Shutesbury, Thomas F. Houston died April 24, 2017 after a brief illness. He was born in Greenfield on January 2, 1944. Tom attended Amherst High School, where he graduated in 1962. After high school, he went on to serve in the US Marine Corps from 1962-1965 where he was made a Corporal. Tom received his Associate Degree from Stockbridge School of Agriculture in 1967. He then received his Bachelors, Masters, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Tom taught Arboriculture and Urban Forestry at UMass for 32 years. He was a certified arborist and served as president of the NE chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture in the 1980s. Tom was also active in the Franklin County Sportsman Club where he served as president in 2012. Tom was an avid tennis player and enjoyed both salt and freshwater fishing.

Tom was predeceased by his mother Esther Houston Cornish and his father Frederick Houston. He leaves behind his loving wife of 47 years, Diane, and their two Standard Poodles, Rowan and Jordan. He also leaves his sister Nancy Pearce of Williamsburg, VA, his niece Laurie Hager and husband Chris, grandniece Elizabeth, and grandnephew Daniel Hager, all of Williamsburg, VA. He leaves his nephew Dan Pearce and wife Tracy of Acton, MA and their son Alex. He also leaves a brother-in-law Kevin Laxer and wife Claudia of Stonington, CT and his niece Lorri Ann Souza and husband Barry of Bethlehem, NH.

Donations may be made in Tom’s name to Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, PO Box 132, Leeds, MA 01053 or to Jackson Laboratories, 600 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609.

Memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com

Amherst, Lyle E. Larson, retired Lutheran pastor of Amherst, Massachusetts, died April 20, 2017 at age 87 following complications of Parkinson’s disease and a stroke suffered in 2015. Rev. Larson served for nearly 25 years as a missionary in Tokyo, Japan and following that served at Grace Lutheran Church in Scarsdale, New York.  After retiring to Washington, Massachusetts he served for more than a year as interim pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Amherst.  Funeral services are 11am on Saturday, April 29 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Amherst, and interment is to be scheduled for Newman Grove, Nebraska.  

Rev. Larson was born on August 29, 1929 to Mary Larson and M. Carl Larson on their farm in Newman Grove, Nebraska and was baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church there.  He served in the Air Force as a Supply Sergeant at Johnson Air Base in Japan.  After his discharge, Rev. Larson attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1961.  

Lyle and Melba Larson were married in Minnesota in 1960 and following ordination at Trinity Lutheran Church in Newman Grove, and the birth of their first child, the young family traveled by passenger liner to Yokohama, Japan to begin work with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church.  The early years in Tokyo were consumed by language study and the birth of two more children.  Lyle was assigned to the Hongo Student Center and Hongo Lutheran Church, virtually across the street from Tokyo University.  There, he encountered many young Japanese students curious about Christianity as well as the English language.  Those were turbulent years at the University and Lyle remembered that many days the wafting tear gas would sting his eyes on his way to the nearby subway. 

Seeking a deeper understanding of Japan, Lyle packed up the young family and sailed back across the Pacific in 1966 to study Japanese history at the University of Michigan and received his M.A. in 1967.  He returned to Japan and continued serving at the student center until 1970 when he accepted a position to teach Japanese language and culture at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois.  

Lyle and Melba returned to Japan in 1971 and Lyle was assigned to Tokyo Lutheran Church, which had been established at its current site near bustling Shinjuku in 1923.  Serving with a Japanese co-pastor, Lyle’s ministry and preaching were conducted in Japanese.  He took up the study of Japanese calligraphy (shodo) and studied for more than a decade with a distinguished master and advanced through the formal ranking system with many published works.  Lyle served on the board of The American School in Japan, which his three children attended, as well as on the board of the Lutheran mission in Japan, and contributed to numerous building and real estate projects throughout the years.  

After Lyle and Melba’s children had left home for St. Olaf College, Amherst College and Williams College, they returned to the United States in 1985.  Following an interim at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Niagara Falls, New York, Rev. Larson was installed as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Scarsdale, New York where he served until his retirement in 1994.  Lyle and Melba immediately felt at home, as the proximity to Manhattan and the considerable Japanese expatriate community drew on many of their experiences in Tokyo.  Lyle particularly enjoyed the ministry to children and their families at Grace, which had an active pre-school as did Tokyo Lutheran Church.  

