Janet and Robert Rescigno

Robert William (Bob) Rescigno passed away quietly at  his home on Shelter Island, with his devoted wife of 59 years, Janet, by his side. He chose to forego further treatment, when doctors told him his cancer had returned and was inoperable, because it would have extended his life a few months, and he didn’t want to ruin anyone’s holidays forever by dying at that time.

After an 18-year battle, during which Janet nursed him back to health from four different cancers and triple bypass heart surgery, Robert finally succumbed on July 23, 2015 at the age of 82.

He maintained his good humor and uncomplaining, thoughtful demeanor right up until the end, as family, friends and neighbors came by to visit his bedside to say their goodbyes to a man beloved and respected by everyone who met him.

Bob was born in Manhattan in April 1933 to his parents, Alphonse and Florence Rescigno. He was a track star, gymnast and bodybuilder in high school. He almost had to repeat boot camp, when he quit school at age 17 to join the Navy, and didn’t improve on physical fitness tests after training because he was in peak condition upon entry.

During the Korean conflict he served on the aircraft carrier, Oriskany, the first ship to carry a live atomic bomb.

He attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer and, when not on duty, always had his movie and still cameras with him to record his travels around the world. The films he sent home were watched by friends and neighbors many times over the years and were finally transferred to DVD by his son Richard and narrated by Bob, because they were so entertaining and informative. He wanted to become a filmmaker or professional photographer as a young adult but was discouraged by people who told him there was no money in it.

He earned his G.E.D. and went to work for the New York City Board of Education, starting out as a cleaner and working his way up the ranks until he was the stationary operating engineer of the fifth largest high school in the United States, the largest in the city. After a career that lasted 33 years, he retired and moved from Dix Hills, New York to Shelter Island with his wife, so he could live next door to his daughter and son-in-law who were long-time residents.

He and Janet quickly became integral members of the community, both working as volunteers for various organizations and activities at the Senior Center and the American Legion, among others. During the years Bob served as a chaplain, financial officer and vice commander of Mitchell Post #281 and helped broker the deal to turn over the upper part of the Legion building to the town, to be used as a youth center.

He ran the senior bowling program downstairs, was often at work in the kitchen at Legion dinners, and also helped host a lively weekly poker game at the Senior Center. Janet and Bob were proclaimed Volunteers of the Year in 2010 and they both continued their volunteer efforts right up until a few weeks before his demise. Janet plans to continue their work after a brief hiatus. In addition to his regular volunteer work, Bob was known to help anyone who came to him with a problem and was able to die in peace because those wonderful friends and neighbors, in typical Shelter Island style, promised they would help his wife in any way they could after he was gone.

When Bob wasn’t busy with his volunteer work or maintaining his home and property, he loved working on his model trains, gardening, boating and fishing. In an ironic twist, last month, after 22 years on the waiting list for a town dock slip for his boat, he finally was awarded a spot, a week before he learned of his prognosis. His boat never made it to the dock space he paid for. The same week, he received his lifetime membership for the American Legion. He joked that maybe Janet ought to stop at the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy and pick up a few Win For Life lottery tickets for him, figuring it was worth a shot, the way his luck was going!

Many people do not know that Robert was also a talented artist. His home is filled with his oil and acrylic paintings, crewel embroidery pieces, hand-tinted photographs he did in his early years and beautifully crafted wooden clocks, bird houses and planter boxes. Bob was a happy, easy-going guy who loved to spread joy wherever he went. He was often spotted, in wintertime, sporting a ridiculous red, white and green knitted stocking cap with two huge pom-poms on top. When people reacted with a smile and told him they loved his hat (and they always did), he would grin from ear to ear and proudly declare, “My mommy made it for me!” That  always got a laugh, and it was music to his ears.

Robert is survived by his wife Janet, his daughter Robin and son-in-law Bennett Karnis, of Shelter Island; his son Richard and his wife Barbara and their daughter Nicole of Tobyhana, Pennsylvania; and daughter Michelle of New York City; and his son Ronald and his wife Yousy and their daughter Janessa of Middletown, Delaware and their son Anthony of Lake Grove, New York. He is also survived by his younger brothers Ronald and Arthur and in-laws Valerie and Cookie Rescigno, Christine Bullis, Pat Willers, Betty and Steve Vannata, Geri and Brian Hassard and many nieces, nephews, cousins and aunts. He is predeceased by his brother Paul.

No funeral or memorial services will be held, as were his wishes. A party will be held, on Shelter Island, to celebrate his life, sometime in the future. Robert requested that in lieu of flowers or gift baskets, friends and family could donate to East End Hospice, 481 County Road 31, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978. The angels of this organization enabled him to remain in the comfort of his own home, surrounded by friends and family, with all the resources and medications needed to pass peacefully and painlessly into the loving arms of his Creator.

May the good Lord bless every one of them for the vital support and guidance they provide for terminal patients and their families. His family couldn’t have survived this ordeal without them.
ROBIN KARNIS

PHILLIP MANCINE

Philip Mancine of Shelter Island died at Stony Brook University Hospital on August 17, 2015. He was 58 years old.

Phil was born on February 27, 1957 in the Bronx. He graduated from high school and attended continuing education classes at Hyde Park Culinary School while working his way up in the restaurant industry. He worked as a chef on Fire Island, St. Thomas, Vail, Colorado and Vermont where he made many friends.

He then came to Shelter Island where he worked at the Shipwreck and Cargo, The Inn Between, Gardiner’s Bay Country Club and finally Goat Hill’s Phil’s Place. Phil spent the last 10 years working at the Shelter Island Hardware Store where the Gurneys became like family to him. They were medically accommodating to him after his kidney transplants and ongoing medical treatments due to cancer.

After Phil’s first kidney transplant, he was instrumental in raising money and advocating for the building of the children’s skate park on Bowditch Road on Shelter Island. He personally raised $5,000, which the town matched for the project’s completion. More recently, Phil worked for the town’s Recreation Department as an aide for its open gym. He was hoping to return to work at the gym because he always had hope that he would get better. Phil was brave and strong, he never complained, and he never stopped fighting. He enjoyed life every day, no matter what, his family said.

Phil was a kind, happy, helpful and hopeful person. He loved his family, especially his nieces and nephews. Each one was so special to him. They made him so happy.

Phil is survived by his wife, Cynthia Michalak, whom he married on February 10, 1991 on Shelter Island and his brother, Thomas (Brooke) of Palm Bay, Florida. He is pre-deceased by his sister-in-law, Eleanore Crittenden and survived by her two children, Sara and Andrew. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Christine Cole (Monte) and their son, David (Meredith); his sister-in-law, Joan Tehan (Chris), their children, Andrea (Josh), Joseph (Anne)and their children, Charlie and Claire; his brother-in-law, John Michalak and his children, Ben (Nicole), Margaret and John (Megan) and their daughter, Evelyn.

Phil was also pre-deceased by his nephew, Christopher Tehan, and his niece, Catherine Michalak. Phil was also very close with his wife’s cousins, Jennifer Toth Beresky (John), Louis Toth and his three sons, James, Christian and Louis (Kate) and their new baby, Lily Rose.

