GAGNE, Richard Homere. Longtime teacher and coach at the Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA, died of natural causes in Arlington, Virginia on March 7, 2015. He was 85. Mr. Gagne was born at home in Franklin, NH, on February 5, 1930, second child of Romeo Omer Gagne and Marion Edna Cate Gagne, and brother to Corinne and Kenneth. He attended the Franklin schools as a child, and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1948 and Dartmouth College in 1952. At Dartmouth, he majored in French and was a member of the DKE fraternity. He served in the U.S. Army, and was stationed in Germany during the Korean Conflict. After his discharge, Mr. Gagne earned his Master's degree in Education from the University of New Hampshire. He afterwards taught at Brewster Academy and at the Hill School Camp, both in Wolfeboro, NH. Mr. Gagne taught at the Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA, from 1958 to 2000. He taught French, and English as a Second Language, and he was chair of the Language Department. Mr. Gagne also served as a dorm master in Waters House, in Sheedy Hall, and in Spaulding Hall; as a student advisor; as an advocate for the Winterim Program; and as a coach of lacrosse, soccer, wrestling, basketball, and golf. He and his wife, Margery, raised their three children on the Lawrence Academy campus. Mr. Gagne lived at learning institutions for fifty-six years, and he was dedicated to encouraging, educating, and thriving with the students and colleagues who were his second family. After his retirement, a Winterim scholarship fund was created in his honor, and for many years featured an annual golf tournament called the Gagne Elm Tree Classic. In December of 2014, Mr. Gagne moved to live near family in Arlington, VA. Previously, Mr. Gagne lived at the Nashoba Park Assisted Living community in Ayer, MA; and before that in Pepperell, MA; Groton, MA; and Brookfield, NH. He was an avid golfer, gardener, and woodworker, a devoted driver for Meals on Wheels, and was a regular for breakfast at Tiny's Restaurant in Ayer, where he led friends doing the Boston Globe's daily crossword puzzle. Mr. Gagne was predeceased by his parents; by sister Corinne Messina of St. Johnsbury, VT; by brother Kenneth Gagne of Boxford, MA; and by a son, Richard Hill Gagne of Clinton, MS. He is survived by son Charles Roux Gagne and wife Laurel Gagne of Encintas, CA ; by daughter Katharine Crane Gagne and husband Geof Hobday of Arlington, VA; by daughter-in-law Elise Morse-Gagne of Clinton, MS; by his former wife Margery (nee Weele) Gagne of Lexington, VA; by 7 grandchildren; by 13 nieces and nephews; and by thousands of former students, advisees, athletes, and colleagues. A summer memorial service will be planned. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Richard H. Gagne Winterim Scholarship Fund, Lawrence Academy, Box 992, Groton, MA 01450.
Published in The Boston Globe on Mar. 11, 2015