Obituaries
Jellison Funeral Home
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Harold I. Fiedler
Peterborough, New Hampshire - Harold I. Fiedler, 92, died on November 6, 2011, from a recent illness, surrounded by family at Monadnock Community Hospital.Mr. Fiedler was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 6, 1919, the son of Lillian (Rosenstrauch) and Jacob Fiedler. He was educated at Montclair State Teachers College of New Jersey where he was elected to the Athletic Department’s Hall of Fame for his varsity sports and then attended Columbia University. For thirty-seven years he served the U.S. government, twenty-four of those years in the CIA, including as an officer in the Army in World War 11 in the 40th Battalion, 7th Tank Division, aka, the “Lucky Seventh,†received a purple heart, and a Bronze Star for military operations in Germany, during April 1945, went onto Military Intelligence as a Lt. Colonel during the Cold War, and was recruited by the CIA . Upon retirement, he was awarded the CIA Medal of Merit and praised by then CIA Director Stansfield Turner “for positions of high responsibility both in Headquarters and overseas in the field of intelligence, training , and career management. .His duties included Chief of Base in Southeastern Europe, Deputy Chief for Area Operations and the division level in Headquarters and as Chief of Operations Training at a domestic training facility…(he) obtained coveted Supergrade ranks.†He spoke numerous languages fluently, including native Russian, French, Italian, and Turkish. He enjoyed the arts, baking, painting, and was an avid reader.He is survived by his wife, Janet (Cutler) Fiedler; a daughter, Carol Gilbert and her husband Thom of Holliston, Massachusetts; two stepchildren, Priscilla Cutler and her fiance Lawrence Bourgoine of Peterborough, New Hampshire, and Randy Cutler and his wife Merideth, of Lakewood, Colorado; four grandchildren, Christopher Gilbert and his wife Silvia of Auburn, Mass., Andrew Gilbert of Portland, Maine, Jonathan Gilbert and his wife Madaline of Dedham, Mass., and Elizabeth (Gilbert) Franks and her husband Vincent of Somerville, Mass.; three step-grandchildren, Tamara (Wilder) Linkow and her husband, Alex of Arlington, Mass., Valerie Echavarria, and Chad Echavarria of Peterborough, NH, and seven great-grandchildren. His first wife, Edith, his brother, and his son Stephen, predeceased him.His funeral will be held on Thursday, November 10th, at 1 PM, at All Saints Church, 51 Concord Street, Peterborough. Reverend Adrian Robbins-Cole, rector, will officiate. Burial will take place in All Saints church yard.In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 5 Bedford Farms Road, Bedford, NH 03110 or to the Monadnock Humane Society, 101 West Swanzey Road, Swanzey, NH 03446. Jellison Funeral Home, Peterborough, is assisting the family with the arrangements. For an online guest book, go to www.jellisonfuneralhome.com.