The family received  friends on  August 20 at the Shelter Island Funeral Home. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was be celebrated on  August 21 at Our Lady of the Isle Roman Catholic Church with Father Peter DeSanctis officiating. Phil will be cremated so he can come home to his best friend and wife, Cynthia, to the home they built and lived in for 20 years.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Phil’s memory may be made to the Gift of Life Foundation — P.O. Box 532, Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965 — which was so kind to Phil over the years and was started in memory of a friend, Cheryl Hannabury.

SUZANNE BROCK

Suzanne Brock
Suzanne Brock, 87, a longtime resident of Shelter Island Heights. died August 5, 2015 in Eastern Long Island Hospital, after a fall in her home.

Sue was born on June 17, 1928 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her parents moved to West Hollywood, California when she was two years old. She attended Hollywood High School and was a graduate of UCLA.

She began her career in New York City as a copywriter for Seventeen magazine and Glamour for four years. She then spent the rest of her career at Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agency as a creative director.

Sue retired to her home on Shelter Island in 1983. She loved her life on the Island and was one of the founding members of Friends of Music and also an active member of the Garden Club of Shelter Island.

Her friends will remember her for her generosity, creativity and love of animals.

Her friends and family said they want to express their appreciation to her loving caregiver, Lolita, and for the care she received from Dr. Carter and the ICU nurses at the hospital.

Sue is survived by her loving sister, Patricia Bullen.

She was a remarkable woman and will be deeply missed.

As she wished, no memorial service will be held.

Richard R. Allen Jr.
Richard R. Allen Jr., 51, passed away Friday, August 21, 2015. He was the son of Cathy and stepson of Neal Raymond.

He is survived by his wife Corianne, son Richard R. Allen III, daughter Brittany Allen and mother-in-law Ginger Bauer. He is also survived by sisters Irene-Rose Allen and Samantha-Jean Raymond.

Family and friends were welcomed at the A. L. Jacobsen Funeral Home in Huntington Station, New York on Thursday, August 27.

Mass was held on Friday, August 28, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Hugh of Lincoln Roman Catholic Church, interment followed at Melville Cemetery.

Helen Kornblatt
Helen Kornblatt died August 21, 2015 in her residence in Vero Beach, Florida after a long illness. She was born on January 18, 1943. She had been living in Florida for over 10 years.

Helen and her husband, Oscar, who predeceased her, were long-time residents of Shelter Island and members of the Gardiner’s Bay Country Club.

Her brother Robert Krizek and parents, Robert and Helen Krizek, also predeceased her.

Helen graduated from Sacred Heart Catholic School in Bayside, Queens and Bishop McDonald Catholic High School in Brooklyn.

She worked for many years for United Airlines and traveled extensively. In addition to her love of traveling, Helen was an avid skier and tennis player.

She also loved to cook and entertain and was a gracious hostess and very generous. The running joke among her many friends was: “Who did Helen meet on the ferry that day and invite for dinner?” said Elaine Kane, who had been a friend of Helen’s for 66 years.

Helen will be cremated, as was her husband Oscar. Interment will be at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island.

A memorial service will be held in October.

Douglas E. Murphy

Douglas E. Murphy
Former Shelter Island resident Douglas E. Murphy of Greenport died August 22, 2015 at his home. He was 71.

He was born March 11, 1944 in Bridgeton, New Jersey to Dorothy (Schill) and Joseph Murphy. He married Jill Adams in Lynbrook, September 9, 1967.

Mr. Murphy received a Bachelor of Science degree in health care management from Empire State College. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1963 to 1967 and was the owner of Eagles Neck Paddling Company in Orient.

Family members said he enjoyed kayaking, trap and target shooting, collecting, wood carving, drawing and painting and listening to music.

Mr. Murphy is survived by his wife, Jill; his daughters, Erin (Warren) Corazzini of Greenport and Alison Murphy of Cutchogue; his grandsons, Warren (Jennifer) Corazzini of Rockville Centre, and Jeffery and Douglas Corazzini, both of Greenport; his granddaughters, Kim Corazzini (Steven McEnaney) of Rhinebeck, New York, and Brighton Tucci of Cut­chogue; and his great-grandson, Reed Corazzini.

The family received visitors August 26 at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport. Interment will take place at a future date at the Emily F. French Cemetery on Shelter Island.

The family suggests “paying it forward” by doing something nice for someone else in Mr. Murphy’s memory.

Patricia Anne Sharp

Patricia Anne Sharp
Patricia Anne Sharp, 78, of Atlanta, Georgia died Monday, August 17, 2015 after courageously battling liver cancer.  She was at home surrounded by the love of her family as she took the Lord’s hand into eternal life, her family said.

Pat was born September 12, 1936 in Rockville Centre to John J. and Gladys O’Brien. She attended St. Agnes Catholic School in Rockville Centre, Endicott College and studied at the American Theatre Wing in New York.

She fell in love with Bolling Randolph Sharp of Malverne in the summer of 1956 and they shared a beautiful marriage of 56 years. Their relationship was built on true love and commitment to each other, their family and their Catholic faith, and together they raised seven children.

Randy and Pat started their life together on Shelter Island before moving to Jacksonville, Florida and then settling in Atlanta for the last 34 years.

During her time living on the Island, she was a reporter for the Reporter and co-founder of the Shelter Island Conservative Party.

Known for her flare for the dramatic, Pat was active in community theatre and found great joy in being a lecturer at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Atlanta. She used her talents by reading for the blind and teaching English as a second language. She taught her family to be kind, gracious, generous, strong and accepting of God’s will, her family said.

Pat loved a good joke and was a constant story teller. Her greatest gift was how she could make all of those around her laugh and how special she made each of her children and grandchildren feel when in her presence.

Pat leaves behind the love of her life, Randy Sharp; their seven children and spouses, Florence (Kent) Starling, Randy (Amy) Sharp, Patty Sharp, Maureen (Damian) Burke, Lewis (Lori) Sharp, Margaret (Lauren) Hough and Mary (John) Cantwell; 13 grandchildren; and her sister, Maureen O’Brien of St. Augustine, Florida.

Pat was preceded in death by her mother and father; her son, Shawn Patrick; brothers, Jerry, Jack and Emmett O’Brien; and her sister, Cecilia Harms.

As a longtime member of Holy Cross Parish, Pat’s services were held there, including a Funeral Mass on Monday, August 24.

Pat will be greatly missed by her family and remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing and loving her.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Georgia Right to Life, in remembrance of Patricia Anne Sharp, P.O. Box 2665, Norcross, GA 30091-2665.

Kenneth Lawrenson

Kenneth Newcomb Lawrenson, age 62, passed away on August 31, 2015.
Originally from Ridgewood, New Jersey, Kenneth’s family moved to Hay Beach where he attended Shelter Island High School.

Kenneth is survived by his children; nieces and nephews; father, Richard Lawrenson; sisters, Lura Gay Lawrenson and Barbara Larsen; and  brothers, Thomas and Peter Lawrenson.

An full obituary will appear in a future edition of the Reporter.

Vincent E. King
Vincent E. King of Shelter Island died at his home on August 28, 2015. He was 96 years old.

Vincent was born May 25, 1919 in Sagaponack to Mildred and Vincent King. He graduated from Beaumont High School in California and Riverside Junior College, also in California.

