David F. Hamelin

David F. Hamelin, 86, of North Troy, Vermont, passed away peacefully with family close during a brief hospice stay on Sunday evening August 24, 2025.

David enjoyed a fifty-three year marriage with his wife, Lucille, who predeceased him in 2013.

Through high school David enjoyed Future Farmers of America and worked on local farms. He even raised several milking cows and established his own route for fresh milk customers. He was also responsible for driving a snow roller pulled by a team of horses through the village streets of North Troy after every snow storm. With his savings, David bought his first car, a 1956 Oldsmobile. When he graduated from North Troy High School he then drove his car to trade school in Boston for radio broadcasting and auto mechanics. One of his favorite stories to tell about those years was (illegal) drag racing on route 9 in Massachusetts with that car. On Fridays he would win enough gas money for the drive back home to North Troy. There was not a car that could beat him!

His first job, while still in radio broadcasting school, he was hired to be the first radio broadcaster for the new station, WWRJ in White River Junction, Vermont. He left that position as he was approached as a recruit into the Army to be part of a new broadcasting division to take part in Radio Free Europe. When after waiting for weeks in a hotel, playing cards with the other recruits, they learned that the funding for the broadcasting program was not getting approved by Congress. David decided he was not joining the Army in another capacity; he was going home to get engaged!

David married his high school sweetheart, Lucille Gendron in June of 1960. They moved to Bennington, Vermont, where David operated a service station for several years. Their first two children, Kenneth and Lorie were born in Bennington.

After returning to North Troy where they bought the home they would raise their six children in, David worked at a variety of jobs including the cheese factory in Troy, he helped pour concrete and put cedar shingles on the tram buildings at Jay Peak and he ran a mail route to White River Junction before eventually operating a service station in North Troy. He also drove a school bus and worked for many years as a car salesman for both Natole Motor Company and then Hayes Ford on East Main St in Newport, Vermont where he spent many years as auto parts manager and taught a driving instruction class for adult women called Women on Wheels. He finished his career as a mechanic and snow plow driver at the Vermont State garage on the Derby road.

During his retirement David enjoyed Vermont Sugar Season tapping a few hundred maple trees at his sugar bush in North Jay. There he loved walking through the woods and watching the sap boil for hours with his beloved German Shepard, Sheena by his side. He took great pride and care that every small batch of syrup was divided equally in jars for all six children. His summer months were spent mowing his yard as well as the neighboring yards on both sides and the Notre Dame Cemetery.

Through his children's school years, David volunteered as a Little League baseball coach, school board member and Village Trustee.

He was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Church in North Troy often calling the numbers for the weekly bingo. David was very dedicated to managing the maintenance and mapping of the Notre Dame Cemetery.

David is survived by his six children; Kenneth (Juanita), Lorie (Eddie) Seadale, Paul (Alleson), John (Wendy), Brian (Mae), and Karen.

He is survived by twelve grandchildren; Chanda (Yvon) Pelletier, Laurent (Georgia), Jenna (Nick) Flynn, Carissa (Gil) Thomas, Nathan (Andrea) Vincent, Chad Vincent, Kristen Seadale, Savannah Hamelin, Richie Craig and fiancée Ella Stevens, Michelle (Ken) La Bounty, Tiffany Hamelin and Roland Desrochers, Graeden Britch, and fourteen great grandchildren; Olivia and Tucker Scott, Farrah and Beau Goerss, Madelaine, Jaxson, Zoe, Ivy, and Harper Vincent, Kennedy Rolfe, Tristan and Charlotte Desrochers and Lauren and Rylee Flynn, one great-great grandchild, Iris Marie, and his youngest brother, Lyle Hamelin of Fairfax, Vermont, sister-in-law, June Gendron of Newport, Vermont, and many nieces and nephews.

David was predeceased by his wife, Lucille, infant daughter, Sheri, grandson Paul McKee, his parents; Laurent and Idell Hamelin, brothers; Silas, Marvin, and Harvey, and two sisters; Edith (Brennan) and Laura (Leavitt), two Sisters-in-law; Paulette Boudreau Hamelin, Shirley Machia and two brothers-in-law; Thomas Brennan and David Leavitt.

A graveside service will be held at Notre Dame Cemetery in North Troy on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.

Memorial contributions in his name can be made to: Notre Dame Cemetery Maintenance Fund in care of St. Andre Bassett Parish, PO Box 109 Troy, Vermont, 05868.

Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting awrfh.com.