As retirement approached, Lyle and Melba were drawn toward the bucolic hills of the Berkshires that they had encountered in their many trips to Williams College, with similarities to the mountainous countryside of Lake Nojiri where they would vacation in Japan.  They built a house with log construction in the town of Washington.  Lyle honed his carpentry skills by completing many of the finishings and a separate workshop, and Lyle and Melba poured their energies into making syrup every year from the sugar maples on their 12 acres.  They were active at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, and Lyle would fill in as needed at other Lutheran churches in the region, including for more than a year in Amherst.  

Lyle and Melba moved to Amherst in 2011 where their son’s family had moved, and were able to attend the many sports, music and other school activities of their three grandchildren Edward, Catherine and William.  They were also reacquainted with many in the congregation when they became active members at Immanuel Lutheran Church. 

Rev. Larson is survived by his wife Melba of Amherst; daughter Susan of Las Vegas, Nevada; son Nathanael and three grandchildren of Amherst; and daughter Rachel of Vashon Island, Washington.  He is also survived by his brother Donald (Lois) Larson of South Sioux City, Nebraska; sister Elinor Boettcher of Newman Grove, Nebraska; sister Janet (James) Atkinson of Albion, Nebraska; and sister-in-law Marian Larson of Tekamah, Nebraska.  He was preceded in death by his brother Gerald Larson of Seward, Nebraska; twin brothers Carl and Dale in infancy; brother-in-law Arthur Boettcher; paternal grandparents Robert and Bertha Larson; and maternal grandparents Thorstein and Anna Olson.

Greenfield, Elizabeth (Betty) (Field) Moulder, 75, died Saturday, April 15, 2017, at Poet Seat Health Care.

She was born June 13, 1941 in Hartford, CT to R. Carlyle and Catherine (Hoffman) Field.

She worked early on at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton and later as a secretary at Kaiser Permanente and at the Amherst High School. Before retiring she worked as a home health aide.

She loved to bake and cook and was well known for her lemon bars. She was always smiling and cheerful. She and her late husband L.Z. enjoyed dancing and traveling with their motor home and were members of the Hilltown Chapter and Good Sam camping clubs. She was a member of the Unity Chapter No. 66, Order of the Eastern Star of Amherst. She was also a member of the Moose Club in Greenfield and a past member of the VFW in Amherst.

She leaves a daughter, Mary (Moulder) and her husband Roderick “Greg” Rawls of Millers Falls; a granddaughter, Ashlea A. Rawls of Leverett; a grandson Jonathan T. Rawls of Millers Falls; and a great-grandson, Caiden James L.Z. Aubrey of Leverett. She leaves a brother, John Field of Leverett; sister-in-laws, Edith “Edie” Field and Alice Field of Leverett. Brothers and sister-in-laws Donald & Adeline Moulder, Earl Moulder, Jimmy & Katie Moulder, Jackie and Jo Moulder, and Wanita (Moulder) Cowan all of Missouri. Several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, L.Z. Moulder in 2013; her daughter, Terry L. Moulder in 2006; brothers Edward and Carlyle Field; a sister and brother-in-law Adam and Mary (Field) Dods; and a sister-in-law Emily Field all of Leverett. A sister-in-law Jessie Moulder of Missouri.

Funeral services will be Thursday, April 20^th at 10 am at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst, followed by a burial at the East Leverett Cemetery.

Calling hours will be Wednesday, April 19^th from 5 to 7 pm at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to New England Hospice, Partners in Care, 190 Old Derby Street, Suite 304, Hingham, MA 02043.

Greenfield, Elizabeth (Betty) (Field) Moulder, 75, died Saturday, April 15, 2017, at Poet Seat Health Care.

She was born June 13, 1941 in Hartford, CT to R. Carlyle and Catherine (Hoffman) Field.

She worked early on at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton and later as a secretary at Kaiser Permanente and at the Amherst High School. Before retiring she worked as a home health aide.

She loved to bake and cook and was well known for her lemon bars. She was always smiling and cheerful. She and her late husband L.Z. enjoyed dancing and traveling with their motor home and were members of the Hilltown Chapter and Good Sam camping clubs. She was a member of the Unity Chapter No. 66, Order of the Eastern Star of Amherst. She was also a member of the Moose Club in Greenfield and a past member of the VFW in Amherst.

