William E. Fleury, machine operator
BILLERICA -- William E. ''Leo" Fleury, 77, of Billerica, a retired machine operator, died Jan. 2 in Malden.
Born in Boston, Mr. Fleury lived in Medford before moving to Billerica 30 years ago.
Before his retirement, Mr. Fleury worked as a machine operator at the Jefferson Smurfitt Box Co. in Wakefield for 15 years. He served in the Army during the Korean War and as a merchant marine with the US Coast Guard.
Mr. Fleury leaves his wife, Janet (Quartarone); three sons, John R. of Georgia, and Wayne R. and David Meears, both of Malden; two sisters, Blanche Chaffalo of Norwood and Lillian Centrella of Medford; and two grandchildren.
Louise Hansford, 85; was a clerk
LAWRENCE -- Louise (Keller) Hansford, 85, of Lawrence, a baking company clerk, died Jan. 3 at her home in Lawrence.
Born, raised, and educated in Lawrence, Mrs. Hansford graduated from Lawrence High School and the former McIntosh School of Business in Lawrence.
Mrs. Hansford worked as a clerk for the Moorehouse Baking Co. in Lawrence.
She was a member of the United Presbyterian Church in Lawrence for over 70 years. Most recently, she was a member of the Christian Fellowship Church of the Merrimack Valley in Lawrence.
In her free time, she enjoyed arts and crafts.
Mrs. Hansford's was the wife of the late Harold Hansford.
She leaves her daughter, Nancy L. of Lawrence.
John W. Forrest, engineer; at 81
ACTON -- John W. Forrest, 81, of Acton, an engineer, died Jan. 1 at Emerson Hospital in Concord.
Mr. Forrest was born in Chicago and raised in Melrose. He graduated from Melrose High School and Northeastern University. He was a resident of Acton for over 50 years.
Mr. Forrest's career began at Technology Instrument Corp. He later helped to form Acton Labs, which became Bomar/ALI. He was a 38-year employee and vice president and director of engineering at Bowmar/ALI. He held many patents for various inventions, including the Bowmar Brain, one of the world's first hand-held calculators.
He leaves his wife of 57 years, Mary Elizabeth; a daughter, Susan M. Roetzer of Fitchburg; two sons, John W. Jr. of Chelmsford, and Gary M. of Boca Raton, Fla.; and four grandchildren.
John True Ridley, executive; at 66
ACTON -- John True Ridley, 66, of Acton, a retired vice president of Houghton Mifflin Co. in Boston, died Dec. 30 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Mr. Ridley was born and raised in Leominster, graduating from Leominster High School in 1956. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Williams College in 1960 and master's in teaching from Harvard University in 1961.
Mr. Ridley taught English at Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown. In 1965, he began working at Houghton Mifflin. In 1991, he was appointed vice president of the school division. Then he became vice president of the school marketing division and corporate vice president of educational strategic development. He retired in 2001.
Mr. Ridley served on the advisory board of the University of Illinois's Center of the Study of Reading, on the intellectual freedom and publication committees of the International Reading Association, and on the advisory board for the National Center to Improve Tools of Educators at the University of Oregon.
He loved travel, photography, oil painting, and collecting antiques. He operated a small business, Countryside Antiques.
Mr. Ridley leaves his wife, Anne (Horton); two children, David of Burlington, Vt., and Jennifer R. Mabardy of Columbus, Ind.; a sister, Sarah Gist of Newberg, Ore.; and two grandchildren.
