Gunnar Leo Kangas

Gunnar Leo Kangas, 84, of Rockport, ME and formerly of West Chesterfield, NH, passed away peacefully at Breakwater Commons in Rockland, ME on February 25, 2024, after a period of declining health. He was born in Keene, NH on June 12, 1939, to Jorma Kangas and Vilma (Haarala) Kangas.

Gunnar attended Wheelock School in Keene in his early school years and graduated from Keene High School in June 1957. He began working at Kingsbury Machine Tool Corporation in Keene that same month and continued there, interrupted only by his military service, for over 44 years as a skilled welder and metal fabricator. In October of 1961, Gunnar enlisted in the United States Navy, received training in aircraft maintenance and became well familiar with the A4 Skyhawk. His duty assignment saw him attached to Attack Squadron 44 at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL. For Gunnar, his years in the Navy were some of the most intensely memorable of his life. His children never tired of his more humorous anecdotes of life in the military, like feeding hamburgers to alligators at the end of a runway in Florida or visiting dubious Mexican bars while on assignment in Yuma, AZ. On a more serious note, and representative of the character of his service, in 1965 the U.S. Navy awarded Gunnar a Good Conduct Medal. He received his discharge from the Navy in February of 1966 upon completion of four years and four months of service.

In the late 1960s, Gunnar survived a devastating motorcycle accident and the loss of a leg yet endured and adapted in the manner of a stoic Finn, continuing to enjoy his usual pastimes of hunting, fishing, boating, and snowmobiling. He took his young family on rollicking, rustic camping trips to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in the mid to late 1970s. A lifelong agnostic without his own dogmatic beliefs, Gunnar listened to others’ opinions with tolerance. His sharpest criticism of individuals or situations would at most be a remark that he, she, or it were simply “different.” He was intrigued by the thoughts and lives of Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, being especially interested in theories concerning time itself. He liked to joke about discussing string theory with his beloved but simple black Labrador Retriever, Max.

Growing up and living most of his life in rural southwestern New Hampshire, Gunnar was something of a Yankee backwoods all-rounder. He could fix any engine-powered thing large or small and do household electrical wiring and plumbing projects conforming to codes. In his early youth he had worked as a plumber’s apprentice, and this helped form his professional ethic. He often made his own mechanical drawings before embarking on various projects, a practice which delighted his daughter in particular. In 1988, Gunnar was proud to take part in the Tilden Clock restoration project on Main Street in Keene alongside his Kingsbury colleagues. At home in later years, Gunnar could likely be found cutting cordwood for the stove using a splitting machine of his own design or driving his Bobcat skid steer exuberantly in the woods.

His survivors include his dear friend and life partner of several decades, Margaret Langley, with whom he shared many adventures foreign and domestic; his daughter, Christina Kangas, who will dearly miss his cat-themed holiday cards signed “The Old Man,” his grandson, Ryan Kangas; his nieces Afton Merrifield Rodriguez and Sienna Merrifield Giffin, and many extended family and friends in the Monadnock Region and beyond. Gunnar was predeceased by his beloved son, Eric Kangas, in 2022; his sister Leonora Kangas Merrifield and her husband, Richard Merrifield; and his nephew, Brander Merrifield.

A private burial will take place in the family lot at Island Cemetery in Harrisville, NH.

The family suggests those who wish to honor Gunnar’s memory may support a veterans’ charity of their choice, reflecting his pride in his service and his fellow feeling for his comrades in the military.