She leaves a daughter, Mary (Moulder) and her husband Roderick “Greg” Rawls of Millers Falls; a granddaughter, Ashlea A. Rawls of Leverett; a grandson Jonathan T. Rawls of Millers Falls; and a great-grandson, Caiden James L.Z. Aubrey of Leverett. She leaves a brother, John Field of Leverett; sister-in-laws, Edith “Edie” Field and Alice Field of Leverett. Brothers and sister-in-laws Donald & Adeline Moulder, Earl Moulder, Jimmy & Katie Moulder, Jackie and Jo Moulder, and Wanita (Moulder) Cowan all of Missouri. Several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, L.Z. Moulder in 2013; her daughter, Terry L. Moulder in 2006; brothers Edward and Carlyle Field; a sister and brother-in-law Adam and Mary (Field) Dods; and a sister-in-law Emily Field all of Leverett. A sister-in-law Jessie Moulder of Missouri.

Funeral services will be Thursday, April 20^th at 10 am at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst, followed by a burial at the East Leverett Cemetery.

Calling hours will be Wednesday, Feb. 19^th from 5 to 7 pm at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to New England Hospice, Partners in Care, 190 Old Derby Street, Suite 304, Hingham, MA 02043.

          Amherst, Harold Wheeler Gould, the lively, joyful, and devoted part-owner of Atkins, friend, husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on the morning of Good Friday after recent struggles with cancer.  He was eighty-two years old. 

          Born June 10, 1934, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, to Mildred Wheeler Gould and Robert Meredith Gould, he attended grammar school and then Arms Academy in Shelburne where he played basketball and baseball.  He and his sisters Doris, Margaret, and Lucille, grew up on the family dairy farm where they learned and understood the value of hard work among a loving family.  He attended the University of Massachusetts where in 1956 he earned a degree in animal husbandry from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.  He later spent time in the United States Army as a medical technician, a role that allowed him to travel for a time in Europe and to develop a love of German. When he returned home he took employment with Agway industries at various plants in the New England area. 

While still living in Shelburne, he met Sandra Brand via the church choir.  They had attended the same high school at different times, but it took another stroke of fortune for their attraction to cement.  They married in 1961 and lived for a time in Millbury, Massachusetts, and Londonderry, New Hampshire, before moving back to the Shelburne area in 1966.  They had a son, Jeffrey, in 1963, another son, Christopher, in 1965, and a daughter, Deborah, in 1968. 

In 1970 the family moved to Amherst where Harold–”Hal” to his wife and friends–took a job as store manager at the Atkins Fruit Bowl and helped to manage future expansions. Always the calm one in a conference, he felt that his and Howard Atkins’s personalities complemented each other.  Since that time the store has burgeoned to become the commercial essence that it is today.  As anyone that has ever met him knows, he poured his soul into the store and its employees and gave a first job to many teenagers, many of whom grew to become vital parts of the Atkins tradition and success. 

As his children and grandchildren grew, he filled the time with games for them even while continuing to do a bit of playing himself.  An avid bowler, card player, tenor, and tuba enthusiast, he loved the action and levity of a contest or concert.  When not watching the University of Massachusetts Marching Band, playing with the Shelburne Falls Military, Senior Concert and German Bands of Western Massachusetts, or Amherst Community Bands, or attending some other musical event, he might be found constructing remarkable systems of tubes for balls to roll through or obstacle courses for grandchildren to run, climb, balance, and jump.  He joined grandchildren for spectacular rides down the plastic slip ‘n’ slide in the summers even into his late seventies. The fun never ended. 

He wore many hats easily and without flamboyance.  Always there for co-workers, family, church members at South Congregational Church, neighborhood children and families, and committee associates, he also loved time with his wife.  They enjoyed bicycling and kayaking on Sanibel Island, trips to Tarpon Bay and Cape Cod, and adventures at Disney World with and without children and grandchildren.  An ardent Red Sox fan, he coached baseball at the Little League and Babe Ruth levels and leaves an indelible image of throwing batting practice while balancing ten or fifteen baseballs on his pillow-like mitt from the 1940s.  Also a talented candlepin bowler, he and Sandy have spent many weekends in the recent past haunting the Shelburne lanes with friends and then chewing the fat at the West End Pub afterwards.  

Finally, he took great pleasure in the exploits of his family members.  Over the course of his life he watched, excitedly, swimming, cross country, and track meets, and games including softball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, and lacrosse.  This hard worker, strong fellow with great character, lover of nature and sports, and man of faith and morals, brightened the community in which he lived. 

