Obituaries | 2000-2010

KATHERINE A. ROELTGEN, a nurse, died Mar. 6, 2017, at age 36. She received a master’s degree in nursing from Yale University in 2008. A volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, most recently in the South Sudan, she also worked at New York Presbyterian Hospital and at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Her parents, David and Margaret Roeltgen, survive, as do two brothers, two aunts, three nieces and nephews, and many cousins.

ASHLEY A. SANFORD, a musician and writer, died Mar. 8, 2017. She was 33 and had been in ill health for more than 10 years. A talented musician and writer, she was working on a memoir at the time of her death, hoping to help other Type I diabetics and organ transplant recipients. Her parents, Bruce and Marilou Sanford survive, as do her sister and brother, and a nephew and niece.

ANDREW F. WILLIAMSON, a high school English teacher and camp director, died May 5, 2017, at age 40. After receiving a master’s degree from Brown University in secondary English education, he taught high school English, most recently at Rolling Hills Preparatory School in San Pedro, Calif. A gifted athlete and lover of the outdoors, for many summers he shared this spirit with children as a staff member and director of Shire Village Camp. He is survived by his wife of two months, Erin Lanahan; his mother; his father; his brother; and a close friend, Abby Levine.

It took a celestial bolt, of course it would, to extinguish such an adventurous spirit, and that’s what happened on March 19, 2016, when Jacqui Stavis, a former resident of Rhinelander, died as the result of a lightning strike near New Orleans, La. Attending a weekend blues festival, Jacqui was doing what she loved best, living life to its fullest. She was 28 years old.

Jacqui will be missed beyond measure by her mother, Barbara Sironen, of Rhinelander, her father, George Stavis, of New York, and her life partner, Jake Gold, of New Orleans.

Barbara’s husband, David Picard; her aunt Kay, uncle Frank and cousins Nicole and Leslie Guarascio; her uncle Stuart, aunt Helen and cousin Forest Sironen; her uncle Rob, aunt Helene, and cousins Danny and Jesse Stavis, and Madeleine Klebanoff, nee Stavis; her uncle Ben Stavis, aunt Marjatta Lyyra, and cousins Sam and Kathy Stavis; and Jake’s parents, Steve and Sue Gold, will miss her deeply, as will her family in Provincetown: grandmother Barbara Rushmore, Peter Macara, aunts Katherine and Laura, and cousins Raphael, Justin, Tyler, Eric, and Elise.

Jacqui was loved dearly by close friends, incalculable in number, but especially those who celebrated her life in New Orleans and in Provincetown, Ma., where she was buried and is “growing a tree,” as she had expressly wanted to do.

Jacqui was preceded in death by her siblings, Elizabeth and Eric.

GEGGEL, Amelia Sarah Age 32, of Cambridge, formerly of Dover, passed away on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. She was the cherished wife of Eric Mattison, the loving daughter of Robert & Karen (Brown) Geggel, the inspiring older sister of Ezra Geggel & his wife Michal Miller, the treasured granddaughter of Elizabeth Geggel & her late husband Carl, and the late Pierce & Norrine Brown, and a hero to her aunts and uncles, cousins, extended family and friends. Amelia overcame challenges throughout her life. She was born with a rare ear condition and endured multiple surgeries and ensuing complications. Despite wearing hearing aids, she was always an excellent student, graduating from the Noble & Greenough School, Wesleyan University, and the Harvard School of Public Health. Innately knowing how to meet life’s challenges, she became an advocate for environmental causes and social justice. Her authenticity, spirit, and sense of responsibility to the larger world made her a natural leader and a role model to her family and friends.

Diagnosed with incurable sarcoma six years ago, Amelia knew she had only a short time to fill this world with her energy. Despite her constant chemotherapy schedule, Amelia finished her master’s degree and worked full time for an environmental consulting firm. She met her perfect match just prior to her diagnosis; three years later they married on the coast of Maine. Eric stood by her throughout her treatments, providing humor and support in equal measure. She traveled and hiked across five continents – to New Zealand, Patagonia, Chile, England, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Cyprus, Brazil, the Rockies, and throughout New England. Her personality, dry sense of humor, creativity, and genuine, remarkable strength will serve as an inspiration to all those fortunate to have known her and her story. Services will take place at Temple Aliyah, 1664 Central Avenue, Needham on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:30 p.m., with burial at Beit Olam East, 60 Old Sudbury Road, Wayland. Following burial, memorial observance will be at the home of Robert & Karen Geggel until 8 p.m. and continuing Monday, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., and on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to First Descents, which provides outdoor adventures for young adults with cancer (www.firstdescents.org) or a foundation to be established by the family to honor the causes Amelia cared deeply about.

TIMOTHY P. MURPHY, 33, who had majored in psychology, died May 7, 2015. He enjoyed all forms of sports. Among those who survive are his parents, Timothy J. Murphy and Kathleen M. Murphy, as well as two siblings.