Richard “Dick” Dussault

Richard “Dick” Dussault passed away at his home February 4, 2024. He was born July 17, 1927 in Concord, NH, the oldest of four children to Mary (MacIsaac) and Eugene Dussault. He was a person of tremendous energy and playfulness who prioritized his family and enjoyed a lifetime of great friendships, and positively influenced whomever he touched. As a youth he was already a very active person with a paper route before school and an after-school job at the hardware store. He was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and Sea Scout. He also had an interest in flying so he joined the Civil Air Patrol and acquired a private pilot license at the age of sixteen at the Concord Flying Club.

After graduating from Concord High in 1944, Dick had aspired to become an air cadet. Instead he started his career at Davis Transformer. Under the GI Bill, his friends were able to attend college and urged Dick to join them, so Richard then enrolled at UNH under the ROTC program. Taking a rare break from engineering studies he met an English major named Theresa Carbonneau. They married in May of 1951 and Richard graduated with a BSME. Upon graduation he was chosen as one of ten ROTC graduates from schools across the country to receive a direct commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the newly minted USAF. Within a year Richard was already into his second assignment at Sandia Air Force Base in Albuquerque, for training to be an atomic weapons mechanical officer. Dick and Terry had their first child while in New Mexico. Military life meant many more special trainings, travel, and assignments throughout the states including an assignment to Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio for graduate school. While training there for work as a Base Civil Engineer in 1957 he earned his professional engineer license (and remained a P.E. for 42 years until retiring in 1999). Dick then received secret orders to ship to Topsham Air Force Station in Maine–a new base responsible for air defense of the northeast–where he reported directly to the base commander. While in Maine, Dick and Terry also were gifted with son number two. According to military policy, an imminent birth prevented Dick from being sent to the Korean war, so instead he was sent to Cape Romanzof, AK, a remote radar site whose closest city was in Russia. He started off as base engineer–the second ranking officer to the base commander. In that role he received the award for the Best Preventative Maintenance program. Not long after, the Base Commander became ill, and so Richard took over command of the base until a replacement could be found, and by that time the assignment was over. Dick’s final ‘Cold War’ assignment was at the Bomarc missile site in Long Island, NY–the new site to protect New York City from Russian bomber attack. His role was to organize the maintenance and operation of the self-sustaining power plant for the base.

The Dussaults had moved nine times in nine years in the service. So Richard culminated his career in the Air Force as Captain on May 31, 1960 and returned to New England.

After the Air Force, Richard immediately got a position training to be a plant manager in the paper industry. Dick left this position to help his dad retire from Merrimack Sheet Metal, the company Eugene had founded in Concord, NH. Along the way, Terry and Dick had two daughters. Next he started a new business with his brother, Bob, called Merrimack Engineering Associates in Nashua. Richard then started Dussault Engineering in Hudson, NH in 1972. The ability to set roots for a couple of solid decades in Hudson allowed Richard to be active in civic matters. He was president of the Hudson Rotary Club, President of the Hudson Chamber of Commerce, Citizen of the Year for Hudson, NH, President of NH Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), elected to be a Fellow in ASHRAE, and chosen by the Engineering Societies of NH as Engineer of the Year. Richard owned and operated Dussault Engineering for 27 years in Hudson. That role afforded he and Terry travel to locations like Hawaii, Martinique, Spain, Morocco, and China. After retirement in 1999, he continued to travel the States with Terry. From the day he got his first Starcraft boat in Maine back in 1957, Dick enjoyed boating, fishing, and taught the family to ski–establishing an enduring culture for the Dussault family cherished to this day. After selling their Winnipesaukee home, Dick and Terry finally settled in Merrimack, NH. There Dick was actively involved in the Ravencroft community. He also enjoyed woodworking, doing projects like making dollhouses, birdhouses, or whatever custom job his family needed.

Terry passed away in 2015 at age 85, and Richard joined the love of his life nine years later at the age of 96. Richard is predeceased by his brothers Robert and Donald. He is survived by his sister, Muriel Couture; his children and their spouses: David & Esther Dussault, Mark & Cere Dussault, Lisa & James Marshall, and Tina Dussault; plus five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A celebration of life gathering will be held this February. Please reach out to the family if you would like to attend. An interment ceremony will be held on May 3rd at 11 A.M. at the NH State Veterans Cemetery, 110 Daniel Webster Highway in Boscawen, NH. To view an online obituary, leave a message of condolence, or for more information please visit https://csnh.com/.