He leaves behind his wife Sandra, a sister Margaret of Ipswich, Massachusetts, a son Jeff and his wife Christine of Skillman, New Jersey, a son Chris and his wife Debbie of Pelham, and a daughter Debbie and her husband Wayne of New Windsor, New York.  He also leaves seven grandchildren whose adoration for their grandfather was mutual:  Harry, Graeme, Siena, Maia, Audrey, Lily, and Beatrice. 

Calling hours will take place at South Congregational Church from 4-7 P.M. on Thursday, April 20.  The memorial service will happen at the church on Friday, April 21, at 11:00 A.M.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Hampshire County at Bangs Community Center 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, MA 01002.

Hadley, Scott Joseph Potyrala sadly passed away peacefully Saturday morning on April 8^th at his mom’s house where he grew up.  Scott was 46 years young; much too soon to leave us.  Scott leaves behind his two beautiful daughters, Lynsey and Hannah, who he thought the world of, his ex-wife Belinda, his mother Sandra, his siblings, Daniel, Jonathan, Jaime and Jennifer, along with his niece Ashley and nephew Stanley, also aunts, uncles, several cousins and many friends.  Scott was predeceased by his father, Chester J. Potyrala, his grandparents Carl and Merle Bacon, Chester and Anna Potyrala and recently his Aunt, Linda Graves, along with many other loved ones over the years.  Scott had worked hard all his life, starting with farm work at a young age and then at various construction jobs, ending at Palmer Paving when he was forced to stop due to health issues.  He moved to Hadley when he was two years old and attended Hadley schools until he transferred to Franklin Tech where he graduated in 1988.  While there he studied carpentry and played varsity basketball.  While growing up in Hadley he played baseball on several youth leagues and junior leagues as a pitcher.  He spent most of his youth and adult life doing outside things; hunting, fishing, four wheeling, snowmobiling, or just walking in the woods.  It was time spent mostly with his dad and brothers but sometimes with his mom and sisters too and then continuing the traditions with his daughters.  He also enjoyed time with his friends and watching Nascar, cheering Jeff Gordon on.  He was once honored at a banquet and received a plaque for the largest non-typical deer harvested that year with a muzzleloader.  Scott never ended a conversation without telling his family that he loved them.  He always gave the warmest, longest hugs and was very sentimental and caring; he had a big heart.  Looking through pictures it is hard to find one where he doesn’t have a smile.  We will carry him in our hearts every day and miss his smart witted humor, bright smile and all the love that he gave to us that can never be replaced, only remembered.  He will always be loved. Rest easy Scottie, until we can all be together again.

Calling hours will be 5 – 8 pm, Wednesday from April 12, 2017 at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst. A Funeral Service will be Thursday morning 10:30 am at the funeral home. Burial will follow in North Amherst Cemetery, with a reception following.

A special note to our family and friends.

Our beloved Michael J Whelan, also known as daddy to his children, Michael J by his parents and Mike by his friends passed away Monday, April 4, 2017 with his loving family at his side.  Born in Wiesbaden Germany on July 24, 1978, Michael was the oldest son of Joanne and Mike Whelan.  Michael J was the older brother and best friend to Sean Whelan.   Mike was married to Martha Bromage and they share the most wonderful gifts in the world~~Scarlett and Jameson.  He is also survived by numerous cousins and relatives, and most notably his surviving grandparents Barbara Whelan and Frank DeMiglio, both of whom live in Franklin, MA.

Mike was born and raised in an Air Force family.  His birth place was Wiesbaden Germany known since the Roman ages for its healing spas and natural beauty.  His first three years he lived in Worfelden Germany.  When it was time leave Germany for America, Mike landed at his grandparents’ home with his baby brother and mother in Needham, Massachusetts.  Mike lived there 16 months while his father was deployed to a remote site in Alaska.  When his father returned, Mike and Sean packed their toys and headed south to Seffner Florida where they spent a unique and fun filled year. Funny, but when you’re a kid in Florida, all the relatives seem to drop in during the winter.  We enjoyed a nearly endless stream of visitors and friends for the short year we lived there.

So after that short year in Florida, it was on the road again and we headed for a new adventure at Tinker AFB in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

It was in Midwest City where Mike put down the real roots of his early life.  Mike attended Steed Elementary School from Kindergarten through the 6^th grade.  He grew and thrived surrounded by the most wonderful friends and neighbors on the planet.  Michael was one of the few Air Force Kids who actually started and finished elementary school in one place.  He attended Steed Elementary where he was a tried and true “Steed Charger”.  Michael was in little league, wrestling, cub scouts, and active as an altar boy.   To this day, Michael is still in touch with those very special people he grew up with, particularly Julian, Jimmy and Jamie who shared that special time and place.  After Steed, Mike was off to school across town to Carl Albert Junior High where he excelled as a saxophone player, a boy scout and discovered his passion for reading and writing.

