Longtime Chester official dies

By Julie Huss
Staff writer

July 18, 2008 01:09 pm

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CHESTER — The town is mourning the death of a longtime civic volunteer, who faced physical challenges with determination and drive, while serving the community in many roles for two decades.

Scott Rice, 45, died Thursday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. His wheelchair had collided with a car in Manchester on Wednesday afternoon and he had slipped into a coma. He was taken off life-support Thursday around 2 p.m.

Rice served the town of Chester for 20 years as a member and former chairman of the Chester Planning Board. He had also served as the state's dispatcher for the Emergency Radio Service and was Chester's local contact for the town Highway Department and was communications officer for the Emergency Management Department. He was a familiar face in town, traveling from his home to the town offices on Route 121 in his motorized wheelchair to attend meetings and help with town business.

Rice had moved to Manchester from his Chester home five years ago to live independently in a facility for wheelchair-bound adults run by Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation.

He was the son of Lindsey and Barbara Rice, of Chester.

For more on Scott Rice, see the July 23 issue of the Derry News.