The Greatest Americans

Honoring Ambassador and Mrs. Joseph and Augusta Petrone

Karen and Jay share thoughts in remembrance and celebration of Joe and Augusta

Joe and Augusta Petrone were two of the finest people who have ever walked this earth. So, to honor their memory and to celebrate their lives, we are dedicating the entire Sunshine Report this week. Sharing stories, memories and great pictures of their lives.

Their enthusiasm, zest for life and positive outlook touched the lives of so many people across New Hampshire, the nation and around the world. Kind and generous to a fault. Always there to lend support.

Moreover, they personified what it means to be an American. Their love for our great country and their patriotic spirit knew no bounds. They were true patriots in every sense of the word.

You meet a few people in your life who are the most special and positive spirits on earth. Who radiate warmth, caring and a passion for all that is good in life as well as a heartfelt devotion to America, the cause of freedom and the founding principles that have made our country great.

From the first moment that we met in Washington, DC in 1994 to our last lunch together with Augusta and her wonderful sister Mitzi in Dublin several weeks ago, Augusta has been a dear friend, a kindred spirit and a source of boundless joy. We will sadly and deeply miss Augusta and Joe, with his booming voice and generous smile, who passed away in 2016. They just don’t make them any better. We have been truly blessed to know Joe and Augusta, the greatest of Americans and the greatest people we have ever known!

A Wonderful Tribute

The following remarks are from The Republican Party of New Hampshire's Salute to Ambassador Petrone, October 19th, 2012.

You don't often get a chance to publicly thank people who have truly changed your life, so I hope you won't mind if I take a moment to do just that.

Listening to the speakers tonight and thinking about Governor Sununu’s kind words, I can’t help but think that with all of the amazing things that Joseph and Augusta have done, their most remarkable accomplishment may well be that they became even more active after Joseph “retired.”

I say “retired,” because any of you who know the Petrones know that what they consider a normal, everyday pace during this “retirement” would kill most normal people. And all you have to do is ask their friends who will all tell you the same thing: it is impossible to keep up with these two, we’ve all tried.

But I think I've finally figured out their secret: They are simply the most positive people you will ever meet. It is impossible to be in a room with these two for more than ten minutes and be in a bad mood.

And no matter what challenges they face, or how crazy things get (not that that would ever happen in politics), they will always find a silver lining. It is a marvel to behold.

I can’t think of anyone like them, but I think they're able to do it for 3 reasons: their deep love for our country, a heartfelt desire to see others succeed, and their truly inspirational love for each other.

I can’t tell you how many times my wife Holly and I have watched them, looked at each other, and thought the same thing: THAT'S our model for a happy marriage.

I know it’s getting late, but I'd like to leave you with one story that I think sums up both their love of life and their love for each other.

Maybe about five or six years ago Augusta and I were on the phone and she said, "I have to go in a minute, we're late for lunch and Joseph is still on the roof.”

I said, “What did you just say?”

And in that marvelously girlish giggle she has, she said, “Exactly what you thought I just said.”

I said, “Augusta, what is he doing on the roof?”

She sighed and said, “Harry, when you've been in love as long as we have you learn there are some questions you no longer ask, because there are certain battles you are never going to win.”

So the next time I saw Joseph I couldn’t help myself, I asked, “Just out of curiosity, What were you doing on the roof!?”

And he looked at me like that was the silliest question he’d ever heard and he said, “The gutters needed be cleaned, so I cleaned’em.”

That's Joseph and Augusta. Something needs to be done, they do it. Someone needs help, they help them.

And that's why I think you be hard pressed to find two people who have touched so many lives, in more meaningful ways, without ever expecting anything in return. And why I'm truly proud and honored to get to thank you both for all that you do for our county, and for so many of us that you have helped in so many ways. So many of us who will never be able to even begin to repay your encouragement, support, and kindness.

Thank you both for literally changing my life, and the lives of so many of your friends, for the better.

Harry Levine Co-Founded Victory NH with Ambassador Petrone

Augusta Petrone

Augusta Gurney de Bunsen Henderson Petrone, 88, passed away peacefully in her home, on Friday, August 1, 2025, surrounded by her beloved family.

Augusta was born at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA on 10 March 1937. She graduated with a BA in Government from Smith College, married then-Major Joseph C. Petrone, and served with him in Fontainebleau, France, Ft. Hood, TX, Seoul, South Korea, the Paris Embassy (as Military Attache) and later as Reagan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

She had earned a Dioplome at the Sorbonne in Paris, and taught English in Washington, DC., and in Seoul, and had also taught French at the Marshalltown, Iowa Community College.

