Richard E. Cary

Wolfeboro - Richard E. Cary, 91, of Tuftonboro, NH died on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at Huggins Hospital.
Dick was born on October 28, 1933, in Minneapolis, MN, son to the late Robert and Dora (Knutson) Cary. His sister, Susan, was born 6 years later. He spent his early years in Minneapolis, moved to Duluth for a while, and then to Wheaton, IL, where he graduated at the top of his high school class and was an Eagle Scout.
He attended Oberlin College where he met his wife of 59 years, Deborah Johnson. They married during their junior year and transferred to the University of Minnesota where he attended architecture school. He graduated magna cum laude and phi beta kappa in 1956, the same year his first child was born. Following graduation, they moved to Evanston, IL and he joined an architecture firm. His second child was born shortly thereafter.
In 1959, they moved to the Boston area, where Debby had family. They built a house in Winchester and moved in along with their third child. Dick joined a prestigious downtown architecture firm. His projects were varied but mostly for universities and large commercial enterprises.
For a year spanning 1962-63, the family moved to Switzerland. Dick worked in Zurich, and they camped all over Europe whenever they could get away.
Dick returned to his architectural firm in Boston and continued his work on large and complex projects. During this period, Dick and Debby became active in the Ethical Society of Boston with Dick serving in leadership positions.
In 1971, Dick and Debby and family joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Tunisia where he was a Professor of Architecture. They took advantage of academic breaks to travel in Europe and North Africa.
Upon their return, Dick joined Jung Brannen in Boston as a principal and contracts officer. He continued to work on large and complex projects up and down the east coast. He transitioned to a sole practitioner for a couple of years. This was a period when he became active in Winchester committees on fair housing and special needs education. He and Debby joined a play reading club that was the origin for him starting a similar club in the Wolfeboro area several years later.
In 1993, Dick and Debby began their 3rd experience in living abroad, this time in Kuwait. Dick followed Debby over and became a senior leader in the largest architectural/engineering firm in the Middle East. The goal being to revive the firm after the war with Iraq and begin rebuilding Kuwait.
In 1996, post-Kuwait, Dick and Debby retired to their lake home in Tuftonboro. The land had been purchased by Debby's grandfather in 1907 and passed down upon his death. Debby inherited from her mother, and they later rebuilt the simple camp into a larger year-round home. During all those years, there were summers at the lake for the family with lots of extended family and generational friends.
Dick and Debby engaged with various organizations in the Tuftonboro area including the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes (UUFES), Village Players, the play reading group Dick began, and several Tuftonboro committees. His leadership and architectural skills were instrumental at renovations at the new UUFES building which opened in 2005 and the Village Players theater building.
The expanded lake house burned to the ground in 2012 and took Debby with it. This was an unimaginable tragedy for the family, but with support from many family members and good friends, Dick made it through and rebuilt the house almost exactly as it had been.
Life was becoming a bit simpler and quieter for Dick since then, but he was still active in many ways. His memory was becoming unreliable, so he first moved in with daughter Leslie in Wolfeboro for several months and then to Taylor Community Back Bay on 3/5/25. He often went back to the lake house for the afternoon as it was his true happy place. On 6/5/25, he was having lunch with son John and relaxing while overlooking the lake when he quietly left us. Dick was at peace and free of pain.
Dick is survived by his sister, Susan Jamieson, daughters, Alison Cary Almquist and Leslie E. Cary; his son, John O. Cary, as well as grandchildren R. Philip Almquist, Carolyn C. Almquist, Jamison R. Cary, Meghan E. Behen, as well as five great-grandchildren, and many other beloved family members and friends.
A memorial service to celebrate Dick's life will be held on Saturday, June 28 at 2:00 pm at the Village Players at 51 Glendon Street, Wolfeboro, NH at 2:00 pm.
The Baker-Gagne Funeral Homes of Wolfeboro and West Ossipee, NH are assisting the family with the arrangements. To view an online memorial, leave a message of condolences or for more information go to: baker-gagnefuneralhomes.com