STRATHAM, New Hampshire (21 Apr 2008) — Thomas Dionne, who died Sunday afternoon after being rescued from the waters of Great Bay while diving, was remembered by family and neighbors Monday as a devoted father, a volunteer for multiple causes, and an expert builder. He also knew how to tell a good joke, according to Nancy Pafford, whose son, Zach, plays baseball and football with Dionne's son, Peter. "Zach would call over to the Dionnes," Pafford said from the doorstep of her home on Bunker Hill Avenue, two houses down. "Tom would answer the phone. He'd say, 'Hello, Joe's Pizza Palace!' "Zach would hang up because he thought it was the wrong number. Finally, Zach (called back), and was like, 'I'd like three pepperoni pizzas, please.' "That's the way (Dionne) was. Always fun, always quick-witted. Just the nicest guy ever," Pafford said. On Sunday afternoon Dionne, who Pafford said was an expert diver and had recently taken a diving trip to the Caribbean, was diving with a friend off Nannie's Island when he apparently ran into trouble. At 2:30 p.m., a Marine Patrol rescue boat, responding to a distress call, arrived at the island and found the friend performing CPR on Dionne, according to a report by the N.H. Department of Safety. Rescue personnel put Dionne into the boat and transported him to a waiting Newington ambulance stationed at one of the docks in the Great Bay Marine boating facility. Dionne was then driven to Portsmouth Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Pending the results of an autopsy, hospital officials Monday could not comment on the cause of death. "It's such a tragedy," Pafford said, adding Dionne was physically fit, an "outdoorsy" guy. Dionne grew up in Exeter and lived in the area his entire life, according to Jim Howard, Dionne's father-in-law. Howard was one of about 20 family members gathered at the Dionne home on Bunker Hill Avenue Monday afternoon. Dionne's wife, Susan, whom Dionne met while the two were building houses in Haiti for Habitat for Humanity, respectfully declined to answer a reporter's questions. Dionne had worked at the Great Bay Building & Remodeling Company for a number of years, and enjoyed his work, Howard said. He also enjoyed going to Red Sox games. In 2003, Dionne took his son, Sam, and his father-in-law to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play the New York Yankees. The Red Sox won, 5-4, on a pinch-hit, walk-off double by David Ortiz in the bottom of the ninth that scored the winning run. | | Stratham resident Thomas Dionne, 58, died Sunday after a scuba diving accident off Nannie's Island. About a month later, Dionne was walking down the street when he saw a large, wide-angle framed photograph of the same game at a sports memorabilia store. Dionne took a closer look at the picture, and made out himself, his son, and his father-in-law in the audience. He walked into the store, bought the picture, and gave it to Howard as a gift. "Holy smokes," Howard recalled his reaction at the time. "It was a wonderful picture." Giving unannounced gifts was part of what made Dionne a good neighbor, Pafford said. Last summer, after going on one of his diving trips, he dropped off a bucket of oysters for Pafford, her husband, and their four children. "He was the nicest guy," Pafford said. Last Saturday, Pafford saw Dionne and his wife at Stratham Hill Park helping to clean the baseball fields for the spring season. "They were helping out, as they always do," said Pafford, whose husband coached Dionne's son in baseball. "It's so unexpected," Pafford said of Dionne's death. "He will be sorely missed." SOURCE - Foster's Daily DemocratSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