In 1940 he joined the United States Army Air Corps after which he was employed by Sperry Gyroscope for many years. Following Sperry, he went to work for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and when he left there, he went into the construction business with his son Wayne.

His son continued with the business and Vincent pursued his life-long love of working with wood. He was a master cabinet maker and builder of custom furniture and speciality wood items.

In 1940, Vincent married Lauretta M. McDermott, daughter of William and Anna McDermott.

He is survived by his wife of 75 years, Lauretta; his son Wayne; his daughters Patricia Labrozzi and Diane Anderson; seven grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Thomas J. Moran
Thomas J. Moran of Greenport died August 31, 2015.

Mr. Moran was born August 24, 1931. He was 84.

The family will receive visitors today, Thursday, September 3, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport. A funeral service will take place at 11 a.m., Friday, September 4, at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church on Shelter Island. Burial will take place at the church cemetery.

A complete obituary will follow in a future edition of the Reporter.

Thomas James Moran

Thomas James Moran
Former longtime Shelter Island resident Thomas James Moran of Greenport died August 31, 2015 at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport. He was 84.

He was born August 24, 1931, in Franklin Square to Josephine (Barry) and Thomas Moran. He married Madeline (née Nicoll) on December 28, 1993, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Shelter Island.

Mr. Moran received a Bachelor of Science in education and for 25 years was a teacher with the North Bellmore Union Free School District.

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, achieving the rank of private first class.

The Morans lived on the Island from 1993 until they moved to Peconic Landing in 2009. They continued to be actively involved with the St. Mary’s community.

Family members said Mr. Moran enjoyed gardening, music and books.

He is survived by his wife; his children, Stuart Nicoll, Wesley Nicoll, and Jennifer and Jehan Ghouse; his cousins Elsie Tomlin, Peg Lee and Dick Lee; and two grandchildren. Mr. Moran was predeceased by his brother, Jack, in 2008.

The family received visitors September 3 at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport. A funeral service took place September 4 at St. Mary’s, officiated by the Reverend Charles F. McCarron.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 26 St. Mary’s Road, P. O. Box 1660, Shelter Island. NY 11964.

Donald W. Macgeorge
Donald W. Macgeorge, 83, of Zellwood, Florida, passed away September 2, 2015.

Mr. Macgeorge was born November 10, 1931 in Huntington.

He was a mechanic in the automotive industry.

He is survived by his loving wife Jean Macgeorge of Zellwood; children Donna Hultin of Zellwood, Patricia (Bill) Morris of Palm Harbor, Florida, Steven (Tracey) Macgeorge of Apopka, Florida and Michael (Diana) Macgeorge of Casselberry, Florida; eight grandchildren and five great- grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the American Cancer Society local chapter.

A service  will take place Friday, September 25, 2015 at 11 a.m. at St. Edwards Episcopal Church, Mount Dora, Florida.

Edward Bennett Reith
Edward Bennett Reith, our wonderful, loving, funny, smart-as-whip, kind, gracious, big-hearted father, passed away on Friday, August 7, 2015.

Ed, with his quiet demeanor and determination of a thousand souls, was truly an amazing man. He had a brilliant mind and spirit and was deeply loved by all who knew him. Born July 4, 1934 in Manhattan, he eloped with Tempe, the love of his life, on March 2, 1957. He has missed her terribly since she left in 2013; they are together again, at last.

Ed worked over 30 years as an electrical engineer, as a job shopper, moving from one interesting assignment to another, after graduating from Columbia University, School of Engineering. In 1991 he became the proprietor of Brooklawn Discount Liquors and worked retail until his quasi retirement at 78.

When Ed was 38, he had the first of three bypass heart surgeries as well as a number of angioplasties later in life. Through all theses procedures his resilience was awe-inspiring. He was never waylaid long, always returning to work as soon as he could. He had the courage of a lion and stamina of an elk; but as we liked to tease him, he just occasionally needed a valve job, every seven years or so.

Throughout the years, Ed and Tempe maintained two warm and happy homes — in Easton, Connecticut and Shelter Island, where they enjoyed entertaining friends, playing bridge and spending time on the water.

Ed retained virtually everything he ever read, and he did so voraciously. He passed on his love of reading to his children and grandchildren. He was a consummate Trival Pursuit champion, unmatched in number of questions answered successfully and more than once obnoxiously told us to ask him a question he didn’t know.

During his life he was a member of the Lions Club, Christ’s Church in Easton, Gardiner’s Bay Country Club and Shelter Island Yacht Club.

Those left to cherish his pearls of wisdom and hear his voice from beyond the grave forever telling us, “you should be more polite,” if someone gives you money, don’t turn it down, just say thank you,” “take care of your name, it’s all you’ll ever have,” are his son, Russell Reith and his wife Aiping; daughters, Amelia Gabriel, Sarah McArthur and Anne Reith; and grandchildren, Nicholas, Adam and his wife Mandy, Laura, Dylan and Edward. He was predeceased by his son Gerald.

A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, at 11 a.m., Christ’s Church, Easton. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the American Heart Association in his name, for only through modern science was he able to live for 43 more  years and we are forever grateful.

Brian R. Boeckmann
Brian R. Boeckmann of Cutchogue died at home September 7, 2015. He was 59.

He was born January 20, 1956, in West Virginia to Robert and Mary (Oates) Boeckmann.
Mr. Boeckmann was the golf course superintendent for Gardiner’s Bay Country Club. Family members said he enjoyed photography, golf and horticulture.

Predeceased by his parents and his stepdaughter, Laura, Mr. Boeckmann is survived by his wife, Lois (née Meyer), and his stepchildren, TJ and Christine.

The family received visitors September 12 and 13 at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. A funeral service was held at the funeral home September 13. Burial took place at Cutchogue Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation.

Evelyn “Tuya” McNamara

Evelyn “Tuya” McNamara
Evelyn “Tuya” McNamara, 83, died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, September 12, 2015.

Tuya is survived by her husband, Thomas D. McNamara; daughters Julie M. Frankie and Tomi R. McNamara; the joy of her life, her grandson Douglas McNamara Frankie; brothers Don and Bo Hays of Oklahoma; and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 19 in the chapel of Amory Funeral Home, 410 Grafton Drive, Grafton, Virginia 23692. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service in the funeral home. Tuya will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Amory Funeral Home for “Tuya’s Charities.”

SY WEISSMAN PHOTO| Mel Mendelssohn

Mel Mendelssohn, a significant contributor to the cultural life of Shelter Island, died peacefully in his sleep on Friday, October 2, 2015.

Mel, a resident for over 20 years, had been a professional fundraiser for colleges and charities, and he used this talent as a leader in raising funds for the creation of the Island Fitness Center.

He was, with Howard Brandenstein, the instigator of the Movies at the Library 11 years ago, and the writer, director and star of a number of short musical theater shows presented in library auditoriums on the East End. He sang with the Shelter Island Community Chorus, the Peconic Bay Masterworks Choir and was a longtime member and officer of the Choral Society of the Hamptons. Mel performed in the Bella Notte shows on the Island and in the popular Nativity presentations at Christmas.

