By Julie Huss
DERRY — "We will miss you Bernie."
The simple sentiment took its place on the sign board in front of the Marion Gerrish Community Center last week, a tribute to a man who loved the center from those who will miss him now that he's gone.
Longtime volunteer and community supporter Bernard "Bernie" Resnick passed away on Monday, June 22. He had a long list of civic projects and causes he supported and valued through his years in Derry.
Resnick was a founding member of the Derry Village Rotary Club and served as past president. He also served as chair of the Alan Shepard Committee and was past president of the Derry Economic and Development Corporation, past chair of Derry Cable Television, and was credited as a driving force behind the efforts to restore and refurbish an old public school into the Marion Gerrish Community Center. He also received the Vaughan Award in 2000, presented by then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, naming him the top volunteer in the state of New Hampshire.
His past also includes a rich service career, serving in the Korean Conflict in the Army. He is New Hampshire's representative of the Chosin Few, a group of survivors of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Resnick worked with a committee to bring the new Iraq/Afghanistan memorial in MacGregor Park., unveiled in 2008.
Friends and colleagues described Resnick many ways — loyal, passionate, persistent, and a true friend — and all agreed he was the kind of man that cared greatly for his community and for those he came in contact with through his many ventures and interests.
"Bernie was a man of much civic pride," Derry cable Channel 17 administrator Barbara Ellingwood said. "He was a loyal friend and a long-standing member to each organization he belonged to."
Ellingwood said she first met Resnick through the local cable board more than 20 years ago. A very persistent man, she added her friend always had a vision of the bigger picture and how it could be achieved, especially when it came to the community center.
"It's going to be hard for a lot of people in town. He was the type of guy you didn't realize just how much you leaned on...until he wasn't there," she said.
Former town administrator Russ Marcoux recalled sharing time with Resnick as part of the Derry Village Rotary Club and posted an online sentiment for his friend.
"I always enjoyed him and his great sense of humor in my days in Derry, and especially as a member of the Derry Village Rotary Club that he so loved," he said. "He was a true example of a great volunteer and friend."
Londonderry resident Charlie Evans recalled a certain look Resnick would give.
"I always enjoyed Bernie's smile with the twinkle in his eye, when he cracked that smile," Evans wrote online. "He had a passion for the community center and all the people it served. When I think of Bernie, a cheerful giver of his time and energy, with a 'can-do' attitude, comes to mind."
Ellingwood said she would miss Resnick greatly.
"You never know what path a friendship will take or how long it may last. I have been truly blessed and grateful that our paths crossed and that our lives touched," she said. "I shall always remember him with deep admiration and affection and shall always feel honored by the journey we traveled together."
