PAGE 8 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015
Obituaries
http://thewestfieldnews.com/category/obituaries Richard I. Ritchie
WESTFIELD — Richard I. Ritchie, 77, passed away Thursday, August 6, 2015 at Baystate Medical Center. He was born in Gonic, New Hampshire to the late Joseph and Charlotte (Betts) Ritchie and was a graduate of Westfield Vocational. He was employed by Kaman Aerospace for 42 years before retiring in 1999. He served his country with the United States Army from 1961-1963 and attained the rank of PFC. Richard is survived by his beloved wife Shirley G. (Coleman) Ritchie of Westfield, his loving children, Richard J. Ritchie of Russell, Karen Smith and her husband Timothy of West Springfield and Kristen Wescott and her husband Todd of Southwick, his cherished 6 grandchildren, Kevin, Kara, Christopher, Ryan, Kerri and Melissa and 1 great grandchild, Mason. A Funeral Home service will be held on Monday at 10 in the Firtion Adams FS, 76 Broad St. Westfield, MA 01085 followed by burial in Pine Hill Cemetery, Court St. Westfield. Visiting hours will be held on Sunday from 4-7 PM at the funeral home. www.firtionadams.com
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Westfield High School Freshman Orientation WESTFIELD — Dennis Duquette, Principal of Westfield High School, invites all incoming freshman and their parents/ guardians to attend Freshman/Parent Orientation on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. This will be an opportunity to get acquainted with the school and programs that are offered at Westfield High School.
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Developmental Screening at Fort Meadow for Peer Partners WESTFIELD — Families who live in Westfield and are interested in having their preschoolers attend Fort Meadow for the school year 2015-2016 are requested to call 572-6422 for a developmental screening. The screenings will be for children who are 3 and 4 years old. Children will be chosen by lottery. Currently Fort Meadow charges tuition. Screening date will be September 2, 2015.
Richard G. Kousch Westfield – Richard G. Kousch, 92, passed away peacefully at the Soldiers Home in Holyoke on Saturday, April 4. He was a lifelong Westfield resident, born on February 7, 1923, the son of the late John and Anna (Kulakowska) Kousch. He attended local schools and was a graduate of Westfield Trade School in 1940. He joined the U.S. Navy during WWII entering his term of service at the Brooklyn Navy Ship Yard. He was stationed on the Destroyer USS Rhino convoy patrol in the Atlantic then was transferred to the Pacific. His ship, the USS Saugus was the first to enter Nagasaki Bay to survey the damage of the Atomic Bomb, and bring the wounded to San Diego. He finished his apprentice courses in the tool room of the former Gilbert & Barker in West Springfield and worked for many years at Eastern Etching in Chicopee, and retired from Columbia Bicycle in Westfield after over twenty years of service. He was a lifelong member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Westfield and loved fishing, having a good time, and travel. He attended the first World’s Fair in New York City and visited Dealey Square in Dallas, Texas to see where President Kennedy was assassinated. He is survived by his sister, Olga (Kousch) Klepach (97 years old) of Hemet, California and several nieces, nephews, and close friends. There will be a celebration of Life Service August 14th 2015 at 10am St. John’s Lutheran Church 60 Broad St. Westfield MA 01085. Burial will follow at our Cemetery.
Peter J. Garland, II HINSDALE — Peter J. Garland II, 69, of Hinsdale, was welcomed by his Lord into heaven on Wednesday, August 5th, 2015. Born in Waterville Maine on February 22, 1946, son of Peter J. Garland and Jeanne Marquis Garland, he graduated from Groveton High School in 1964. He worked for many years at Westfield River Paper Company in Russell, MA and retired in 2010 from Walmart. For many years he was a resident of Chester, MA and moved to Hinsdale in 2012. He married Annemarie Kristine (Krissy) Viner on January 23, 2015. Pete loved fishing, hunting, and his New England sports teams, especially the Red Sox and Patriots. He also enjoyed his two cats Bob and Benny. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant son Peter J. Garland the III. He leaves two sons, Peter J. Garland IV of North Carolina, and Randy Garland of Huntington, MA, a daughter Toni Garland of Becket, MA, a stepson Nate Newton of Woburn, MA, a stepdaughter Erica Newton of Los Angeles, CA, Five grandchildren, Susan, Zachary, Carol-Anne, Carrie, and Raygan, two great grandchildren, Margaret and Joseph, sister Sherry Dvorchak of Westfield, MA, brother Edmond Garland of Westfield, niece Karna Pease of Westfield, MA, and nephew Kiley Grover of Huntington, MA A celebration of life and reception will be held on Sunday, August 9th at 2pm at the New Life Community Fellowship Church on Hubbard Avenue in Pittsfield. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the New Life Community Fellowship Church or the American Heart Association in his memory.