In his youth in Brooklyn, Mel was an accomplished baseball player and later a very good tennis player here. He was an ardent Mets fan.

His interests were many; music was a passion. For a few years he traveled to Stony Brook University to take music courses, and he loved the opera, often attending the televised shows from the Met at the John Drew Theater with  his wife, Suzanne. He also played the recorder and enjoyed playing with a group of like-minded enthusiasts.

Mel had a strong social conscience. He was a vocal advocate for social justice and was not shy about sharing his opinions. He loved Shelter Island deeply, and he enjoyed attacking the garage and tag sales with Suzanne on Saturdays before spending the rest of the day visiting friends or relatives, or going to a show, concert or lecture.

Mel Mendelssohn was a good and kind man, and his sunny, cheerful and caring way will be dearly missed by those many who loved him as a friend.
— Jack Monaghan

Grace Irene Kaminsky

Grace Irene Kaminsky

Former Islander, Grace Irene (Hulse) Kaminsky, age 97, passed away October 22, 2015, in Jacksonville, Florida.

Born on February 28, 1918 in Greenport to Jane Leden and Arthur Hulse, Grace lived in Greenport until her wedding day July 2, 1938, when she and her husband, John Kaminsky, came to Shelter Island where they lived for almost four decades.

In 1986, upon John’s retiring from the North Ferry Company, John and Grace moved to Orlando, Florida. Then in March 2009, they moved to Brookdale at Atrium Way, a senior continuum care community in Jacksonville.

Grace was predeceased by her beloved husband, John, in 2010, and is survived by daughters Sondra Beukema Sutton of Raymore, Missouri; Jacqueline (Dick) Young of Tampa, Florida; and Arlene (Rabon) Patterson of Jacksonville; six grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Former Shelter Island Reporter editorial cartoonist Rob White, a man of myriad talents — ranging from painting, to illustrating, to editorial cartooning, to landscape architecture and substance abuse counseling — died Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. He was 70. 

The cause of death was mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, according to his wife, Kate Altman, who survives him.

Mr. White, of New Suffolk, may be best remembered locally as an award-winning editorial cartoonist for The Suffolk Times and its sister publications, The News-Review of Riverhead and The Shelter Island Reporter. His cartoons, which appeared in the newspapers mostly in the 1980s and ’90s, were honored on many occasions as the best in the state by the New York Press Association.

His attachment to the North Fork began as a young man, when he came to Cutchogue during the summer months to work on the fruit farm of his late aunt and uncle, Anne and John Wickham. He moved here permanently in the early 1970’s, when one of his first assignments was to illustrate a wine bottle label for the fledgling Hargrave Vineyard. Many years later, when his paintings were featured at the Jedediah Hawkins gallery in Jamesport, vineyard co-founder Louisa Hargrave surprised him with several bottles bearing copies of the original label. “Rob was touched. That was really sweet,” Ms. Altman said this week.

Rob White was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on August 22, 1945, the son of Kendall White and Margaret Lupton White, who survives him. His mother had been born and raised in Mattituck and was related through marriage to the Wickhams.

The family moved to Ithaca, N.Y., when Rob was an infant, and in later years lived in Westfield, Mass., and Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

He studied landscape architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, graduating in 1967, and was working in that field a few years later in Ohio when he was contacted by a college friend, singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. It seemed Mr. White and Mr. Chapin both had sung in a Cornell a cappella group, the Sherwoods, and folk singer wanted to know if Mr. White wanted to join him on the road. He did, and for the next few years he served as Harry Chapin’s sound man and road manager, according to Ms. Altman.

Most notable, however, was Mr. White’s role as Mr. Chapin’s illustrator, as he supplied all the drawings for Mr. Chapin’s 1975 book, “Looking…Seeing — Poems and Lyrics by Harry Chapin.”

In addition to his work as an editorial cartoonist, in his years on the North Fork Mr. White was employed as a landscape architect and substance abuse counselor at Eastern Long Island’s Quannacut unit.

Mr. White painted steadily beginning in the 1990’s, but only had an opportunity to paint full time after he retired two years ago due to his illness, according to his wife. And he continued to paint up until a month before his recent hospitalization, she said.

In addition to his wife and mother, who divides her time between Cutchogue and Bradenton, Fla., Mr. White is survived by a son, Gregory White; a stepdaughter, Emma Rose Mead; two stepchildren from a previous marriage, Marci and Ryan McDermott; a brother, Kendall, of Cleveland, Ohio; and two sisters, Peggy Gravelle, of Oshkosh, Wisc., and Susan White, of Bradenton. He was preceded in death by his father and his brother, Ted.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Coster-Heppner Funeral Home of Cutchogue. In addition, Ms. Altman said she is planning a “big party” to celebrate her husband’s life in the near future.

Florence Marie Pufahl

Florence Marie Pufahl
Florence Marie Pufahl of Huntington and Shelter Island, formerly of Locust Valley, died peacefully October 23, 2015 at the Mary Ann Tully Hospice Care Inn. She was 93.

Born January 17, 1922 in Queens Village, the second of Anna and James Green’s four daughters, Florence is remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to her extensive family. She was a friend and confidante to countless people she touched in her storied life, especially her late husband, Joseph, an entrepreneur, inventor and founder of several businesses during the time they raised their three sons and a daughter.

Florence and Joe had been childhood friends when romance bloomed in their teen years. Their fathers went to boot camp together before shipping overseas during World War I, and the family speculates that 2-year-old Joe was in the church when Florence was baptized. A photograph of Joe dating back to when Florence was 16 has written on the back, “This could be the start of something good.”

They married in 1943 as the country was entering World War II. Joe was sidelined from service due to an injury sustained at birth and they started their family. Three sons, John, Joe and Rob, came first, followed by their daughter Kathy.

In 1969, the Pufahls moved to Locust Valley where Flo met new friends and became active in the community. An accomplished horticulturalist, she was president of the Locust Valley Garden Club for several years and was recognized with a meritorious service award from the Federated Garden Clubs of America. Her and Joe’s love of flowering plants was passed on to their daughter Kathy, the founder of Beds and Borders nursery and a nationally recognized authority, credited with advancing the art of container gardening.

Florence’s horticulture skills were in evidence in Locust Valley as well as at their beloved Island summer home. The house on Coecles Harbor was the scene of countless dinners, childhood sleepovers, boat expeditions and waterski runs that created a lifetime of memories for their extended family and friends.

An accomplished waterskier who famously completed her aggressive slaloming runs without ever getting her hair wet, Flo made her final run around the harbor in August 2011, just three months before her 90th birthday. Equally accomplished on the slopes, she skied some of the great mountains of Vermont, Colorado and Utah with her family.

Florence was predeceased by her husband Joe in 2011 and her daughter Kathy in 2003. She is survived by her three sons, John (Cheryl) of Lloyd Harbor, Joseph (Sandra) of Cutchogue and Robert (Helen) of Huntington Bay; her grandchildren, Christopher Pufahl, Lauren Kinney (Devin), Jessica Jones (Don), Kristen Schreck (Brad), Daniel Pufahl (Lauren), Kevin Cande (Jayne), Tyler Cande, Torie Cande, Kyle Lehman and Colleen Lehman; and five great-grandchildren.

