Richard Vincent Fabian

Obituary Department Dateline; Holderness, NH. Richard Vincent Fabian Jr. 75, of Holderness died February 21, 2016, at Lakes Region General Hospital, in Laconia, after a bout of pneumonia which put Rick in ICU. Rick was born on April 30, 1940 in Ithaca, NY to Ellen (Gallaudet) and Richard Vincent Fabian Sr. After a brief period in California, he grew up mostly in the Northeast spending his summers in Holderness where he has resided permanently since 1975. Rick went to Princeton majoring in aeronautical engineering which he used briefly at a Sikorsky Aircraft in the '60's. However, what put him on his longer career path was a Peace Corps term of service in India from 1963 to 1965, during which time he met his wife of almost 47 years, Georgene Walter. In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Rick was stationed at a school system to teach physical science. Schools in India at the time would charge teachers for damages on any broken lab equipment, so hands on activities in the classroom were scarce. Rick worked with teachers to secure inexpensive common items like ropes and pulleys so that for example, physics principals could be demonstrated to the students through their own experimentation, facilitating an expansion of curriculum beyond just lectures. Rick's passion for experiential learning continued in the US when he got a job as a science teacher at Sterling school in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. Sterling, now a college, had an active outdoor education program teaching students how to get along in the wilderness in different seasons and terrains. Rick went on to help start a similar kind of program at Tilton School in New Hampshire where he also taught science for many years. As Rick and Georgene moved on into having a family, Rick took on more business administration responsibilities at Tilton, eventually getting a Masters in the field at Plymouth State and working as a full time comptroller for the school. The family moved up to Holderness where they became active at Plymouth Congregational Church and involved in Pemi Valley Habitat for Humanity, and he in the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and Chocorua Island Chapel Association. As well as working on committees for the local Habitat affiliate, and briefly volunteering in administration at Habitat International in Americus Georgia, he also put in hours on construction sites locally and on projects in India and Madagascar as part of Habitat International's Global Village Work Camp program. Rick loved to spend time outdoors engaging in activities with his family from home projects like growing a garden, sugaring and harvesting firewood to hiking in the White Mountains, canoeing and boating on Squam Lake and cross-country skiing wherever there was snow. A difficulty Rick faced later in life was his diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, an unexplainable lung condition that led to a transplant and complications that later related to his death. Despite the limitations, Rick continued to carry on with whatever chores and exercise he possibly could manage right up to the end. Rick is survived by his wife, Georgene, his two sons Chris and Mark and wife Bobby and his grandchildren Yarrow, Lynx and Sage Memorial contributions can be made to Pemi Valley Habitat for Humanity, POB 238, Plymouth, NH, 03264.

Tributes

Richard Vincent Fabian

April 30, 1940 - February 21, 2016