University.
He married his college sweetheart, Lee Sharp, a Denisonian, class of 1950, in August of 1952 in Haddonfield, NJ. Dave and Lee settled in Granby CT where they raised their three children. He was active in the community and their church, the First Congregational Church, UCC. He served as deacon, and teacher and superintendent of the church school. For the capital fund drive celebrating the 250th anniversary of the church in 1989, he acted as general chair. For 29 years Dave organized 15 bakers who produced over 400 loaves of cheddar cheese bread, which was a highlight of the one-day craft fair! David taught history and social studies in the public schools of Sherburne, NY, and West Hartford, CT, before becoming a re-insurance underwriter and manager with the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford from 1957 until retirement in 1989.
He was active in the Granby Public Health Nursing Association, serving as president for four years and spent several years volunteering at the Institute of Living in Hartford. In the 1970’s and early 1980’s, he and his two sons backpacked in the White Mountains of NH, climbing all of the peaks over 4,000 ft. elevation. Some wonderful, happy memories came out of those experiences! He continued to hike and backpack solo in NH and ME, climbing Mount Katahdin three summers in the early 1990’s. In 1997, David and Lee became permanent residents of the Taylor Community in Laconia. Almost immediately, Dave began to look for a historical record of the retirement community. Finding only a brief outline, he started a ten-year journey researching records in the Taylor Community archives, the county court house, and the public library.
In 2007, he completed a literary work of 226 pages honoring the 100th anniversary of the Taylor founding. During his tenure at Taylor Community, David was a strong proponent of the retirement model with three levels of care and maximum resident participation. He served on the residents’ council for six years, two of those as president. In 1998, he and Lee became members of the Sanbornton Congregational Church, UCC. Dave was a member of the choir and served seven years on the Board of Trustees.
Lee, “the treasure of my heart” and beloved wife of 63 years, predeceased him in September 2015. He is survived by his son Bruce and his wife Jill; daughter Carol Hart and her husband Malik Haig; son Edward and his wife Laura; honorary son Ron Brown; granddaughter Megan Leigha; granddaughter Stephanie Krist, her husband Nate, and their son Julien David; nieces, nephews, many dear extended family members, and friends.
A Celebration of Life is planned for Sanbornton Congregational Church UCC, 21 Meeting House Hill Rd, Sanbornton, NH 03269, on Saturday, February 1, 2025, at 1:00 pm, and Granby (CT) Congregational Church UCC, 242 Salmon Brook St, Granby, CT 06035, on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at 1:00 pm.
Donations in David’s memory may be made to Sanbornton Congregational Church UCC.
“Life lives itself. One life living. We get to experience it. The body’s just the ticket to ride. It’s the vehicle to ride. Life was there before the body, and will be after. Bodies come and go, life is infinite.” ~ Tony Basilio
It has been a wonderful ride!
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services/ 603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to wilkinsonbeane.com.