Following a funeral Mass at St. Patrick R.C. Church in Huntington, she was buried alongside her husband and daughter at Our Lady of the Isle Cemetery.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Carol Pufahl Literacy Foundation, 3 Harmony Lane, East Setauket, NY 11733; the Kathryn Pufahl Cande Pediatric IBD Research Fund, P.O. Box 1656, 5 East 98th Street, New York NY 10029; or Hospice Care Network, 99 Sunnyside Blvd., Woodbury, NY 11797.

Caroline Craig Sutton
Caroline Craig Sutton, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Shelter Island, died on October 9, 2015 at the age of 94 at the Jefferson’s Ferry Retirement Community in Setauket.

Caroline grew up in Sewickley, Pennsylvania and then married and settled in Pittsburgh in 1946. In 2010, she moved to Long Island to be near her two daughters and son-in-law — Judith Sutton of New York City and Ann Sutton and Martin Freundlich of Setauket. Caroline was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Roger Sutton, a founding member of the Nuclear Physics Program at Carnegie Tech (now CMU), who died in 2000.

A woman of many talents, she was a self-taught and skilled carpenter. She renovated and helped build numerous houses, both for her family in Pittsburgh and Cape Cod and as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Caroline became a master gardener and raised plants and prize-winning vegetables in her yard in Pittsburgh and on her farm in western Pennsylvania. An amateur archeologist, she participated in numerous digs in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Since 1992, Caroline had spent most of every summer at the family home in Silver Beach. She volunteered at Mashomack Preserve and served as a greeter for the Shelter Island Historical Society at Havens House.

Not content to simply wait at Havens House until visitors arrived, Caroline turned her skills to helping maintain the historic house. She caned and painted the wicker porch chairs. At the age of 86, she borrowed an extension ladder and painted the trim on the upper windows. When the herb garden fence started to rot, she cut new pickets from wood she collected at the dump to replace the damaged ones.

When her family eventually forbade her to use her radial arm saw for major renovations when she was alone, she turned to her jigsaw and made wooden folk art ferry boats that she sold in local shops and at Havens House. In her spare time, Caroline enjoyed swimming, biking and kayaking until her 90s. During her summers on the Island, she attended the Presbyterian Church.

Caroline’s humor, creativity, kindness and generosity will be greatly missed. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Nature Conservancy at Mashomack, P.O Box 850, Shelter Island, NY 11964 or the Shelter Island Historical Society, P.O. Box 847, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Joan Viola Young

Joan Viola Young
Joan Viola Young, age 84, loving wife, mother and grandmother, died Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at her residence in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

Born in the Bronx, she was a daughter of the late Joseph and Marion Wallace. Mrs. Young attended St. Michael’s Catholic Church.

Survivors include her husband of 64 years, Thomas T. Young of Murrells Inlet; sons, Thomas J. Young (Sue Klenawicus) of Shelter Island and William F. Young of Cameron, North Carolina; daughters, Missy Melcer (Paul) of Sunrise, Florida and Trichia Avona of Garden City, South Carolina; grandchildren, Tommy, Chris, Bonnie, Nicky, Jenny, Paulie, Katie and Joey; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, George Wallace of Texas.

Services will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Regency Hospice, 11943 Grandhaven Drive, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina 29576.

An online guestbook is available at goldfinchfuneralhome.com/obituaries.

After a long illness, Dr. Howard Green passed away on October 31, 2015. He and his family had a home on North Ferry Road from 1960 to 2014, now owned by his niece. 

Born September 10, 1925 in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Green received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Toronto in 1947 and spent the rest of his life in medical research. After serving two years as a captain in the U.S. Army, he began his career at New York University School of Medicine in 1956 and eventually rose to become professor and chairman of the Department of Cell Biology. From 1970 to 1980, he was a professor of cell biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1980, he became the George Higginson Professor of Cell Biology and chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. He stepped down as chairman in 1993, but continued on as professor and actively ran his laboratory until 2013.

Over the years, Dr. Green’s work focused mainly on the properties of cells growing in tissue culture. In 1961, his laboratory created and established lines of fibroblast cells using viral oncogenes. Further development in his laboratory and in others led to the 3T3 cell lines, which became the basis for much work on cellular oncogenes.

In 1974, using the same lines of 3T3 cells for support, his laboratory developed a system that allowed the cultivation of large numbers of human skin cells. Sheets of these cultured cells behaved as skin grafts when applied to open wounds. These grafts were first tested on small burn wounds in the Burn Unit at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital starting in 1978 and they regenerated a functioning epidermis in these patients.

This method of taking a tiny skin sample from a patient and using it to generate enough cultured grafts to cover large areas of the body with the patient’s own cells was used in children with large burns for the first time in 1983 at the Shriners’ Burn Hospital in Boston. This work, in addition to being life saving, was the first use of stem cells as a successful treatment in patients. In order to cope with the demand for these grafts, Dr. Green founded BioSurface Technology. The company was acquired by the Genzyme Corporation, where production continues to the present day.

In recognition of this pioneering work, Dr. Green received multiple honors including membership in the National Academy of Sciences (USA), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institut de France (Academie des Sciences). He was the president of Scientific Council, Institut Curie, Paris, France from 1999 to 2007. He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, Republic of France, and received honorary Doctorates from the University of Connecticut, the University of Göteborg, Sweden, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Louisiana State University. In addition, he received the following awards: the Blaise Pascal Medal for Biology and Life Sciences of the European Academy of Sciences, 2007; the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, 2010; and the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, 2012.

Dr. Green is survived by his wife of 61 years, Rosine Kauffmann Green, his brother Floyd, his niece Ingrid Fagen and his nephew David, as well as an extended family in Canada, the United States, Australia and France.

AMY C. ROBERTSON

Amy C. Robertson of Silver Spring, Maryland, whose grandfather Walter “Robbie” Collin Robertson Sr. (1890-1979) had a summer residence on Big Ram Island’s Tuthill Drive, died November 5, 2015 after a 15-month struggle with cancer.

The daughter of Theodore Royen Robertson (1923-1998), a years-long volunteer with the Shelter Island Emergency Ambulance Service and a realtor with Cook Pony Farm, and Helen Catherine “Cathy” (Perrins) Robertson, Amy grew up in Philadelphia. She attended Ply­mouth Meeting Elementary School and Germantown Friends High School from which she graduated in 1969.

Her love for the Island developed and grew during holidays and summers spent here fishing and swimming in Coecles Harbor, exploring Hay Beach and Reel Point, playing with next door neighbors, including Angela, Eugene and Iris Van Rynbach, and spending time with her family, grandparents and other relatives.

After receiving an undergraduate degree in 1974 in theatre design from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, Amy traveled along the East Coast as Barksdale Studio’s first woman school photographer. Subsequently, she attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where she received a master’s degree in social work in 1978.

Professionally, she worked at Circle Terrace Hospital’s inpatient alcoholism treatment program in Arlington, Virginia, before starting a private practice in addictions treatment, first in Washington, D.C., and then Kensington, Maryland. Later she expanded her practice to include couples work as an Imago-trained therapist and was active in the Mid-Atlantic Association for Imago Relationship Therapists.

