Deane Anderson Straiton

1924 - 2017

Deane Anderson Straiton was born on July 12, 1924, in Barre, Vt. to Alexander Duncan Straiton and Emily Anderson Straiton. Raised there, he graduated from Spaulding High School in 1942, from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1943, and from Dartmouth College in 1950 with a BA degree.

He joined the military during World War II, spending the first two years stateside in the Air Corps instructing military police through skits and demonstrations, which included being the padded target for attack dog training. Afterward he served in the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Division in France during the last few months of the war and in Germany during the first year of occupation.

Deane met Helen Hamilton in Roselle Park, N.J. where she was a maid of honor at his cousin's wedding. She was then attending the University of Vermont, so they began dating. They were married on April 19, 1952. They lovingly raised three children.

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Deane worked in the Barre granite industry, serving seven years as an estimator for the Rock of Ages Corporation. In Peekskill, N.Y. he operated a retail monument business for seven years selling Rock of Ages products. While living in Eastham, Mass. on Cape Cod he worked 21 years for the Mid-Cape Center, a chain of home improvement stores, most of that time as a purchaser.

Deane was a charter member of the Vermont Jaycees serving as the Barre chapter president and the state-level vice-president. In Peekskill, he was a member of the Rotary Club and served as the secretary. On Cape Cod, he played the clarinet for the Orleans Town Band and participated in orchestral support for locally staged musicals performed by The Highlanders. He ushered at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans.

Childhood summers were spent at Lake Champlain where Deane learned to sail. This interest led to much sailing pleasure in the salt water bays around Cape Cod where he captained and maintained a twenty-four foot Bristol Corsair sloop, outfitted with a galley and five berths for his family, that was kept moored in Wellfleet Harbor. He named it Scotch Jem after his favorite drink and the first name initials of his children. Family and friends will long remember the many pleasant day trips in Wellfleet Bay and the overnight summertime cruises in most weathers to Jeremy Point and several harbors in the greater Cape and Islands region. The Scotch Jem now resides on Lake Champlain where Deane enjoyed summer cruises during his later years.

An avid photographer, Deane once converted the dining room into a studio for taking portraits of his children, and he developed and enlarged his own photos. He enjoyed Alpine skiing in Vermont and taught his children to ski. He liked to read and to walk.

Quiet and reserved by nature, Deane had the knack at social gatherings for unexpectedly releasing a quip that would bring the house down. He excelled at telling jokes and stories, infusing his characters with distinctive voices. At Havenwood - Heritage Heights, the retirement community where he recently lived, Deane briefly returned to acting in a performance put on at Tad's Place, and was praised for his natural talent.

Deane passed away peacefully Monday, April 17, 2017, in Concord. He is pre-deceased by his wife, Helen M. Straiton; and is survived by his sister, Anne S. Conlin of Burlington, V.; his children, Edward H. Straiton of Leominster, Mass., Jane R. Straiton and her husband, Paul Laffal of Berlin, Vt. and Marie L. Straiton and her husband, Peter Satterfield of Pembroke; and two grandchildren, Alexander Satterfield and Alysia Satterfield.

Internement will be in the Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vt. at a later date.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Vermont Historical Society Development Office, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641.