Donald B. Frost
May 28, 1923 – January 6, 2024
Born in Hollis, NH, on May 28, 1923, Donnie, as he was known by his elders then, graduated from high school in 1940 in a class of 12. His parents, Harold Amos Frost and Florence (Ferguson) Frost were farmers. They lived on Broad Street in the white house that is right across the road from what is now Brookdale Farms. They had four children: Viola, Richard, William, and
Donald. When he was 17, Don met Mary Fahey, then 15, from Nashua, the woman who would later become the love of his life and his wife for 74 years. Their love was deep and strong. Mary’s mother, Marie (Hallisey) Fahey was a Registered Nurse during WWI and later traveled throughout the state of NH as a public health nurse. The other Nashua Halliseys were school teachers, pharmacists, and a physician, much involved in the city at the time. The families were always close, and there were regular family gatherings in both Nashua and Hollis.
Shortly after graduating Hollis High School, Don asked his mother to sign so he could join the US Navy. Pearl Harbor had just been bombed. His two older brothers were already enlisted. All three men’s names are inscribed on the WWII Memorial in the center of town.
Once enlisted, Don chose duty on Patrol Torpedo boats and was shipped off to the Philippines. PT boats were plywood speedboats, 70 feet long and 20 feet wide, armed with four torpedo tubes and four 50-caliber machine guns. Twelve to thirteen men lived on these boats, doing most of their scouting for enemy battleships at night. They were so small and fast that, under cover of darkness, they could move in close to an enemy battleship towering above them, discharge a torpedo, and speed away, laying down a smokescreen behind them.
Don was interviewed by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, and many of his memories of his PT Boats experiences are available there. He was also among other PT boaters interviewed by the History Channel, and those pieces are available on YouTube.
While Don was in the Philippines, Mary joined the US Cadet Nurse Corps and trained to become a Registered Nurse at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts.
After the war, Don and Mary married in Nashua in 1947. In 1949, the Navy stationed them in tropical Trinidad, BWI, a carefree, happy time. Don served aboard the USS Chewaucan in the Mediterranean, then two years on recruiting duty in Dover, NH.
In May of 1954, Don sailed on the USS Atka, an ice-breaker, to the Arctic and the Antarctic as part of the International Geophysical Year, a massive scientific project. The family lived in Boston and then Mystic, Connecticut, among other places, before settling in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. During these years, with the family expanding, Mary spent long months raising the children alone while he was out to sea. She moved 25 times to be able to stay close to where Don was based. A second tour of shore duty found Don recruiting in Laconia and Concord. After 20 years serving his country, Don retired in 1962. He and Mary had fallen in love with Gilford and decided to make it their home.
Don traveled the world in the Navy, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. Mary was always a proud, supportive Navy wife, while also pursuing her own career in Nursing.
He earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education at Plymouth State, working weekends at Gunstock, offloading skiers at the top of mountain in the winter, and repairing boats at Goodhue Marina in the summer. He taught high school Social Studies for four years before becoming a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, working in Franklin and Laconia for the NH Department of Education helping students with disabilities to find employment.
While studying at Plymouth, Don took his first classes in art and painting, and later with esteemed Gilford artist Loren Percy. He loved painting landscapes, especially, and was always working on a composition. He was involved for many years with the Lakes Region Art Association, serving as president for ten years.
Golf was another passion, and he spent summers playing at Pheasant Ridge, maintaining his sumptuous vegetable and flower gardens, and boating on Lake Winnipesaukee with the family.
In the winter, he taught his kids to ski, and he continued to ski into his early 90’s.
Don was an active member of the Laconia Rotary Club for many years. He ran for State Representative in NH.
Throughout their lives, Don and Mary kept in touch with friends through PT Boats, Inc., which held annual reunions in different parts of the country. Always adventurous, this pair loved road trips and exploring the USA.
Devoted members of Gilford’s Thompson-Ames Historical Society, Don and Mary enjoyed teaching others about the Grange (across from the Gilford Village Store) on Gilford Old Home Days. The Grange was important to them: The Hollis Grange had helped Don’s parents learn farming skills when he was growing up. He crafted old-fashioned wooden toys for the benefit of TAHS that enchanted the kids (and their parents) who came by on Old Home Day.
A few years ago, Don went to Washington DC with Honor Flight New England. He was the only veteran on that flight not in a wheel chair.
Throughout Don’s life, people were often surprised to learn his age. A vigorous, athletic person, he had the appearance of a much younger man, especially with his head of thick, wavy, white hair. Don loved life, and was optimistic and kind. Only a few years ago, he was about to cut into his birthday cake, with Mary standing beside him, he looked up with a big smile, his blue eyes shining, and declared, “I wish everyone could be as happy as I am!”
He always said he’d live to be a 100, but he never imagined that it would be without Mary. Mary died of covid two years ago in October, at the height of the pandemic. We who love them would like to believe that they’re dancing together right now or maybe bending their heads together over a crossword puzzle.
Children: Nancy Frost of Gilford, NH, Susan Phelps of Dudley, MA, David Frost of Dudley, MA. Deceased: Roberta Banker Frost and John Michael, who died at birth.
There are 8 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren who live in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Niece Judy (Frost) Cott, lives in Gilford with her husband Bill, and niece Mary Jane (Hallisey) Marderosian lives in Hollis with her husband Aram.
Don and Mary were active in Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Lakeport and later attended St. Andre Bessette. They always had a great fondness for the Gilford Community Church, and that is their choice for what will be a joint memorial service at a time to be determined in the spring.
Contributions could be made in their names to PT Boats, PO Box 38005, Germantown, TN 38183-0005
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services/603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit wilkinsonbeane.com.