“Throughout everything, Lyla was thoughtful, kind, always thinking of others, and an amazing friend,” Alkon said in an email Saturday. “The outpouring of grief among her friends, peers and classmates from Brookline and beyond upon learning of her and her family’s tragic passing, is a tribute to how many lives she and her family touched in a loving, profound way.”

She said Lyla and Matthew Goldstein were deeply proud of their daughters and the adults they were becoming.

Valerie, an alum of Newton South High School, graduated from Syracuse University in May and was working as a fifth-grade instructor in Rocky Mount, N.C., as part of Teach for America, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Violet Goldstein was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, according to a college spokesperson. Violet’s college roommate, Finleigh Lewis, said she was “a beautiful source of light” who radiated kindness and genuine care for every person she met.

“They were both outstanding,” Alkon said of Valerie and Violet during a phone interview later Saturday afternoon. “As was Lyla, as was Matt, really all of them were outstanding.”

A relative of the Goldsteins declined to comment when reached by phone on Saturday. Other family members could not immediately be reached.

The family lived at 29 Margaret Road in Newton, according to city records, where flowers were left on the front steps Friday. City officials said the Goldsteins were active in community events.

Alkon said Lyla was a “dedicated Girl Scout troop leader” when her daughters were in the scouts. A former three-sport athlete at Brookline High School, Lyla Goldstein continued playing basketball throughout her adult life, Alkon said. She was also listed as a board member of the Newton Girls Basketball Association.

Newton City Councilor Bill Humphrey, whose district includes the Goldsteins’ neighborhood, recalled chatting with Lyla and Matthew Goldstein when he’d be out knocking on doors.

“I remember that Valerie would write in to the City Council about her passion for a more sustainable world and a just society as soon as she was old enough to vote, and she asked me to help her with a class project on local environmental policy,” Humphrey said in a statement on social media. “I know many leaders, activists, and educators found both sisters to be memorable and engaging over the years. All four of you will be missed by our community and beyond.”

Goldstein was an eighth-grade math and health teacher at the Edith C. Baker School in Brookline, according to Justin Brown, the president of the Brookline Educators Union. He led the math league and the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance.

Brookline Superintendent Linus J. Guillory Jr. said in a Friday statement that Goldstein was “an exceptional educator” and “beloved” member of the school community.

He also inspired his colleagues. A woman who said she worked across the hall from Goldstein said in a social media post that he “took care of everyone around him – his family, his coworkers, his students, etc.”

“He could find the upside to every situation,” she wrote.

The Goldsteins had been expected to arrive at a holiday gathering on Wednesday, but family members contacted authorities when the four did not answer phone calls and messages, officials said. Wakefield police responded to the home at 2962 Province Lake Road and found the four adults dead inside late Wednesday afternoon.

New Hampshire investigators identified the home’s gas heating system as the source of the carbon monoxide leak, officials said. New Hampshire State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said Friday that investigators believe there was “some sort of malfunction” with the system that prevented carbon monoxide gas from exiting outside the home.

“We’re still looking into all the details of that failure at this point,” he said.

Town records from Wakefield, N.H., show that the Goldsteins purchased the five-bedroom lakeside home in 2017. The property, which was built in 1984, is located on Balch Lake.

Several pictures on Matthew Goldstein’s Instagram page showed the family swimming and kayaking on Balch Lake. A video he posted Dec. 22 showed one of his daughters splitting wood outside the house. After the news of their deaths, the post has received a flood of condolences in the comments.

Toomey said “there were no carbon monoxide alarms” in the home. He urged New Hampshire residents to make sure they have working carbon monoxide detectors and check with their relatives and neighbors to make sure they do as well.

“Carbon monoxide is a silent killer,” he told reporters. “It’s colorless, odorless, and it will mimic flu-like symptoms, headaches, nausea. Especially at this time of year, with all the regular illnesses going on, it can be mistaken for something else, and that stresses the importance of having the working carbon monoxide alarms in your homes at this point.”

The office of the state’s chief medical examiner determined Goldstein’s cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, and the manner of his death is pending. The cause and manner of deaths of Lyla, Valerie, and Violet also remain pending, officials said. No further information was released Saturday.

Toomey said the state typically sees two or three deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in a given year, but the number rose above 10 in 2024, including the Goldsteins. He expressed sympathy for the family and their relatives and friends, as well as the first responders who found the family in the home on Christmas Day.

