Bennington, VT – John P Hart, 69, a lifelong resident of Bennington, Vermont, passed away unexpectedly on January 18, 2023, following a brief illness.

Born on August 16th (Bennington Battle Day), 1953, in Bennington, he was the youngest son of William and Jean (Morrissey) Hart. John was a lifelong Bennington resident, graduating from Mt. Anthony Union High School in 1971 and Mercer University in Macon, Georgia in 1976.

John was a tremendous 3-season athlete, playing baseball, football, and basketball. He was best known as an outstanding right-handed pitcher, playing baseball throughout his youth with the Bennington Little League, Babe Ruth and the American Legion leagues. He later played with the Bennington Generals in the collegiate Northern League, and, at the age of 21, he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1975 Major League Baseball Amateur draft. Beyond baseball, John played high school football, where he set many records at Mt. Anthony as quarterback and was selected to play in both the Vermont State and New Hampshire All State Football team in 1970. He similarly excelled at basketball, and remains on the MAU leader board to this day. John was selected as a Top 100  Basketball player in the nation in the National High School Magazine in 1971.

On June 22, 1985, he married his soulmate, Donna Lee Hart.

John was a longtime employee of the Town of Bennington Buildings and Grounds Department and the Bennington VFW post #1332, where he was immensely popular among the members and patrons.

John was a great friend to so many, and it was impossible for him to attend an event without running into old friends or making a few new ones. He was a skilled storyteller, and whether he was recounting memories for the first time, or the 21st time, his stories always grabbed the attention of anyone within hearing distance, and usually ended with a “harty” laugh, that was so true to who he was.

John is survived by his children; Casie Hart-Connolly (Brian) of Holliston, MA,  Crystal Ottaviano (Juan) of Stamford, CT, Guy “Tony” Ottaviano, Jr., (Cristi) of Essex Junction, VT; grandchildren, Cora, Carmelia, Mason, Jedi and Quinn; brothers, Lee W. Hart (Suzanne) of Jacksonville, FL, Michael J. Hart and Dennis W. Hart (Alma Jane “Peaches”) of Bennington; sister, Donna Alice Maher, of Bainbridge Island, WA; and many nieces and nephews. John Hart is reunited in death with his soulmate Donna Lee Hart, his parents, and sisters, Linda and Tina (Christina).

Visitation for John will be held from 10am till 12pm on Saturday, January 28, at the Mahar and Son Funeral Home in Bennington, immediately followed by a funeral service at the funeral home and a graveside service at White Chapel Cemetery on Chapel Road in Bennington. There will be a celebration of John’s life at the VFW beginning at 3pm.

If friends should desire, contributions in John’s memory may be made to Bennington Little League or American Legion Baseball Post 13 through the office of the Mahar and Son Funeral Home, 628 Main Street, Bennington, Vermont 05201. Guestbook condolences may be made at www.maharandsonfuneralhome.net

To plant Memorial Trees in memory of John Philip Hart, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.

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Ronald Olmsted, 87, passed away on January 12, 2023.  Memorial services will be held Friday Jan. 20 at 10:30 a.m. at the Bismarck Funeral Home.  The service will be livestreamed on the Bismarck Funeral Home website under Ronald’s obituary.  Internment will take place at 1 p.m. at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the North Dakota Veterans Home Foundation, contacting them at 701-683-6500 or via email at ndvh@nd.gov.

Ronald Duane (Welder) Olmsted was born on March 31, 1935, to George and Katherine (Kary) Welder at the family home on Sweet Avenue in Bismarck. When he was 2 years old, his father died unexpectedly.

Young Ronnie and his mother moved back to the home of her parents George and Elizabeth Kary in Mandan for five years with Katherine’s younger siblings who were like his brothers and sisters. Some of those aunts and uncles were younger than him.

On September 7, 1940, Katherine married Charles E. Olmsted who raised Ron as his own going so far as to adopt him. After that, Ron lived most of his life in Bismarck where he enjoyed hunting, fishing, baseball and softball.

Among his childhood highlights was getting to meet his sports idol New York Yankee great Babe Ruth in 1947. A 12-year-old Ron was among a group of about 50 Bismarck-area kids and adults who greeted the retired Sultan of Swat when his plane had a brief stopover at the Bismarck Airport. Ron proudly received the Babe’s autograph.

Although he was small for his age, Ron would not let that stop him from excelling in sports. For example, he struck out many Junior Legion baseball opponents when he stood on the mound. His skills at the bat kept Bismarck on the scoreboard as well. His mother Katherine often said, “Ronnie was a stick!” in reference to his hitting skills.

When Ron was 16, Bismarck was favored to win the 1951 North Dakota state Junior Legion baseball tournament. That event allowed him to compete against two future professional athletes. One was Wahpeton’s “huge-man-among-boys” pitcher Steve Myhra who later played NFL football with the Baltimore Colts. The other was some guy called Roger Maris from Fargo Shanley who, of course, later achieved stardom with the New York Yankees. Bismarck took second place when most of the team could not hit Myhra’s pitches in the championship game. Though they lost, Ron went 3 for 4 against Myhra in that final contest. Ron recalled that Myhra “dusted” him in his last at-bat.

Later when he played amateur baseball, Ron participated in an exhibition game against a team featuring Satchel Paige, one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Ron did not fare well against Page, who still had plenty of juice in his arm even though he was close to 50 years old.

Ron also was proud of his fastpitch softball playing days, which included a stint with the renowned Roosevelt Bar team of Bismarck.

