New Hampshire
‘Thoughtful, kind, and always thinking of others’: Community mourns loss of Newton family of four – The Boston Globe
“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.
Sara Doherty
Franklin, NH – Sara Jane (Sanford) Doherty, 79, of Franklin, New Hampshire, passed away peacefully at her home on June 11, 2026. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, Sara was born on June 5, 1947, in Hanover, New Hampshire, to Harold and Sadie (Pettengill) Sanford.
As the daughter of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee, Sara spent her childhood moving throughout New England, living in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She graduated from high school in Hudson, Massachusetts, and later returned to New Hampshire, eventually settling in Franklin, where she made her home for more than forty years.
Sara built a successful career in the textile industry. She worked as a seamstress at Howland Originals before joining Star Specialty Knitting, where she began as a stitcher and, through hard work and determination, advanced to Plant Manager. She retired in 2003, and one of the greatest joys of her retirement was caring for several of her grandchildren, whom she adored.
Sara was a remarkably talented and creative artisan. She sewed clothing for her children when they were young and later created outfits for her grandchildren and their dolls. She was a gifted painter and artist whose extraordinary drawings and paintings brought joy to those around her. An accomplished seamstress, knitter, crocheter, cake decorator, and musician, Sara had an exceptional ability to create beauty in many forms. Her handmade gifts and treasured creations will be cherished by her family for generations to come.
Her talent for cake decorating blossomed into a successful side business that spanned more than thirty years. Sara created hundreds of stunning and imaginative cakes, including wedding and birthday cakes for her own children and grandchildren. Her passion for baking was so well known that for many years her license plate proudly read “CAKES+.”
Sara also had a remarkable gift for bringing people together. She hosted countless family reunions, each one more creative than the last. With elaborate themes, games, prizes, delicious food, and endless laughter, she created memories that her family will treasure forever. She was also known for her generous holiday gatherings, often welcoming more than thirty family members and friends into her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Summers brought cherished Fourth of July cookouts by Webster Lake, where Sara delighted in decorating the waterfront and gathering loved ones to enjoy the annual boat parade.
Sara’s love of giraffes was known by all who knew her. She spent years collecting hundreds of them, giving each a special “G” name. Before her passing, she shared one of her favorites, “Geebri,” with her granddaughter Sydni, who is expecting Sara’s first great-grandchild.
Her warmth, creativity, generosity, and love of family touched everyone who knew her. To say she will be missed is a vast understatement. She was truly the heart of her family.
Sara leaves behind her devoted husband of 43 years, Joel Doherty; her sons, Todd (Michelle) Chapman of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, and Paul (Cheryl) Chapman of Northfield, New Hampshire; her stepdaughters, Ali (Oliver) Frates of Amherst, New Hampshire, and Kate Hodge of Durham, New Hampshire; and her beloved grandchildren, Shelby, Sydni, Morgan, Owen, Duncan, Calum, Macy, and Elyse, and Step-grandchildren, Matthew, Jennifer, Eric, & Kevin.
Sara was predeceased by her parents.
Sara’s family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Franklin VNA for their rapid and seamless response in setting up hospice, and to The Payson Center for their dedication and care, which gave us more precious time with her.
A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM in Franklin Cemetery, Thompson Park in Franklin.
For more information or to leave the family an online condolence, please visit www.smartmemorialhome.com.
Click here to sign the guest book or honor their memory with flowers, donations, or other heartfelt tributes
A staple of many New Hampshire town fairs, the pig scramble may soon look a little different.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week requires the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture to create best practices for any event in which people compete to capture a pig. Those guidelines will be published before the 2027 fair season, so they won’t be in place for any fairs with pig scrambles this year, such as the upcoming Deerfield Fair in the fall.
Generally, a pig scramble involves people of the same age competing to capture pigs that have been let loose in a large pen. Contestants have to catch the pig in a drawstring bag, and the first one to do so can take the pig home.
Rep. Cathryn Harvey, a Democrat from Spofford, is the prime sponsor of the bill. She said each fair has different rules for their pig scrambles, meaning some can be more humane than others. One aspect of the events she hopes will change is the bags pigs are captured in.
“They’re putting an animal in a plastic bag on a hot summer day,” Harvey said. “It isn’t a great idea.”
Although some fairs already use more breathable bags out of burlap, Joan O’Brien, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, said she’s also seen pigs being kept in plastic bags for long periods of time after the event. Not only would a burlap bag improve the pig’s ability to breathe in the heat, she said, but she also wants fairs to require participants to bring an animal carrier for the trip home. Her organization was ultimately in favor of the legislation.
“If you don’t have a carrier, you should not be allowed to leave your pig lying in a bag,” O’Brien said, adding that some fairs already ask contestants to bring carriers. “You should be taking them right home.”
The Deerfield Fair has implemented another rule that O’Brien and Harvey hope becomes part of statewide best practices — having parents supervise their child in the pen. O’Brien once witnessed a child hang a pig upside down by its legs and then lower it headfirst into the bag.
“In the heat of the moment, the kids get excited and they just do whatever it takes to get the pig in the bag,” O’Brien said. She said parents should work with the event referee to make sure their kid is handling the pig humanely.
Harvey’s bill originally called for pig scrambles to be banned around the state, but both she and O’Brien feel that universal guidelines for fairs would still make the experience better for the animals. Even seemingly small things, Harvey said, like giving the pigs water after the scramble, would be an improvement to the current situation for them.
“I think that the bill will embolden people to speak up at these events,” O’Brien said. “If they think a pig is being mistreated, they’ll be able to say to themselves, ‘I know that there’s supposed to be a rule, so I’m going to say something.’ So I think that would be a good outcome.”
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