New London, NH – On the frosty morning of February 4, 2026, Richard B. Kellom, 95, passed away at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Lebanon, NH. The second of three sons of Katharine Munson Baker and George Carter Kellom, Dick was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on July 31, 1930.
Dick attended the local elementary and Beverly High School. Summers were then spent at his family’s cottage on Forest Lake in Winchester, NH. where he also enjoyed being a camper and then counselor at nearby YMCA Camp Takodah. College years were spent in Middletown, CT at Wesleyan University where he was a member of the Varsity cross-country Team and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1952. He later returned to complete his Master of Arts degree in Liberal Arts Studies in 1962.
Immediately upon graduation from Wesleyan in 1952, to fulfill his military obligation, Dick was accepted into OCS (Officer Candidate School) and served in the Navy for four years as a Gunnery Officer on the USS Hazelwood, during the Korean War.
Teaching became the next natural step at the Mount Hermon School. When the Headmaster emphasized he needed not only a science teacher, but someone to develop the ski program, Dick knew that he found the perfect combination of vocation and passion! A few months later, Dick was introduced to Marilyn Zajan, a recent graduate of Barnard College and a new history teacher at sister school Northfield School for Girls. A blind date in 1956 led to a wedding in 1958, then two beloved children, daughter Kristin and son Jeffrey, and 68 years of devoted marriage.
For the 39 years of his tenure at NMH, Dick was widely and heavily involved in the many aspects of demanding, residential school life. In addition to teaching chemistry, he was thrust immediately into the role of a dorm master and soon became a dorm head and Chairman of the Science Department. Dean of Students for 5 years was in the mix as well but his greatest joy throughout was teaching, coaching and mentoring students and young colleagues.
Dick’s commitment and kind but firm manner earned him much gratitude and many awards.
A true natural athlete, Dick coached many sports over the years but his passion in coaching and personal life was skiing. A faculty member commented “one of my favorite images is of Dick on his roller skis gliding around campus to prepare for winter and the ski season.” For his coaching of many school teams, and particularly for coaching 4 events of the ski program for 39 years during which he mentored a handful of students to be eligible to reach U.S. Olympic Team qualification and participation, Dick was inducted into the NMH Athletic Hall of Fame. In the words of a fellow teacher “Dick was a revered presence in the NMH community” and from an alum/parent, “such a good person, such an amazing man”.
In 1995, Dick and Marilyn retired to Pleasant Lake, New London, NH. to the home Dick spent many summers constructing. There, water sports, family, friends and Pleasant Lake Protective Association occupied summers, but alpine skiing at nearby Mount Sunapee and x-c skiing at Norsk dominated all winter. By Fall it was time again for Coach Zippy to now astound Pleasant Lake neighbors with his roller skiing preparation to ski with his grandchildren – Ross, Sean and Sierra.
Dick is survived by his wife Marilyn; daughter Kristin (Mitch) of Northfield, MA and son Jeffrey (Debra) of South Berwick, ME; grandchildren Ross, Sean, and Sierra; brother John (Linda) of Hilton Head, SC and nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews across the country.
A service of remembrance will take place at the Mount Hermon chapel, Mount Hermon, MA. on Saturday July 11 at 1:00 pm. A reception will follow in the Bolger House.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Northfield Mount Hermon in support of Alpine Skiing; Nordic Skiing; or the Gilder Center Endowment Maintenance Fund (Science Center).
Checks with a note indicating fund designation should be made payable to NMH and mailed to Office of Advancement, NMH School, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA. 01354 or gifts can be received online at nmhschool.org/give.
Gifts in memory of Dick may also be made to the Pleasant Lake Protective Association (PLPA) at PO Box 1584, New London, NH, 03257.
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