Obituary of David A. Hosmer

Woodstock Valley, CT- Longtime resident David A. Hosmer, 77 died August 1st at his home after a long illness.  The son of Charles Clifton Hosmer and Marion A. (Stahl) Hosmer, of Worcester, Dave leaves his wife of 53 years Judith M. (Tainter) Hosmer and sons Stanley D. Hosmer of Worcester and Thomas J. Hosmer of Putnam as well as his sister Dorothy A. Resnick of Haddonfield, NJ and his brother Richard B. Hosmer of Melrose, NY.

David was a graduate of South High School in Worcester, and earned a BA degree in accounting at Elon College in North Carolina in 1964.  After college he enlisted in the Coast Guard and was commissioned with the rank of Ensign, as an officer, in January, 1965.  He then served 9 years of active duty at sea in the North Atlantic, and thereafter 11 years in the Coast Guard reserve, retiring with the rank of Commander. As Operations Officer for the Coast Guard patrol of the 1974 America’s Cup Races off Newport, RI, he personally rescued news photographer from a submerged helicopter which had crashed on the race course.  For this heroic act, David received the Coast Guard Silver Lifesaving Medal.  

After his Coast Guard active duty, David operated a Tuff-Kote Dinol business in New London, Conn.  At the same time, Dave began his devotion to life as a volunteer, both as firefighter and as a key member of Woodstock Valley's Board of Finance.  He spent 22 years in the Quinebaug Volunteer Fire Department and recently the Bungay Fire Brigade issued a citation honoring David for his distinguished service of 20 years.  The Board of Finance also cited David for 20 years of continuous leadership and dedication to fiscal management to the town and its citizens from 1998-2018.  He was a member of other town committees including Highway Building Committee, Opens Space Land Acquisition, Benzene Coordinating Committee, and the Republican Town Committee. David was also honored by Connecticut's General Assembly for his many years of volunteer service to the town of Woodstock.

Recollecting his years of volunteerism before his death, Dave said:  "I always enjoyed helping other people.  And my volunteer service on several fronts gave me the opportunity to give back to the community I loved, and was very fulfilling.  And there was the extra pleasure I had from working with the many other volunteers toward common goals in our community." 

Dave was an avid and well known vintage SAAB collector. Donations in Dave’s memory may be made to the Bungay Fire Brigade, 1256 RT 171 West Woodstock, CT 06281

A graveside service will be held September 28th at 11:30AM at Hope Cemetery,119 Webster St, Worcester, MA 01603. Share a memory at www.smithandwalkerfh.com