Richard P. MacLeod

Richard Philip "Dick" MacLeod, Sr, 91, of Bradford passed away at his home on Friday, April 28, after a long illness, with family by his side. He was born to Philip and Mary (Hoak) McLeod, of Bradford, NH, on April 1, 1926. He was a native of Bradford and lived there almost his entire life. His family lived on small farm at the end of Lake Massasecum where they farmed best they could, kept boarders in the summer months and survived the Great Depression. Dick did all the farm work as his father had been disabled in World War I, and he helped his mother and aunt with keeping the boarders.




Dick graduated from Henniker High School, in 1944, the first of his family to graduate high school. He walked (or hitchhiked) 6 miles each way to get to school. The day after graduating he went to Manchester to enlist in the Navy, but he was rejected for service due to his vision problems. So he just went over to the Merchant Marines and enlisted with them. He was stationed at Gallups Island, Boston, and served on two tankers, the USS Mulholland and the Gulfwave, working in their boiler rooms. After the war ended, he and a friend hitchhiked across America. He then returned home and helped his grandfather build a house in Henniker for his mother.




Over the years, Dick held numerous delivery jobs; he delivered: ice he personally cut from the lake, oil, fish from Ipswich, Fannie Farmer chocolates, lumber, bread, and newspapers all over New England. He was a substitute school bus driver, often driving busloads of children on field trips into downtown Boston. With his wife Jackie, Dick owned a used furniture business and a "Laundro-Mac" in Henniker. They later owned and operated Fisher's Store on Lake Massasecum in the late 50's and 60's. After Fisher's Store closed, they ran food and popcorn concessions at places like the Hopkinton Fair. Dick helped his wife with her donut, cake and pie sales from their home; he was the official donut fryer. He worked nights as a water technician at Sprague Electric Company in Concord for 35 years, where he also served as the company "nurse," attending to any co-workers who were injured. Dick was a licensed electrician and a licensed auctioneer. He was a long time Justice of the Peace and enjoyed recounting that he had married people in such places as The Isles of Shoals, in a hot air balloon, on mountain tops and often in his own living room.




Dick served for many years on the Bradford Fire Department, the Bradford Rescue Squad and the Bradford Police Department. He served on the Bradford zoning board, planning board, and as town health officer. He was a founding member of the Rescue Squad and taught its first EMT classes. He volunteered for the Red Cross for over 50 years, teaching First Aid, EMT and Disaster Preparedness. He was the first ski patrol member at Pat's Peak Ski Area teaching First Aid classes to their newly formed ski patrol. After retiring from Sprague, Dick traveled with the Red Cross to help people devastated by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast area. He always helped people however he could, no matter who they were. In his later years, he volunteered for the Bradford Historical Society providing oral history to visitors as he was a lifelong resident of Bradford, and the second oldest Bradford native after his friend, Helen Bagley. He loved to tell stories about Bradford, Henniker and his own life. Dick had lots of stories to tell, and many of them were even true. His wife frequently stated that he could "talk the ear off a jackass" though that was never proven.




Dick's hobbies included woodworking, making wooden figures, drawing, painting (including painting all his house's shutters the "Loud MacLeod" tartan) and everything Scottish. He was extremely proud of his Scottish ancestry, wearing his kilts whenever/wherever he could. He traveled to Cape Breton and Scotland a couple times, visiting where his ancestors came from. After one visit, he was inspired to build a small exact replica of Dunvegan Castle, ancestral home of the MacLeod Clan, which he displayed in his yard. He was a founding member of the Highland Games at Loon Mountain, helping to coordinate the first clan picnic there with a couple other Scottish families in 1975. He was a member of various Scottish organizations, played (badly) in a bagpipe band for a time, and was very interested in researching his Scottish genealogy. He listened to bagpipe music all morning on the day he passed away, though he requested and drank his beloved black rum, not Scotch, less than an hour before he took his last breath.




Dick was predeceased by his parents, Phil and Mary McLeod; his brother, Robert McLeod; and his dear wife, Catherine "Jackie" Fisher MacLeod, whom he missed sorely after her death. Dick is survived by his son, Richard MacLeod, Jr, of Henniker; his son, Robert MacLeod and his wife, Georgine, of Bardstown, KY; and his daughter, Maryanne MacLeod and her wife, Lorraine, of Somersworth, NH. He also leaves behind his beloved grandchildren, including granddaughter, Jaime MacLeod Richard and her husband, Jenner, of Middlefield, CT; granddaughter, Shayla, and grandson, Seamus MacLeod of Bardstown, KY; step-grandson Daniel Vorosmarty and his wife, Laura, of Barrington; and grandson, Richard MacLeod, III, of Bradford who lived with and cared for Dick in his final years and days. Dick also leaves his cherished great-grandchildren, Samantha MacLeod, of Bradford; Emilia and Jagger Richard of CT; and Lucy Vorosmarty of Barrington. He leaves many other family members and friends. Dick was a treasure to his family.




A graveside service of remembrance will be held at the New Pond Cemetery on Massasecum Lake Road in Bradford at 10 am on Saturday, May 27th. All are invited; please bring a memory to share if you'd like. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Concord Regional Visiting Nurse and Hospice.The VNA and Hospice nurses and staff were true Godsends to him and his family in his final days.