Category: Obituaries

Dana Bruce Cullen Sr. was born on Oct. 12, 1955, in Boston, born to Kathryn and C. Paige Cullen of Swampscott, Mass., where he was raised. He graduated from Swampscott High School in 1974. He was a forever proud Big Blue alumnus.

Dana had visited the Ossipee area most of his life. He spent many summers at Terrace Pines Campground. Even back then he was well known for his constant smile and quick wit

Eventually in 1978 he moved permanently to Ossipee, N.H. This is where he met the love of his life, Belinda, and in 1983, they married.

Dana was immensely proud of his service to the community. Starting in the late 1970s he followed his father into the fire service with the Swampscott Auxiliary FD. He continued his fire service career when he made N.H. his permanent home working for the Effingham Fire Department and later the Center Ossipee Fire Department, where he spent nearly 40 years, before retiring as a Deputy Chief. He was well-known in the fire department as the ultimate jokester. Dana worked for too many fire service agencies over the years to list.

He will always be remembered for his love of hockey and football, preferring the Philadelphia Eagles and Flyers. He was well known for his famous chop suey.

Dana also worked for 37 years as a corrections officer, working for Strafford and Carroll counties, reaching the rank of lieutenant before retiring in 2014. Dana was also a third-generation, third-degree Mason.

He will be sorely missed at the toll booth at White Lake State Park, where he worked for nearly 20 years, letting in every firefighter he saw for free and bartering for fire department T-shirts and patches.

One of his favorite times was spending summers driving around with his son issuing fire permits during his nearly three decades as a forest fire warden for the towns of Ossipee and Tuftonboro.

He was predeceased by his wife, Belinda Cullen, and many family members. He is survived by his son Dana Cullen Jr., and his wife Jessica Cullen of Tamworth, N.H., and sister Kathryn Thibodeau and husband Scott of Swampscott, Mass., and many nieces and nephews.



At the wishes of Dana, there will be no funeral. Calling hours will be held at Lord Funeral Home, 50 Moultonville Road, Center Ossipee, N.H., on March 27, 2025, from 4-7 p.m. A Firematic detail will take place at 3:30 p.m. Class A dress and no mourning band are the uniform of the day.

In lieu of flowers, donations can made to the Center Ossipee or Effingham Fire Departments.

We are sorry to report that we’ve lost two former Fire Chief’s from Carroll County recently.

Retired Moultonborough Chief Richard Plaisted passed away recently. There will be a celebration of life in the spring but no calling hours or funeral. Dick was the Chief for around 40 years as well as the Fire Warden. He was very involved with the start of Lakes Region mutual fire aid, Red Hill Fire Tower Operations, CCFFWA as well as many local groups including Lions Club, Meals on Wheels, the Moultonboro Historical society, The Boy Scouts The Methodist Church and many other organizations. He was an important player in the new Moultonboro fire station and a mentor to many young firefighters.

Former Wolfeboro fire chief “Wally” Keniston passed away on the 18th. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/wallace-keniston-obituary?id=57059741

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of both of these men. 

TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT
S-215 Fire Operations in the Wildland Urban Interface
August 9, 10, 11, 2023
Bear Brook State Park
Allenstown, NH

COURSE TITLE: S-215 Fire Operations in the Wildland Urban Interface
DATES: August 9, 10, 11, 2023– 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
LOCATION: Bear Brook State Park-DNCR Forestry Warehouse
157 Deerfield Rd. (3 DRED Circle), Allenstown, NH 03275
SPONSORING AGENCY: State of New Hampshire, Division of Forests & Lands
COURSE COORDINATOR: Douglas Miner
LEAD INSTRUCTOR: Chris O’Brien

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This is an instructor-led course intended to be presented at the local level. Instructional units include firefighter safety in the interface, managing human factors in the interface, pre-incident planning, size-up and initial strategy, structure triage, structure protection overview, tactics in the interface, tactical operations and resource use in the interface, action assessment, plan update, and after-action review.
TARGET GROUP: Designed to assist any emergency responders who will be planning for and making operational decisions during an interface incident. This course is for personnel desiring to be qualified as Incident Commander Type 4 (ICT4), Task Force Leader (TFLD), or any Strike Team Leader. Priority will be given to individuals who are active members of the NH Firefighter/Crew Mobilization Program, NH Forest Fire Wardens, and other NH Fire Service Personnel.
PRE-COURSE WORK: None TUITION: No cost
For more information, see https://www.nh.gov/nhdfl/community/fire-warden-information/wildland-fire-training.htm

Raymond P. Chandler, 85, Retired Fire Chief of Gorham, passed away on Tuesday August 16, 2016 at Mineral Springs in North Conway. He was born in Worcester, MA on October 26, 1930 the son of Philip R. and Kathleen (St. Clair) Chandler and was raised in Bartlett, NH. He attended school in Bartlett and was a US Navy Veteran. Ray had lived in Gorham for over 60 years and had been employed by TOP Furniture prior to becoming the Fire Chief for the Town of Gorham, where he served for many years. He was a member of the Gorham Congregational Church, UCC, the American Legion and was a dedicated member and Past Officer the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #1464, as well as the State Aerie. Ray was a member of the New Hampshire Association of Fire Chief’s, an Instructor Emeritus with the New Hampshire Fire Academy, was Coos County Representative for the New Hampshire State Fireman’s Association for over 20 years, as well as a member of many other fire service associations and organizations.