Harry Russell Gould

H. Russell Gould passed away Saturday, July 21st surrounded by loving family. A lifelong resident of Piermont, he was born in Hanover, NH on October 19, 1931, son of Harry Russell Gould and Florence Craig Gould. He suffered from alzheimer's disease and had been living at the Grafton County Nursing Home for two of his final years. Russ married Shirley Litchfield, then of Orford, in July of 1956. Their lives together were very active with Gould's Country Store and Smokehouse and raising three children. They enjoyed skiing, boating, family gatherings and cookouts, get-togethers with friends and vacations as time allowed. Russ was proud of his family'sScottish heritage and in 1991 Russ and Shirley travelled to Scotland to find the homeplace of Russ's grandparents, who came to the United States on their honeymoon,in Glasgow. Harry Gould, Russ's father, was an entrepreneur with interests in farming, raising black angus, mink, foxes, chickens, and potatoes, as well as running the Gould's country store in Piermont village. From an early age, Russ shadowed his father on the farm and has he got older he had his own animals which he showed at fairs, sold and traded. He raised mink and fox pelts for sale at the store. He earned a gold potato at a 4-H event in Chicago for a quality product, and sold potatoes and chickens to the Lake Tarleton Club and Dartmouth College. As a young man, Russ was very proud of his trick horse, Silver. Silver earned many ribbons for his tricks at shows. The highlight of Silver's career was being assigned a stall beside Roy Rogers' stunt horse "Trigger." Old Silver's last performance was for Piermont's bicentennial celebration in which he pulled the "Yankee Peddlar" cart. After Russ's father passed away in 1950, Russ ran the family farm for a while and then decided to sell the animals and enter New Hampshire Technical College. Shortly after that decision was made he was called into the armed forces and was sent to Aberdeen, MD for basic training, then to Fort Devens. He became one of about 5 men specialized in bomb disposal who traveled wherever there was a call to make safe a potential bomb threat. Russ was on a mission at Camp Drum in New York when he received word from his mother that the store had burned down. The decision was made to rebuild, and Russ was given an early discharge to come home and help with rebuilding and re-open the store. The store survived and grew for many years, the smokehouse in the back producing corn cob smoked products. In 1978 the "new store" was built at the intersection of River Road and Route 10. Christmastime at the smokehouse was a busy time for Russ's family, and many decorated packages of smoked products were prepared and shipped from the store for holiday gifts. Russ was involved in many town and community activities through the years. He was a founding member of the Piermont planning board, a member of the Piermont fire department, trustee of the Piermont Congregational Church, a 32nd degree Mason, and was on the board of directors of the Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank for 34 years, a job which he enjoyed and to which he was very dedicated. Russ was predeceased by his parents and three sisters, Helen Mitchell, Charlotte Wilson, and Marion Callender; and nephews Peter Callender and Christopher Callender. Survivors include his wife Shirley and their three children, Harry Russell ("Rusty"), Leslie and Alison, and their respective spouses Kathleen Day, Bruce Henry, and Brian Rose; grandchildren Gabrielle, Elliott and Zachary Gould; Carmen, Morgan and Tiffany Henry; and Stella and Elias Rose. He is also survived by hisbrother in law Wilbur Callender, nephew James Callender and great nephew Taylor Callendar; niece Ellionna (Wilson) Swaanand her son Timothy Swaan; and nephew David Mitchell and niece Alice "Alison" Mitchell. A service in his memory will be held at the Piermont Congregational Church on August 4, 2012 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, a memorial gift may be made to the Piermont food shelf at the Piermont Church. The Hale Funeral Home of Bradford, VT is in charge of arrangements. To view an online guestbook go to www.halefuneralhomes.com

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