After graduating from Bismarck High School in 1953 he attended Bismarck Junior College (BJC) for two years which, at the time, resided on the top floor of the high school. After graduating from BJC in 1955, Ron joined the U.S. Army, serving two years in Japan during the peacetime era between the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Upon his return stateside, Ron worked at Sioux Sporting Goods and later Sherwin-Williams in Bismarck. In 1961, he married Darlene Roll at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church in Mott, North Dakota. That union gave the world his three sons: Mark, Monte, and Kent.

In 1970, Ron returned to college at Dickinson State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in education. While studying there in his mid-30s, he made two interesting choices. Ron initially stayed in the dorm (bad idea), and he played baseball with a bunch of 20-year-olds as teammates (good idea). While serving as catcher for the baseball team, Ron earned the nickname “Grandpa” from his teammates.

Upon graduating from college, Ron returned to Bismarck and served as a substitute teacher. He also worked at Vantine’s Paint and Glass. Ron soon joined the North Dakota Highway Department, where he worked for many years first in personnel and later as a civil rights officer. Ron also was a longtime member of the Bismarck-Mandan Elks Club.

He spent most of his retirement in Bismarck until moving to the North Dakota Veterans Home in Lisbon in 2014 where he spent the remainder of his life. He died there on Jan. 12. Ron was preceded in death by his parents George Welder, Katherine Olmsted and Charles Olmsted.

Surviving family members include his sons Mark (Christine), Monte and Kent along with grandchildren Dylan, Vincent and Sarah; brothers Charles (Gloria) and Gary (Shirley); sisters Joann (Carl) Copeland, Judy (Steve) Nelson and Vicky (Allen) Weisenburger plus numerous nieces and nephews.

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Fred A Bortolussi Jr, age 88, passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 10, 2022 surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts on September 14, 1934 to the late Fred and Eureka (Travaglini) Bortolussi. Fred was a beloved son, husband, father and grandfather. He was kind and caring and very devoted to family.

During his early years, Fred found his love for basketball and played all through high school at Framingham High. He was a star Forward for the Framingham Flyers and was known for his great leaping, rebounding and sharp shooting abilities.

Fred was enrolled in the technical vocational program where he became skilled in carpentry, mechanics and construction and he graduated in 1952. Continuing his education, Fred went to the Wentworth Institute of Technology. There, he was a two sport star athlete in both basketball and baseball and he earned his Associates Degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering in 1954. After that, Fred went on to Boston College after proudly receiving a 4-year scholarship for his skills on the basketball court. He played as a Forward for the BC Eagles and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1958. After his time on the BC basketball team, Fred played semi-pro basketball for several company sponsored teams in the Boston MetroWest area such as Shock Auto Body, Columbus Society, Union House and Monnick Supply.

In the summer of 1961, Fred met the love of his life, Pauline T. Carey (Polly) at the Surry Room in Falmouth. He asked her to dance and that was the beginning of a lifetime of love. They were engaged shortly after and married on May 5, 1962 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Walpole. They made their married home in Walpole where they stayed for 57 years and raised their two sons Stephen and Jay and their daughter Christen.

Fred led a highly successful career putting his technical engineering and business backgrounds to use. He worked for Bethlehem Steel, General Dynamics and Raytheon Corporation. At Raytheon he was Manager of Financial Analysis. He worked there for 33 years and retired at age 60 in 1994. While working at Raytheon, Fred studied part time at Babson College going to classes at night. He earned his Master of Business Administration Degree with honorary distinction in 1977. In 2004, at his 50th Black and Gold Dinner at Wentworth he received an honorary Bachelor’s Degree. Also, in that year he was inducted into the Wentworth Sports Hall of Fame.

Fred was extremely proud of his nine beautiful grandchildren: Jessica, Jason, Jenna, Calum, Cameron, Heather, Nathan, Matthew and Noah. He was affectionately known as Papa. He always loved hearing about their achievements in school, sports, horseback riding, scouts, music, work and so on. He thoroughly enjoyed going to their many sporting events and activities at school.

All through the years, Fred strived to be physically active and athletic. He continued to play basketball well into his sixties ! He was extremely handy and skilled and could always be found working on projects at home. In fact, at the house in Walpole, he finished the upstairs and the basement and also built the Family room, the Florida room and the shed in the backyard. He enjoyed spending nice family time with Polly, his children and his grandchildren at the houses in Walpole, the Cape and in Norfolk. He and Polly were very active and had a large group of very close friends whom they would go with to dinners, dance events and parties. Fred lived life to the fullest !

Fred will always be remembered for his love and devotion to family, his love for the game of basketball, his competitive spirit, his zest for life, his drive to succeed in sports, academics and career, and his wonderful kindness and generosity.

Fred is survived by his wife Pauline of Norfolk, MA; his son Stephen, wife Alison and their children Calum, Cameron and Heather of Westford, MA; his son Jay, wife Kim and their children Jessica, Jason and Jenna of Andover MA; his daughter Christen, husband Russ and their children Nathan, Matthew and Noah of Norfolk, MA.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend Fred’s Life Celebration on Monday, December 19, 2022, from 4 to 7 PM in the James H. Delaney & Son Funeral Home, 48 Common Street, Walpole.

All are invited to gather in the funeral home on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at 9:30 AM prior to Fred’s Mass of Christian Burial which will be celebrated in Blessed Sacrament Church, 10 Diamond Street, Walpole on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at 10:30 AM. Interment will follow in Saint Francis Cemetery in Walpole.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Fred’s memory to the Amyloidosis Research Consortium, 320 Nevada St, Newton, MA 02460 or arci.org

To plant memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Fred Bortolussi, Jr., please visit our flower store.

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