In 1976, Joseph, a veteran of WWII under General Patton, retired for a second time and the couple moved to Dublin, NH, where they were involved in musical and political events in their home. Both Petrone's fell in love with NH and were always grateful to have landed here.

Augusta was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and "Molly" Henderson, an elder brother, Ernest Henderson III, and a nephew, Ernest IV, also by her paternal grandparents, Ernest and Berta von Bunsen Henderson. Professor Henderson was active in lectures at the Dublin Lake Club, where he was counted as one of the founders.

The family would like to sincerely thank the caregivers at Hospice at HCS, and especially Nancy Folsom and Jodi Matson for their amazing, personal, professional, gentle, and respectful care they gave to Augusta through her illness.

Family and friends are warmly invited to a Graveside Service on Sunday, August 10, 2025, beginning at 11:00 AM, in the Dublin Cemetery located on Main Street (NH Rte 101) in Dublin, NH 03444. The service will be located near the intersection of Old Common Road and Old Pound Road, and personnel will be there to assist attendees with parking and other needs. Please notify Cournoyer Funeral Home directly with any special requests or needs, or for any additional information.

In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Petrone requested friends donate at some level to their favorite US Political Party.

To share a memory or to leave a condolence for Augusta's family, please visit cournoyerfh.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

The Remarkable Life of Joseph Petrone

By Charles Arlinghaus

New Hampshire Union Leader

March 29, 2016

The biography of Joseph Petrone cannot be appreciated in short form and his true story comes not from his remarkable list of accomplishments and service but from the most important and enduring part of his life.

Joseph Petrone passed away last week at the age of 93. The impossibility of summarizing his extraordinary life is revealed by one sentence written by someone who knew him well: “He lived an honorable and active life, as an Iowa farm boy, as a Lieutenant in Patton’s 3rd Army in the Battle of the Bulge, as a White House Military Aide under Eisenhower, as Military Attaché in Paris, and Ambassador to the European Office of the UN in Geneva under Reagan — and a treasured husband of 58 years.”

A remarkable career is bookended by the two important facts that made someone remarkable into someone truly extraordinary.

Most of us in New Hampshire knew Joseph as a gentlemanly, old fashioned and unfailingly cheerful man. His humility about his accomplishments betrayed the background he was so proud of as an Iowa farm boy. Many people knew little of his work but to learn about his resume was astonishing.

That he enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in 1938 shows a commitment to serve his country that takes on a different light when you realize that he was 15 years old at the time — the guard enlistment official may have gotten the wrong impression about his age.

He graduated from West Point on D-Day and served on Patton’s staff during the Battle of the Bulge. A summary of his military career is remarkable, extending from Patton to serving as a White House aide under Eisenhower. He served in Puerto Rico and Iran, France and Texas. He was in Georgia as his division prepared for the potential invasion of Cuba during the Missile Crisis. Then, he served in South Korea and as military attache to the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

Despite a career that saw him awarded battle stars from one of the most storied military units and receive decorations at the highest levels of our government and from governments in Europe, Joseph retained the humility and common sense of his Midwestern upbringing. You could easily know him for years without learning of his extraordinary military career and even then only learn of it from someone else.

Rather than resting after a long and distinguished military career, he had a strong career as a diplomat, including serving on the delegation that took us out of UNESCO and ending up as ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

But inside the language of his biography, you see his true calling.

His biographical sketch describes him as taking the ambassadorial appointment only “after caring for his wife through cancer and chemo.” The most important clause in the short summary of his accomplishments is “treasured husband of 58 years.”

All of us who know Joseph and Augusta Petrone know them not individually but as a unit, Joseph and Augusta, the Petrone’s. It is not possible to imagine him without her.

About 15 years ago, I somehow ended up on a bus with them. In asking them what was new, Joseph remarked that he was still the hired man at Knollwood Farm (their home in Dublin) so long as the lady of the house would keep him on. She grinned and said, “I think I’ll keep him.”

That’s the Joseph Petrone I knew. No hint that he was one of the most accomplished men I’d ever met. Just a very pleasant, courtly gentleman, deeply infatuated with his wife.

Certainly, his remarkable life should be celebrated for all he accomplished, for his extraordinary commitment to service starting at the age of 15. But I think his example is so much more.

His country and all of us should be grateful for his patriotism, but it isn’t the first thing to think of when you remember Joseph Petrone. He knew as so many of us struggle to remember that whatever you do professionally, even when it is as extraordinary as his record, is not as important as how you treat other people. I will always think of him as a pleasant, cheerful man holding the hand of his treasured wife of 58 years.