It was after Junior High that Mike and the family retired from the Military life and relocated to Franklin, MA.  Mike was just in Franklin a few days and when he jumped in with both feet and joined the ranks of Franklin High School.  Here Mike met many new people, and made many friends, some to become lifelong.

Following High School, Michael attended Massasoit Community College where he earned his associate degree and a coveted transfer to the University of Mass in Amherst.  Michael spent several years there before leaving to explore a little bit of life in and around Atlanta Georgia.  After that adventure, Michael returned to UMass to finish up his degree with a double major in Journalism and Political Science.  It was here, in this final leg of his education, where he met his wonderful friend, soul mate, and future wife Martha Bromage.  Their relationship lead to marriage and they resided at 1 Brenda Lane, in Belchertown, Mass, just 5 miles from their beloved UMass campus and downtown Amherst.  And from this relationship the true miracle of life occurred twice. Michael and Martha became the parents of the most beautiful and loving children in the world, Scarlett and Jameson. 

Mike was a man of many passions with a thirst for life. He loved music, especially Phish and Ween, and he visited concerts and festivals all over the country; he also sang for a band in high school. He had a passion for comics and tattoos, and he shared his love of comics and Star Wars with his daughter Scarlett son Jameson. He loved sports, and he followed the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots. He was passionate about hiking, video games, and reading

However, as we know the children’s Dad time was tragically cut short.  But though the time was short, the depth of love Michael had for his children will forever be his greatest legacy.  The unmistakable, unbreakable bond and will become the very foundation of his children’s lives.  We know, even in our grief, that there is no greater love than parent to child. Mike‘s special love will extend forever through the generations. His wit was unparalleled. His friendliness and personality were magnetic. He made you laugh even if you didn’t want to. 

So it is—with a faith and providence we can’t understand, Michael, our greatest joy, left us far sooner than we ever expected.  And with his passing we feel a great loss and near endless grief.  But through the tears, we celebrate the light our wonderful son gave to the world. Never on himself but always through others. My dear son Michael, on this journey you will be forever missed and loved. May God protect you.  Till we embrace again, it is farewell to our son, father, and brother.  We just can’t thank you enough for the blessings you brought into our lives.  It is us who are truly blessed.

If only one word described your legacy, it would be kindness.  You were the best hugger in the world and will be forever remembered as the kindest person we have ever known.  Michael, your time amongst us has ended. God, bless you and Thank you.  Your gifts will live forever. We Love you so much.         

Mike, Joanne and Sean Whelan

Amherst, Beulah “Boo” (Littinsky) Shapiro, beloved mother, aunt, great-aunt, and friend, passed gently into the Mystery on April 3, 2017, at the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst. She was 93 years old.

Boo was a private person who touched a thousand hearts. Daughter of immigrants, Boo’s childhood was immersed in family in Brownsville, Brooklyn. She spent a fondly-remembered young adulthood in Greenwich Village, interspersed with sojourns as a writer in Los Angeles and Louisville. After WWII, Boo married her treasured husband Wilbur Shapiro (d. 1985). Boo and Will were proprietors of Home and Pottery in Rockland County, New York, a gift and craft shop that was as much a caring community hub as it was a business. 

In retirement Boo resided most notably in Belmont, MA, with an extraordinary circle of new friends as well as family nearby. The final nine years of her life she made her home at Applewood at Amherst, where she founded the weekly meditation group, and composed many a fascinating dinner gathering. Kind, witty, warm, lover of drawings, English setters, beautiful design, tennis, and Threepenny Opera, Boo was a rare bird and a remarkable woman.

Daughter Jody Shapiro and partner Sanford Lewis of Shutesbury, niece Vicky Slavin and husband Steven Pinkerton of Belmont, great-niece Jocelyn Pinkerton of New Orleans, and devoted family and friends bid Boo loving farewell. She goes forth shining. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Our English Setter Rescue, PO Box 708, Hilliard, Ohio 43026, or to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105. 

Services will be private.