“This has been a terribly tragic year for both fire deaths and carbon monoxide deaths,” he said. “I think it wears on all of us. … To lose a whole family of four right in the peak of the holiday season, it hits home even more.”

Tonya Alanez of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.

As one of the original 13 colonies, New Hampshire’s oldest town is over 400 years old. But did you know the state actually started in two different settlements?

According to the Rye Historical Society, Samuel De Champlain first documented New Hampshire’s islands, which were inhabited by Indigenous peoples, in 1605. Yet, the English did not settle the land until years later. In 1623, Captain John Mason of England sent two divisions of men to establish a fishing colony at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, according to the New Hampshire Almanac. However, when the two groups hit land in what is now known as New Hampshire, they landed about 20 miles apart.

The division led by Scotsman David Thomson set up a stone house near Odiorne Point at the mouth of the river, a place they called Pannaway, which is now Rye. Meanwhile, brothers and fish merchants Edward and Thomas led their group to settle in Dover, which they originally called Northam.

Together with Portsmouth, Exeter and Hampton, these early settlements became a royal province in 1679, existing under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts from 1698-1741. New Hampshire, named after Captain Mason’s county in England, officially became a state in 1788, making the oldest towns 165 years older than the state.

Rye continued to thrive as a fishing and farming community in the 1800s, and Dover used nearby rivers to power mills for cotton-making, eventually expanding to the brick and shoe manufacturing industries.

NH history: Oldest home in New Hampshire is literally older than the country. Here’s where it is

Visit Dover and Rye

While updated to fit a modern world, both of New Hampshire’s oldest towns are still in touch with their rural heritage. Though Dover is now one of the state’s most populated towns, several public parks, walking trails and water activities allow you to reconnect with the town’s natural beauty. Rye has maintained a much smaller population, yet the fishing town is home to three beautiful beaches, endless acres of freshwater marsh and scenic coastal parks.

Historical roots are also evident throughout each town, whether in old buildings and houses lining the streets or special attractions commemorating the past. In Dover, history lovers can explore the town’s roots at the Woodman Institute Museum, and in Rye, the Rye Historical Society and Rye Town Museum give a glimpse into the founding of the state.

The death of a Newton, Massachusetts, family of four in New Hampshire this Christmas has left many in the city in mourning.

The Goldsteins — husband and wife Matthew and Lyla and their daughters Violet and Valerie — were found on Wednesday dead inside their vacation home in Wakefield of what investigators suspect was carbon monoxide poisoning — there were no carbon monoxide detectors at the home, authorities said Friday.

Valerie, 22, was supposed to be having a birthday party Friday. Instead, friends gathered to remember her.

“She was the most loving, accepting person you could possibly imagine,” Jessie King told reporters.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better friend,” said Keren Kohane, calling the family accepting, close, “warm and welcoming.”

Matthew Goldstein was a teacher at Brookline Public Schools — flowers and messages of condolence were left at the K-8 Edith Baker School, where he taught.

“Mr. Goldstein’s dedication to inspiring students and shaping young minds has left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing him,” Superintendent Linus Guillory Jr. said in a message to the community.

A Massachusetts teacher is among four people who died in a suspected carbon monoxide incident in New Hampshire on Christmas Day.

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Valerie’s friend Conor Sheehy remembered him similarly: “He was beloved as a teacher. He would constantly post about how students would return back to his classroom to come visit him.”

Violet’s roommate at the Rhode Island School of Design, Finleigh Lewis, said in a statement obtained by The Boston Globe that she was “a beautiful source of light,” kind and caring.

Investigators have so far confirmed that Matthew Goldstein died of carbon monoxide poisoning, with testing still pending for the rest of the family, but officials described what happened as apparently a tragic accident.

“At this time we’ve identified the homes heating system to be the source of the carbon monoxide leak,” New Hampshire State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said.

Four people who hadn’t been heard from on Christmas were found dead inside a home in Wakefield, New Hampshire, from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.

The bodies were found inside the family’s home on Province Lake Road after authorities were called for a wellbeing check around 4:21 p.m. — family members reported that they didn’t show up to a holiday event they were supposed to attend.

Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas with no odor or color produced in the burning of fuel, and Toomey urged the public to ensure they have working alarms in their homes to prevent further tragedies like the one that befell the Goldsteins.