Roland R. Vautour

On December 13th, Roland R. Vautour, 95, a longtime Jeffersonville resident, passed away peacefully with family by his side.
Born to Arthur and Yvonne (King) Vautour in Berlin, New Hampshire on January 20th, 1929. Roland enjoyed all the activities the North Country offered including hiking, skiing, and ski jumping with the Nansen Ski Club. He especially enjoyed spending time in the summers at the family camp on Cedar Pond. Receiving a scholarship from the University of New Hampshire to ski and jump, Vautour graduated with a degree in Business Administration in 1952. At UNH, he met the love of his life, Sally Liden; they were married June 16th, 1951.
Vautour held a series of management roles at Montgomery Ward in New York, Connecticut and Maine, before becoming Director of Development for the City of Waterville, Maine. He was recruited to become Vermont's Commissioner of Development in 1960 by Governor F. Ray Keyser. During most of the 1960's Vautour was the General Manager of what was then Madonna Mountain Ski Area; now known as Smugglers' Notch Resort. During most of the 1970's he and his wife were local business owners. Vautour was a volunteer leader in numerous community and State civic and charitable organizations.
Long active in State and National politics, in 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed Vautour Director of Farmers Home Administration for Vermont, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. In 1986 Reagan nominated Vautour to be Under Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, and he was unanimously confirmed by the US State. Vautour was at the center of solving the massive farm credit crisis of the 1980's overseeing the Farmers Home Administration, the Federal Crop Insurance Administration, the Rural Electrification and Telecommunications Administration, and the Commodity Credit Corporation. President George H.W. Bush asked Vautour to continue in his role throughout his Presidency.
Vautour was a lifelong sports enthusiast, especially skiing. Being a competitive skier and jumper at UNH, he passed along his love of skiing, golf and biking to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Widowed in 2007 by the death of his wife of 56 years, Vautour is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Lawrence and Jean Vautour of Wayne, Maine; his 4 children, Victoria Vautour and her husband Mark Delaney, Gregory Vautour, Andrea Sheredy and Eric Vautour all of Jeffersonville; 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held at a future time. In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, he asked that donations in his name be made to "The Nansen Ski Club" (please put on memo line "For Roland"), 658 Cross Country Road, Pembroke, NH 03275. Please visit awrfh.com to share your memories and condolences.