Winston Wright remembered for dedication to Fitzwilliam, fire service

Oct. 21—FITZWILLIAM — Winston Wright was a longtime and deeply dedicated educator, firefighter and EMT, emergency dispatcher, school board member and community volunteer in the Fitzwilliam area.

"To me, he was just Dad," said Ken Wright of Fitzwilliam, his only child. "He was a lot of things to a lot of people."

Winston Wright died Sunday, Oct. 9, at Applewood Care and Rehabilitation Center in Winchester. He was 85.

For more than half his life — 49 years — "Win," as he was known to many, worked as a dispatcher for Southwestern N.H. District Fire Mutual Aid in Keene. He retired in 2015 as the agency's longest-serving member. He started as a part-time dispatcher, a position he held for all but two of his years there, on June 25, 1965, according to Sentinel reporting at the time of his retirement.

"So he served nearly 50 years here, and I would say without a doubt was one of our most dedicated employees here," said Joseph Sangermano, Mutual Aid's current chief. "He covered countless shifts for us, and I hardly ever remember Win saying no when you called him to cover a shift. It was dedication, really, beyond the norm, especially for today."

Nowadays, Sangermano said, dispatchers industry-wide stay for three to five years. At Mutual Aid in Keene, which dispatches for dozens of agencies in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, staffers average 12 to 15 years, still decades shy of Wright's tenure.

"So that gives you some idea of what sort of dedication he had to this organization," said Sangermano, who got to know Wright when he started at Mutual Aid part-time in 1988, more than 20 years into Wright's time with the agency.

Even before becoming a dispatcher, Wright was a Fitzwilliam firefighter. He joined the town's department in 1960, and went on to become one of Fitzwilliam's first EMTs, as well as the chief. Wright also served as an assistant chief for the Meadowood County Area Fire Department, a Fitzwilliam-based nonprofit that provided specialty equipment and manpower to other local departments, and a senior staff instructor with the N.H. Fire Academy in Concord.

"It wasn't until looking over everything at the house that I actually realized how accomplished he was in the fire industry, and how respected," Ken Wright said.

Nancy Carney, a fellow Fitzwilliam resident, worked alongside Wright at each of those organizations, and sat on the town's selectboard when Wright served on the budget committee.

"He was always busy helping others," Carney said in an email, describing him as quiet and generous. "He did his homework for meetings and was prepared. He never spoke out of turn and listened to what people were talking about without interrupting. We worked well together knowing [that] educating those in the Fire Service was important."

The educational element of Wright's emergency services work fit nicely with his career as a teacher and assistant principal in the Winchendon, Mass., public school system. Phyllis Peterson of Fitzwilliam worked alongside him there for more than 30 years (in addition to teaching his son in Fitzwilliam, and serving with him on the Monadnock Regional School Board).

"Winston was friendly, cooperative and dependable," Peterson said in an email. "He rarely ever missed a day of teaching or a meeting having served so many years in each capacity. He was a true advocate for students and believed in their potential."

Wright represented Fitzwilliam on the school board in the Monadnock district — which also covers Gilsum, Richmond, Roxbury, Troy and Swanzey, and previously covered Surry and Sullivan — for more than 20 years, and was still serving at the time of his death.

"It's a tremendous loss to the community, it's a tremendous loss to the district," Monadnock Superintendent Lisa Witte said in an interview last week. "And I considered him a friend, so this was a tremendous personal loss, too. ... My life was made better by knowing him, and working with him, and having him on the board."

Wright was the first person to approach Witte about nominating the Monadnock board for the N.H. School Boards Association's annual School Board of Excellence award, which the 13-member group won earlier this year.

"And he was so proud," said Witte, who also described Wright as extremely kind and thoughtful.

"He also had an incredible sense of humor. Sometimes, he would drop a one-liner at a moment during a board meeting, and everyone would be in stiches," she said. "He was just the salt of the earth."

Kristen Noonan, Fitzwilliam's other school board representative, got to know Wright when she was elected to the board in 2018. Even before then, though, she recognized him from around town.

"He was a staple at the polls on voting day," Noonan said in an email, referring to Wright's service as assistant town moderator. "Usually standing next to the ballot machine in his suit."

That sort of visible involvement and leadership left a deep impression on Noonan, and the wider Fitzwilliam community, she said.

"Winston did so much good for this community, I don't know if he realized how much he inspired people around him to do the same," she said. "He had a profound effect on me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I miss him."

Despite his vast and varied community service, Wright always put his family first, his son said.

"He always made time for all of us, no matter what he had going on," Ken Wright said. "Whether he had a meeting at the fire station or a meeting at the school board, he was always there."

In addition to Ken and Ken's wife, Sherry, Wright is survived by family including his grandsons Kenny Wright II and his wife, Taryn, stationed at the Schofield U.S. Army Base in Hawaii; and Kyle Wright and his wife, Natasha, stationed at Fort Drum U.S. Army Base in New York; and three great-grandchildren.

Winston Wright was born in Keene on Jan. 15, 1937, and graduated from Keene High School in 1955. He went out to Costa Mesa, Calif., and earned an associate's degree at Orange Coast College in 1957, and returned to New Hampshire to marry his high school sweetheart, Jane, the following year.

Jane, like Winston, performed extensive community service in Fitzwilliam. She was the town clerk and tax collector for more than 50 years, up until her death in November 2019, according to her obituary. She was a longtime member of the Gap Mountain Lions Club and the Meadowood Area County Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, as well as the Fitzwilliam Community Church where she served as treasurer. She even performed weddings as a justice of the peace.

Looking back on his parents' community involvement, Ken Wright said he doesn't know how they made the time for all their activities.

"He probably could have written a book on time management," Ken Wright said of his father. "Between him and my mother, they always seemed to have time for everything. And they didn't seem like they were stressed."

But Wright's career as an educator left him with ample time for summer vacations, his son said. The family would often visit friends in Lakeville, Maine, and also had a permanent campsite at the Surry Mountain Dam campground.

"He was always there and made sure everybody had everything they needed," Ken Wright said. "And he always wanted to be involved in the family. He was a big influence on all of us. I think my sons will attest to that — they're both serving in the military, and they'll each have their own stories at the memorial about him."

Wright will be laid to rest following a memorial service on Friday, Oct. 28, at 11 a.m. in the Fitzwilliam Community Church. Before the service, Fitzwilliam Fire Department members will give him one final ride on a fire engine, traveling the roughly 1 mile from the station on Church Street to the church on Route 119.

Jack Rooney can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1404, or jrooney@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @RooneyReports.