Amherst, Janet M. (Donovan) Volpe died March 30, 2017. She was the beloved wife of the late Colonel John M. Volpe and devoted mother of Mrs. Catherine I. Volpe-Proctor (Spouse Donald R. Proctor) of Belchertown, John A. Volpe (Spouse Vikki L. Volpe) of Hadley, David J. Volpe of Amherst, Michael L. Volpe (spouse Cindy A. Doty) of Hatfield, Robert P. Volpe (Spouse Karen A. Volpe) of Easthampton, and Steven F. Volpe of Amherst. She was the grandmother of Rachael D. Volpe of Shrewsbury, Michael D. Volpe of Hatfield, Julia M. Volpe of Lee, John M. Volpe, and Karina A. Volpe of Easthampton. She was sister to John J. Donovan, Jr. of Quincy, James P. Donovan, and Richard Donovan of Braintree and daughter to the late Catherine (Lehane) and John J. Donovan.

Janet graduated salutatorian from Quincy High School in 1951 where she was a member of the National Honor Society, president of the Spanish Club, and member of the Swimming Club. Janet attended Notheastern University in 1951-1953 where she completed a two-year pre-med technician program. She was an honor student there for two years and was freshman representative to Omega Sigma. She attended Newton Wellesley Hospital School of Medical Technology in 1953-1954 and became a registered medical technologist as certified by the Board of American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Janet was also employed as a bank teller in Amherst from 1977 until her retirement in 2002.

Private services were held at the Douglass Funeral Service, with private burial in Wildwood Cemetery.

Memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com

Amherst, Arnold Trehub, 93, of the Applewood Retirement Community in Amherst, died peacefully at home on Monday, April 3, 2017. He was born in Malden, Massachusetts on October 19, 1923 to Clarence and Rose Trehub (née Issner). His parents had emigrated from Russia to the United States in the early 20^th century and settled in Boston. He and his older brother George were raised—on Evelyn Street, in Mattapan—by their mother and an aunt after the death of their father during the Great Depression. Trehub graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School and was in his freshman year at Northeastern University at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces the following year and received basic and specialized training in New Jersey, Georgia, Kansas, and Oklahoma, during which time he was a PT instructor and boxed welterweight for his unit. He shipped out in 1944 and served for the duration of the war in the Pacific Theater as a radio technician working on B-29 Superfortress bombers with the 358^th Air Service Group/509^th Composite Group, 313^th Bombardment Wing, 504^th Bombardment Group of the 20^th Air Force, based on the island of Tinian in the Marianas. Among the aircraft he worked on were the Enola Gay and Bockscar—the planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was honorably discharged from the USAAF in 1946 with the rank of sergeant.

Trehub continued his education after the war at Northeastern University, graduating in 1948 with a B.A. He married Elaine Epstein in 1950, shortly after her graduation from Radcliffe College. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University in 1954. That same year he accepted a position as the director of a small research laboratory at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Leeds, Massachusetts and moved with his wife to Amherst, where they were both among the founders of the Jewish Community of Amherst (JCA). He also held an adjunct faculty appointment in the Psychology Department at the University of Massachusetts. He retired from government service in 1982 but continued working in his field as an independent researcher.

In his long career as a cognitive scientist, Trehub authored numerous publications on the neurophysiology of the human brain and the nature of consciousness, including “Neuronal Models for Cognitive Processes: Networks for Learning, Perception, and Imagination” (Journal of Theoretical Biology, 1977); The Cognitive Brain (MIT Press, 1991); “Space, Self, and the Theater of Consciousness” (Consciousness and Cognition, 2007); and “Evolution’s Gift: Subjectivity and the Phenomenal World” (in Consciousness and the Universe: Quantum Physics, Evolution, Brain & Mind, 2011). An early adopter of the Web, he was an active participant in online scientific discussion forums until the very end of his life. Under the pseudonym Ben Chassiel, Trehub was also an accomplished artist, designing polarized light (“heliokinetic”) collages that can be seen in the collections of the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College and the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts.

Trehub loved his family, his country, art, cognitive science, the ocean, lobster bisque, and the New England Patriots. Like many men of his generation, he disliked military discipline but was intensely proud of having served. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother George, and his daughter Lorna. He is survived by Elaine, his wife of sixty-six years; his son Craig of Amherst; and his son Aaron of Opelika, Alabama. Private funeral services have been held. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, well-wishers are asked to make contributions to the Northeastern University Libraries, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Libraries, or a library of their choice.