Married to Minnesota native Dennis Allen Johnson on May 12, 1984, the couple moved from Washington, D.C. to Silver Spring where they had two children, Trevor Robertson Johnson and Victoria “Tory” Catherine Johnson.

In addition to her family, career and love for Shelter Island, Amy enjoyed musicals, genealogy, photography, British history and dogs — her childhood English springer spaniel, Tally, and later Mac, her golden retriever, and Bear, her Chesapeake Bay retriever — all enjoyed swimming on the Island as much as Amy.

Treated for breast cancer in 2007, she remained in remission until July 2014 when she was diagnosed with carcinoma of unknown primary and in September 2015 with carcinomatosis meningitis. She is survived by her husband, Dennis, and mother, Cathy, both of Silver Spring; son Trevor of New Haven, Connecticut, and daughter Tory, of Washington, D.C.

Interment will be at the Emily French Memorial Cemetery on the Island. The family requests gifts in her memory be sent to Friends of Mashomack Preserve, P.O. Box 850, Shelter Island, NY 11964 or to the Peconic Land Trust at peconiclandtrust.org/donate.

RAY EVANGELISTA

Raymond O. Evangelista

Ray Evangelista, age 62, loving husband, father and brother, passed away on November 27, 2015 at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Ray and his family resided in Hay Beach.

Ray first came to Shelter Island as a summer resident at the age of 9 years old and then lived here as a permanent resident for more than 20 years. He was born in Queens, New York and attended Brooklyn Polytechnic High School. He earned his bachelor of science in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1975. A certified professional engineer for many years, Ray was president of Prude Construction Corporation for several decades, a business that had been in existence for three generations.

He was an avid golfer, basketball and football player during his life. A longtime member of Gardiner’s Bay Country Club, where he began as a junior golfer during the tenure of Bob DeStefano as golf pro, Ray won a championship there as a teenager. He also enjoyed being an active member of the Downtown Athletic Club for several years.

Later in his life, Ray became a self-taught gourmet chef and hundreds of people here on the Island enjoyed his cuisine for many years. At one point, he even held cooking classes for young students at his home. He also loved karaoke and was known to host many karaoke parties, particularly at 9 o’clock on Saturdays.

Ray was known by many for his generosity, positive attitude, big heart and love of the Island. He was always there for his friends and even those he did not know, to offer his help in anyway he could. He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Prima Evangelista; daughters Sarah Evangelista (Washington, D.C.) and Bianca Evangelista (Shelter Island); and son Christopher Evangelista (Delray Beach, Florida); as well as by several siblings. He will be missed by many.

Memorial contributions can be made to two organizations that Ray supported: the Nancy DeStefano Junior Golf Foundation, make checks payable to Gardiner’s Bay Country Club “Nancy Byrne Fund” in the memo line, Gardiner’s Bay Country Club P.O. Box 3014, Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965; and the Shelter Island Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 1950, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Joseph Salsedo
Joseph Salsedo of Shelter Island, died on December 12, 2015. He was 87 years old.

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, December 17 from 7 to 9 p.m. and Friday, December 18 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Shelter Island Funeral Home.

The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, December 19 at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of the Isle Church with Father Peter DeSanctis officiating. Interment will be at Our Lady of the Isle Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Mashomack Preserve, P.O. Box 850, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

A complete obituary will appear in a future edition of the Reporter.

Paul A. Speeches
Paul A. Speeches of Shelter Island died on December 28, 2015.  He was 83 years old.

The family will receive friends on Wednesday, December 30 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the DeFriest-Grattan-Shelter Island Funeral Home at 23 West Neck Road.

The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of the Isle Church on Shelter Island.

Interment will follow at Our Lady of the Isle Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation, P.O. Box 547, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Or American Legion Mitchell Post 281, P.O. Box 2021,  Shelter Island, NY 11964.

A complete obituary will appear in a future edition of the Reporter.

Paul A. Speeches

Paul A. Speeches of Baldwin Road, one of the last of his generation to be born on Shelter Island, passed away peacefully at home on December 28.

The youngest of seven brothers and sisters, Paul was born to Charles and Adele Speeches in 1932 in the family farmhouse, “Beauty View,” that still stands on Manwaring Road.

According to the family, Paul’s parents were hard working farmers, harvesting fruits and vegetables and rows of cutting flowers that were sold to Birdseye and at the family farmstand. All seven children worked on the 26-acre farm.

After high school, Paul enlisted in the U.S. Navy. His ship, the USS Oriskany was the first aircraft carrier to sail completely around the tip of South America. During his four years in the Navy he visited ports in Japan, Korea, China and South America.

At a port in San Francisco, a young Doris Day was shooting a movie. During a break, Paul asked if she would join him and his friend for breakfast. Surprisingly, she obliged. Years later Paul’s son, Tom, wrote to her in California to see if she remembered the meeting with his father. She acknowledged the occasion and responded with a personal note to Paul, along with a signed photograph that Paul cherished for many years.

In the Navy, Paul’s interest gravitated to anything mechanical, electrical, and aeronautical, interests he would pursue throughout his life.

Paul returned to the Island when he was 22, after serving in the Korean conflict.

Several years later he was set up on a blind date by his friends, Bobby and Sue Clark, and met his future wife, Eileen Neville.

In 1955 they were married in Eileen’s hometown of Williston Park. They lived in Farmingdale where Paul took a job with the Republic Aviation Company. For a little over a year he built compressors for the Atomic Energy Commission.

As soon as he could, his family said, he took Eileen back to Shelter Island. “Oh, I knew I was coming back one way or three” Paul said time and time again. “Country boy, it’s in your blood.”

Over the years, Paul had many jobs and loved every one of them, his family remembered. He was never out of work.

Paul worked for L. C. McGayhey Plumbing Company and was one of two police constables on the Island.

During his four years with the police department he described the Island as “gorgeous and quiet. In those days you would help someone instead of arresting them, that was just the way it was.”

Paul also worked as superintendent at Westmoreland Farms for James and Margaret Roe, where the Speeches family lived happily for many years. In addition Paul worked for Grumman Aerospace, making parts for the lunar excursion module at the Sag Harbor factory, and also worked for South Ferry.

In addition, Paul worked for the Shelter Island Highway Department for over 23 years, responsible for maintenance in and out of the shop. He happily plowed snow and often spoke on how beautiful his Island was after a fresh snowfall. Paul retired from the department in 1994.

Among his list of hobbies was a love of automobiles. In 2005, he found a disheveled body of a 1926 Model T in the backyard of a Southampton home. Within a year he purchased and meticulously restored the Ford to museum quality with the help of Freddie Ogar.

The car would carry many brides and grooms on their wedding days, and now resides at the Shelter Island car museum.

Paul also began flying planes. Instead of buying one, decided to build one.

He bought a derelict Aeronca 7AC Champ and Frankie Klen helped to restore the two-seater to mint condition. He named the plane “Paul’s Dream.”

Paul and Eileen would fly the plane all over the East End, Connecticut and Martha’s Vineyard, his family said.

Friends and family remember one winter’s day when he and  Bobby Clark, decided to take a spin around the Island in the plane.

