Arthur L. "Pete" Gagnon, 82, of Bow and former longtime resident of Merrimack, passed away on Friday, March 6 ^th , 2020 at Concord Hospital after a period of declining health.

He was born on June 2 ^nd , 1937 in Nashua, NH, son of the late Arthur D. and Laurette (Michaud) Gagnon. He was raised and educated in Nashua, and attended UMass Lowell, NH Tech and UNH. He and his wife Nancy were the owners of Willow Pond Nursery in Merrimack for 30 years.

Pete served his country in the Army National Guard from 1954 – 1969 during the Berlin Crisis and in the Vietnam Conflict. He was honorably discharged as a 1 ^st Sgt. After his discharge, Pete worked as an electrical engineer for Locheed, now known as BAE, for the next 30 years until his retirement in 1989.

Mr. Gagnon served on a number of organizations over the years; he was on the Merrimack Planning Board for 39 years and served several times as Chairman, he was a past Vice President of Nashua Fish & Game, Lifetime member of the NRA and the VFW, NH Plant Growers Association, New England Plant Growers Association, and Delegate the NH Constitution Convention in 1974. In 2013, he was honored by the town of Merrimack with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service.

Along with his parents, he was pre-deceased by his four brothers, Ronald, John, Paul and Roger.

Pete will be forever remembered by his loving wife of 60 years, Nancy (Ledoux) Gagnon; three sons, A. David Gagnon of Penacook, Perry Gagnon and his wife Jody of Lisbon, Lee Gagnon and his wife Judy of South Sutton; a daughter, Melissa and her husband Rick Paquette of Bow; 9 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; a sister, Lynnette Palermo of NC, and several nieces and nephews.

Family and friends are kindly invited to attend calling hours at the Rivet Funeral Home, 425 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack on Tuesday, March 10 ^th from 4 – 7 PM. A Memorial Service will be held in the chapel of the funeral home at 7 PM.

For those who wish, memorial contributions in Pete's memory can be made to the Merrimack VFW Post 8641, 282 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack NH 03054