Gary Cummins

TOWNSHEND -- Gary Patrick Cummins, 51, of Billy Smith Road, died at home Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007, six months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Born in Olney, Md., on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1955, he was the son of Doris Elaine (Sunderland) Cummins and Paul Kinsey Cummins.

He grew up in Friendship and attended both the University of Maryland and Salisbury State College in Maryland. He often expressed how happy his youth was and how lucky he was to have such great parents.

Mr. Cummins felt drawn to the Northeast, especially New England, and spent most of his life, after college, working and living in Massachusetts, New York, Maine and Vermont.

He enjoyed a long career in financial operations, working as collection manager for Associates Commercial Corp. in Worcester, Mass.; collection manager for Auto Rental Corp. in Worcester; assistant vice president for Key Financial Services in Massachusetts and New York; assistant vice president/operations manager for Key Bank of Maine in Augusta; and vice president/central collections manager for BankNorth Group in Brattleboro.

Most recently he worked for Winchester Stables in Newfane and First Run Video in Brattleboro. Until just two weeks before his death, he worked regularly at First Run Video, at a job and for a boss he loved.

He loved where he lived, in a cabin, in the woods, in the hills of Townshend. He enjoyed hiking, canoeing and camping, and spent many vacations in the Adirondacks, the White Mountains, the Northeast Kingdom and the North Woods of Maine. He loved animals, especially dogs, and provided a caring home for nine dogs during his lifetime.

He was a musician, playing guitar, mandolin, and piano, and he especially appreciated bluegrass music. His favorite pastime was to get together with his friends and play bluegrass until the wee hours of the morning.

Mr. Cummins is survived by his mother, Doris Cummins of Bowie, Md.; a sister, Judith Wolfe of Lewes, Del.; his wife, Judy Cummins of Townshend; his stepchildren, Caleb Ruth and wife Kuei-chiu of Ithaca, N.Y., and Joshua Bewig of San Francisco, Calif.; and an aunt, two nieces, and several cousins.

When the songbirds return to Townshend in the spring, a memorial service will be held at his home on Billy Smith Road, where his ashes will be returned to the Earth. The date will be announced and all friends and family will be welcome.

Donations made be made in his memory to the Windham County Humane Society, Route 30, Brattleboro, VT 05301.

His family very much appreciates all the support received from friends and from the folks of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire.u