Just as they reached Hay Beach, the engine froze and Paul guided the plane back to Klenawicus Field with nothing propelling the craft but the wind underneath the wings. Trying to avoid the kids skating on Lily Pond, Paul maneuvered his way to the airstrip. When he attempted to land, the cold air kept the plane from touching the ground. By this time Paul would recall, Bobby, was “white as a ghost.”

Twirling like a kite in the air, Paul finally managed to set his plane down after a number of spins and drops, with spectators applauding. “It was dangerous” Paul admitted later to his family. “But it was fun.”

The wind also propelled Paul’s homemade iceboat winter after winter on Coecles Harbor with other Island ice boaters who also enjoyed the sport.

Paul was a true Harelegger, his family said, who could tell enough stories to fill a book. He even claimed to know the “original” meaning behind the term that describes Island-born residents.

For 70 cents, he and friends could go round-trip on the North Ferry and watch a movie in Greenport.

Unfortunately, the ferry stopped at 11 p.m. and if a movie went longer, Islanders could be seen running like “Texas jack rabbits” to catch the last boat. Paul said he wasn’t sure if the ferrymen or Greenport residents provided the nickname but he was sure that this was how the term “Harelegger” came to be.

Whether you knew Paul for 50 years or five minutes, his family said, you couldn’t escape the charm and wit of this Island icon. He has contributed more than he was willing to admit to the place he always called home.

Paul’s wife, Eileen, pre-deceased him in 2003. He is survived by his three children; Kathleen Sullivan, Thomas P. Speeches and Debra Speeches; sons-in-law Ted Sullivan and Robert Westover; grandchildren Brandi, Hap, Catherine and Emma Bowditch, Tanya and Jeremy Schmid and four great-grandchildren. Also survivng are Tracy Bowditch and Thomas Johnston.

A Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of the Isle Roman Catholic Church was celebrated on December 31 by Father Peter DeSanctis, Paul’s friend for over 40 years.

Interment followed at the Speeches family plot at Our Lady of the Isle Cemetery.

The family requests that donations be made to the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation, P.O. Box 547, Shelter Island, NY 11964 or the American Legion Mitchell Post 281, P.O Box 2021, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Benjamin Franklin Jones

Benjamin Franklin Jones
Benjamin Franklin Jones, beloved husband, father, grandfather, first responder and friend, died on January 14, 2016 in Stuart, Florida.

The son of the late Judge Benjamin F. Jones Sr. and the late Mabel Stevens Jones, Ben was born in Orange, New Jersey on September 21, 1922.

Ben grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey and graduated from Columbia High School in 1940. He attended Dartmouth College in the class of 1944. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army. His first post was an engineering program at the University of Idaho where he met Betty Jane Thompson. They married in Columbus, Georgia on October 14, 1944, while Ben was stationed at Fort Benning, immediately prior to his overseas assignment, fighting with General George Patton’s Third Army, 71st Division.

In civilian life, Ben joined the Monarch Life Insurance Company in New York City where he rose from field underwriter to managing his own agency in Cleveland, Ohio in 1953. During his rise, he was the company’s first agent to underwrite $1 million of insurance in a single year and among its 35 top underwriters. In the early 1960s he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts as vice president of agency operations, later becoming president and CEO and, ultimately, chairman of Monarch.

After a 40-year career with Monarch, Ben pursued a lifetime interest as a first responder. He and Betty were trained as emergency medical technicians at Springfield College and Ben continued his training in the first class of paramedics at the college. He began this second career as a volunteer in Springfield and, later, on Shelter Island and in Stuart, Florida. Social media has documented the highs and lows of his experience, which included serving a dying police officer and delivering 11 babies.

He was awarded the James O. Page Charitable Foundation Special Lifetime Achievement Award in EMS by the Journal of Emergency Medical Services in 2013 in Washington, D.C. In the nomination presentation, it was noted “… he could have retired very comfortably. But he wanted to make a difference, a real difference, in people’s lives.”

To that end, he never went anywhere without a second vehicle, a green Chevy pickup, so he could respond without stranding family members away from home. His standard apparel always included at least three radios or pagers.

Ben was always community-minded and his first responder service continued on the Island with the American Red Cross Ambulance and, later, with the Island’s EMS organization. Fundraising was an important part of his service to the ambulance, as was maintaining the highest state of readiness and most current technology.

He participated with the Shelter Island Red Cross team that was dispatched to Ground Zero in New York City on 9/11 and was one of the oldest paramedics in the country to serve there. Hurricane Sandy did not stop him from assisting in transporting a 92-year-old patient to Southampton Hospital in spite of 80-knot winds, huge tides and the need to commandeer a pickup truck to board the South Ferry.

Ben was the grandson of a Methodist minister who led retreats in the Heights in the 1880s. Ben’s father later bought several properties on the Island, but after he died in 1935, Ben’s mother was unable to pay the taxes. Most of the property was taken over by the bank, but the family managed to keep a cottage on Summerfield Place. That cottage was rented out every summer for much needed income and it fell to young Ben to manage the rental property, a task he didn’t particularly enjoy.

In spite of his teenage thoughts, the Island became part of Ben’s DNA. He waded into the bays to pick scallops, dig for clams and to even swim to Greenport. He loved fishing from his boat, the B&B, with his fishing buddies, greeting folks on the ferry, playing golf and tennis, running in the 10K, attending Union Chapel in the Grove and meeting friends for drinks and good cheer.

Off-Island, his personal achievements and goals included earning a third degree black belt in karate, completing the Boston Marathon and being accepted for the New York Marathon. He was also an accomplished skier from his days at Dartmouth and he shared his joy on the slopes with every member of his family.

Ben is survived by his wife of 71 years, Betty Jane; his three children, son, Douglas Jones and his wife Cindy Carter of Ellsworth, Maine, his two daughters, Susan Jones and her husband, Ted Clark, of Ithaca, New York and Nancy Jones of Somers, Connecticut; and five granddaughters: Alison Bearer and her husband Greg of Rochester, New York, Holland Perry and her husband Anthony of Ellington, Connecticut, Marleigh Cox of Somers, Connecticut, Phoebe Clark of Amherst, Massachusetts and Nora Vance of Ithaca, New York; and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Elizabeth Crandall, and husband, Charles, of Shelter Island and Maplewood, New Jersey. Very important people in Ben’s life were dear friends Wayne and Roxanne Duffy of Stuart, Florida.

A memorial service honoring the life of Benjamin Franklin Jones will be scheduled on Shelter Island when warmer weather returns.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 547, Shelter Island, NY 11964 or to Union Chapel in the Grove, P.O. Box 326, Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965.

Patricia Moser Shillingburg

Patricia Moser Shillingburg
Patricia Moser Shillingburg, 73, loving wife, mother, community volunteer and local historian, passed away on January 14, 2016 in her home on Shelter Island.

Patricia was born January 10, 1943 in Summit, New Jersey, daughter of Richard Goodwin and Alice (House) Moser. The youngest of three children, she grew up in Summit, attending Kent Place School and graduated from the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut.

Her mother’s family’s presence on Shelter Island began in the late 1870s, and the Mosers followed the Houses’ tradition.

Patricia grew up summering on the Island, sailing at the Yacht Club and swimming at the Beach Club.

