Hester Nute

Hester Anne (Sasman) Nute, 86, of Madbury, NH, passed away peacefully with family by her side on November 17, 2023, at Dover Center for Health and Rehabilitation.  She was born on July 7, 1937, in Chicago, IL, to the late Erwin and Hester (Bassett) Sasman.  She was the oldest of four children.

As her father pursued his graduate studies and grew his career as a teacher, principal, and professor, home for the family was Illinois, New Jersey, New York City and then Connecticut, where Anne graduated Windham High School in Willimantic in 1955.  When her parents and two younger brothers moved to Kentucky, Anne went on to UCONN, earning Phi Beta Kappa distinction in obtaining her BA in Sociology before pursuing her master’s at Boston University’s School of Social Services.  Course work finished, Anne and a friend took a nine-week adventure through Europe, indulging her fascination with people from other countries. Afterward, she started work at Family Service of Greater Boston and completed her thesis. 

In the city, concerts and plays were high on her list, while weekends and holidays were spent hiking in the White Mountains with the Appalachian Mountain Club. She also skated, snowshoed and downhill skied.  In 1966, Anne married another outdoors appreciator, Donald Dexter Nute.  They moved to Connecticut, where son Jimmy was born in 1969 and daughter Cathie in 1970.  A few years later, the family moved to Concord, New Hampshire, and went on hiking and camping trips in the nearby mountains; made many sled runs at White Park and spent Christmases around the cardboard fireplace Santa needed for houses without chimneys.  In the years after her divorce, Anne’s day job was serving the patients of the New Hampshire Hospital as a psychiatric social worker.  On nights and weekends, she was proofreading, typesetting and copy editing through her business, AN-Word, which she continued full-time after retiring from the state. Her everyday mission was helping Cathie and Jim, both graduates of Concord High School, explore who they wanted to be and to pursue it.  She also took them on memorable trips up the Pacific Coast Highway in California, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and Old Orchard Beach, ME.

In retirement, Anne made other trips, a favorite was a sort of family reunion back in her hometown Chicago.  She also continued her lifelong love of reading.  She was conversant in many of the classics but, during her time working at the state hospital, she found romance novels were a good distraction from the stress and, as a retiree, she found they were just plain good.  Anne liked classical music, plays and musicals.  Other joys included sewing, crossword puzzles and the occasional board game. You were playing for second place if you took her on in Scrabble.  She was an avid correspondent, always remembering birthdays and anniversaries.

Anne was an absolute rock for her two children, her granddaughter Emily – whom she loved dearly – and many others.  She was a quiet but powerful and mysterious force in positively affecting people.    

She was preceded in death by brothers Edward Sasman, Robert Sasman and John Sasman and her former husband Donald Nute. 

Anne is survived by son James Nute and wife, Kimberly, of Dover, NH and their daughter, Emily; her daughter Catherine (Nute) Kipling and her boyfriend Brian Lawless of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico; several nephews and nieces and extended family, including her sister-in-law and dear friend Elizabeth (Nute) Beyer.

There will be a virtual celebration of life for family and friends at a later date.  Anne’s memorial site is at everloved.com.  Those wishing to make a memorial donation in Anne’s honor are encouraged to consider the Mayhew Program, PO Box 120, Bristol, NH 03222, www.mayhew.org or the Circle Program, 85 Main St., Plymouth, NH 03264, www.circleprogram.org.

Assisting the family with arrangements is the Cremation Society of NH, Hampton. To view Hester's Online Tribute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, visit www.csnh.com.