Robert P. Ingalls WESTFIELD — Robert P. Ingalls, 89, died Wednesday, August 5, 2015 in the Holyoke Soldiers Home. He was born in Brattleboro, VT on August 15, 1925 to the late Harold and Charlotte (Houghton) Ingalls. He grew up in Brattleboro and was a 1944 graduate of Brattleboro High School. He served in the U.S. Navy during WW-2 as a radioman on aircraft carrier “SitKok Bay” for three years. Robert also attended Columbia Technical Institute in Washington D.C. and Coyne Electrical in Boston, MA. He worked for Standard Elec. Time in Springfield, Oaks Electric in Holyoke and Kidder Stacy in Agawam and retired as an Electrical Drafting Engineer in 1990. He was a talented artist and woodcarver and enjoyed many other hobbies. He was a member of the American Legion and Mount Moriah Lodge of Masons. Robert leaves his wife of 64 years Glenice (Hunt) Ingalls, his children Scott Ingalls and his wife Sally of Southwick, Kurt Ingalls and his wife Sandra of Enfield, CT, his daughter Jane Raymond and her husband Bill of Westfield. He also leaves his grandchildren Julia and Bill Ingalls, Kristin and Robert Conroy and Erin and Kara Ingalls and a great-granddaughter Taylor Driscoll. He also leaves his sister Patricia Clark of AZ and was pre-deceased by his sister Gladys Spaulding of AZ. The funeral and burial will be private in Hinesburg Cemetery in Guilford, VT at a later time. Donations in memory of Robert may be made to the Holyoke Soldiers Home 110 Cherry Street, Holyoke, MA 01040.
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Court strikes down law barring false campaign statements By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts law that makes it a crime to publish false statements about political candidates is unconstitutional, the state's highest court ruled Thursday. The Supreme Judicial Court's ruling came in a case involving a state lawmaker from Cape Cod who last year sought a criminal complaint against the treasurer of a political action committee. At issue were fliers that Democratic Rep. Brian Mannal said accused him of putting the interests of sex offenders ahead of families. The justices, in a unanimous 31-page decision, said the 1946 law was "inconsistent with the fundamental right of free speech." The law said no person should publish, or cause to be published, a false statement about a political candidate that is designed to affect the outcome of an election, to harm a political candidate or influence the outcome of a ballot question. In striking down the law, the court also dismissed a criminal complaint that was filed against Melissa Lucas, the treasurer of the Jobs First PAC. The PAC had created fliers that pointed to a bill sponsored by Mannal, a Barnstable defense attorney, which would have notified indigent sex offenders of their right to a public defender. The flier read in part: "Brian Mannal chose convicted felons over the safety of our families. Is this the kind of person we want representing us?" Mannal went on to defeat Republican Adam Chaprales in the November election by 205 votes. The PAC was operating independently from Chaprales, who was not named in the complaint. Mannal said the decision gives a green light to anyone who wants to lie to win an election. "It doesn't change the fact that in this case false statements were knowingly made to mislead voters," Mannal told the Associated Press. "What we have here on several levels is a collision course with fairness in our electoral process." In court papers, Lucas' attorney, Peter Charles Horstmann, said his client had no role in writing or distributing the brochures and also argued the law violated First Amendment protections of free speech. Horstmann told the AP that the ruling was a great relief for Lucas. He also said voters are capable today of doing "unlim-
ited fact-checking" to decide how much weight to give a political ad or flier. "I think it's a little naive in 2015 to think that an election is going to be subverted by allegedly false statements," he said. The state attorney general's office, while agreeing that the charges against Lucas should be dismissed, defended the law itself, arguing it helps the state safeguard elections from deliberately fraudulent statements meant to skew the outcome. The high court disagreed, saying "any legitimate interest in preventing electoral fraud must be done by narrowly drawn laws designed to serve those interests without unnecessarily interfering with First Amendment freedoms." The justices further warned that the threat of a criminal investigation under the law could have a chilling effect on the political process. And they said the American election system already has a built-in remedy for false statements. "That solution is counterspeech," Justice Robert Cordy wrote. Several groups, including the libertarian Cato Institute, the American Civil Liberties Union and local newspaper publishers, filed briefs with the court asking that the law be ruled unconstitutional.