Charlie Arlinghaus is president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank based in Concord.

In Memory of Augusta:

Saddened to hear of the passing of my dear friend Augusta Petrone. Our state and our party are better because of augusta’s generosity and principled leadership.

She will be dearly missed.”

Governor Kelly Ayotte

“A bright light has been extinguished, and an era has come to an end with the passing of Augusta Petrone.

We will always remember her kindness to all. When I was asked to run for State Senate, Augusta called and invited me to come sit on her porch and enjoy some of her famous sweet tea. I arrived expecting it to be just Augusta and myself, but I was pleasantly surprised to see she had a whole group of people waiting to meet me. From that point on, our friendship continued to blossom. Augusta was intelligent, brilliantly creative, and had a big heart to match. Her eyes always twinkled with light and life and she always had the most beautiful smile.

May you rest in peace my friend.”

State Senator Denise Ricciardi

“Many of us lost a beloved, and truly remarkable, and joyous friend, Augusta Petrone. She touched so many lives with her boundless positive spirit, kindness, generosity, intellectual curiosity, and energy. Rest in Peace my dear friend.”

David Tille

Augusta Petrone, dear friend and Matriarch of NH Republicans, has made Heaven brighter today. So much to say and yet no words can capture the joy of knowing her or pain of losing her. Give our love to Joseph. ♥️

Kate Day

Augusta’s First Trip to Washington – Secret Story of Romance

From The World of Mr. Sheraton, by Ernest Henderson (Augusta aka ‘Penny’s – Dad)

Penny, our middle-sized daughter, did on one occasion exhibit an unprecedented and seemingly inexplicable interest in her father's business affairs. As a junior at Smith College, she was spending a few days' vacation with us in Boston. Suddenly she developed an astonishing urge to see her father's hotels, particularly the Sheraton-Park in Washington, once known as the Wardman Park Hotel.

We had made some major improvements at the Sheraton-Park. The property had been modernized and wholly air-conditioned, and a two-million-dollar banquet hall and spacious exhibition facilities had been added. Eager to see the changes, I took Penny with me to Washington.

We arrived late, but this did not discourage my "shameless" daughter. Reaching for the phone, she dialed a number she apparently knew.

"Sorry," a landlady told her, “He isn't home."

"Shall I call at eleven?" Penny asked.

"Sorry," came the voice, "it's an important engagement. He won't return until late."

"How about midnight?" Penny tried hopefully.

"Sorry," came the reply, "it's a very late business appointment. You will have to call in the morning."

With all enthusiasm gone from her voice, Penny consented to join her father in exploring the new banquet hall, one of the largest and most dramatic in the country. A debutante ball was in progress, and we could look down on it unseen from a balcony not in use that night.

Eighty of the capital's most luscious debutantes, all in lovely white gowns, were being presented to Washington society, and the climax of the evening arrived as we looked down from our point of vantage. Two great orchestras joined together, the dimmers were set at a level to create the desired effect, and two searchlights cast their beams on the red-carpeted stairway as the first of the eighty debs majestically descended. Her father, an admiral, ablaze with his decorations, was on one arm. On the other was her escort for the evening, a handsome U.S. Army major, a White House aide, bearing the necessary complement of shining gold braid. While a thousand guests below stood breathless, Penny took one look at the tall, handsome major and announced, "I hate him, I hate him." As she went on, I thought I could detect incoherent references to "an important business engagement."

The next morning, it seems, an acceptable alibi was forthcoming. Perhaps, after all, the daughter of an out-of-town admiral, lacking a wide acquaintance in the capital, might have been assigned an obliging White House aide, drafted for this special occasion. At all events, all was forgiven, and a year later Penny became the bride of Major J. Carleton Petrone, Jr., a former White House aide.

The wedding reception, held on the mall in front of our Louisburg Square home, revived a famous Boston tradition, dormant for over a century. Jenny Lind was married in that same enclosed plot of grass on the side of Beacon Hill, the property of the twenty-two families whose houses abut on Louisburg Square, a garden which visitors to Boston sometimes think of as a small piece of London transplanted to the New World.

Quote of the Week: They Changed America!

“The Petrone’s are among the people who changed America — first by their very strong support for Ronald Reagan when people thought that was hopeless, and then by their very strong support for us at GOPAC and with the House Republicans when people thought that was hopeless. So twice they've really, dramatically helped change American history.” — Speaker Newt Gingrich