She attended Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965. She majored in Russian history, travelling to the Soviet Union under Khrushchev, a trip she would later encourage her daughter, Emily, to make in 1989. Patricia’s love for history and political science continued throughout her life.

In the 1960s, she was in Washington, D.C. and worked in the news, health and hospitality industries. In Washington she was set up on a blind date with Edward. The two were married in Short Hills, New Jersey in 1967.

They settled first in Washington, D.C. and Hartsdale, New York, before moving to Summit and then South Orange, New Jersey, where they raised their children. Patricia served on the boards of various New Jersey organizations for developmental disabilities, including on the New Jersey State Board of Human Services.

Their oldest, Lillian, was born with severe disabilities, and Patricia spent more than 20 years championing the rights of disabled children and adults for education and support services, focusing on opening doors of institutions and integrating individuals into communities.

To that end, in 1980, she founded Our House, Inc., to secure single family homes and apartments as residential housing for developmentally disabled adults across suburban New Jersey. The New Providence residence was one of the first four acquisitions, into which Lillian moved about five years later. Our House has since grown and flourished to 37 residences and several day programs.

Patricia encouraged her children to pursue their passions. Donald received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College, then Master’s degrees from Columbia, Cambridge and Princeton universities. He is now practicing architecture in London and New York City.

Emily earned her Bachelor of Arts from New York University, and Master’s from Goucher College. She works in federal heritage programs in Washington, D.C., focusing on historic preservation and archaeology on public lands and related museum collections, as well as repatriation of Native American ancestors and cultural property.

Patricia often strove to connect people with the unfamiliar. In the 1980s, she authored a series of books to help children and adults use computers, as Apple II Plus and IBM personal computers were first making their way into households.

In 1987, she wrote the “Best of the North Fork.”

In 1999 Patricia and Edward moved to Shelter Island full-time, where Edward continued his law practice and Patricia and took up the challenge of researching and writing local history.

Patricia was an active member of the community; she identified issues and brought people together to find solutions. Civic engagement included the Deer and Tick Committee, the Town Ferry Committee; Working Families and Island Action lines; Shelter Island Housing Options, Inc.; Sustainable East End Development Strategies; East End Transportation Commission; and Five Town Rural Transit. For 15 years, she served on the Shelter Island Zoning Board of Appeals. She also raised $100,000 for renovating St. Mary’s rectory.

In 2012, Patricia chaired the 2012 Shelter Island House Tour and Flower Show, and served as chairwoman for three house tours to benefit the Shelter Island Historical Society, all of which were smashing successes. The 2012 House Tour and Flower

Show book was nationally recognized by the Federation of Garden Clubs.

An avid flower arranger, Patricia often won awards for her designs. Her name is etched in many silver dishes from the Garden Club for her winning arrangements over the years. She would share her design and technique “secrets” with anyone who asked, meaning more of us can enjoy her lovely and bright style of flower arrangements.

A true friend, she looked after those close to her, always supportive with a kind word, a gentle nudge, a thought shared in confidence.

Patricia is survived by her husband of 49 years, J. Edward Shillingburg; children Lillian Chisholm Shillingburg of New Providence, New Jersey, Donald Harrison Shillingburg (Petra) of London and Emily Shillingburg Palus (Matthew) of Hyattsville, Maryland; and four grandchildren, June Alice and Poppy Dare Shillingburg and Emmett James and Matilda Dare Palus.

The family plans a memorial this June.

Contributions in her honor may be made to the Shelter Island Historical Society, P.O. Box 847, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Darryl R. Dickerson

Darryl Ray Dickerson
Darryl R. Dickerson, 61, longtime resident of Shelter Island, passed peacefully at St. Catherine’s of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, on January 30, 2016.

He was born on July 23, 1954 in Greenport, the third son of George John and Frances (Cartwright) Dickerson. Darryl grew up on Coecles Harbor in the old Cartwright house on Willow Lane. He attended Shelter Island Union Free School (K-12) and graduated with the rather large class of 1972. Following high school, he attended Daniel Webster College in Nashua, New Hampshire and upon graduation became an FAA Air Traffic Controller. He was then employed as a Control Tower Supervisor at the tower in Groton, Connecticut.

Darryl was an avid fisherman and fished the waters of Shelter Island for most of his life. Additionally, he made numerous fishing trips with his father, “Captain” George, to Cutty Hunk, Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, Montauk, Florida and the Caribbean.

As an Islander, he was bound to become one of those great Dickerson golfers and could easily win rounds of golf played with his older brothers. It has also been reported by reliable sources that, more than once, he took a few bucks off the great Captain George.

Darryl owned a Citabria (airbatic spelled backwards) single engine airplane for several years. He kept the plane in Waterford, Connecticut and at Klenawicus Field on Shelter Island. Captain George, a B-17 pilot, would ride in the co-pilot seat while teaching Darryl how to perform aerobatics, including rolls, loops, crazy eights, stalls and dives over Gardiner’s Bay often with the wheels nearly touching the water.

His brothers remember the time when Darryl and his brother Dave were flying his Citabria across the Sound from Groton to Shelter Island when Captain George and his other brother Doug showed up in a Cessna 150. Captain George informed Darryl they were going to fly a wing tip-to-wing tip “formation” back home to Klenawicus Field. Dave and Doug remember Darryl flying less than 1 foot off his father’s wing tip.

Darryl loved to snow ski, a skill he learned while attending college in New Hampshire. Captain George took him on numerous ski trips, the most memorable being in Austria.

In his later years, challenged with declining health, his avocation became keeping track of the weather as well as, “all of the goings on” on Shelter Island. He developed the traits of pilots and sea captains always listening to the weather radio and observing the atmospheric conditions.

He loved to tell stories of current events on the Island and he would conclude these stories with a smile, a little wink and a joyous laugh. Darryl could be seen on his electric bike with his dog tagging along. More than anything, he loved growing up on Shelter Island, he loved the people of the Island and they loved him.

Darryl is survived by his sister Dawn Dickerson; brothers and their spouses Douglas and Patricia Dickerson and David and Susan Dickerson; his step-mother Marion Dickerson; step-sister Chris Ogar; step-sisters and spouses Ginny and Barry Thornton and Valerie and Radoje Spasojevic; nephews and nieces and their spouses Sean and Amanda Dickerson, Mike and Noelle Oberg, Marc and Chris Riemann, Nate and Heidi Hogan, Craig and Amy Johnson, Thomas and Laurel Viens and 10 great-nephews and great-nieces.

Arrangements are with the Shelter Island Funeral Home. Calling hours will be 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, February 5. The funeral service will be at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 6. Interment will take place at the Shelter Island Cemetery immediately following the funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation, P.O. Box 547, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Robert J. Allen

Robert J. Allen
Robert J. Allen, who spent summers with his family on Shelter Island since the 1970s, died at home in New York City on February 22, 2016.

Born in Flushing in 1930, Bob was a life-long New Yorker. He attended All Hallows High School in Brooklyn and graduated from Villanova University in 1951. After attending officer candidate school in New London, Connecticut, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy for three years during the Korean War. He spent his free time on board ship taking correspondence courses in journalism and art history and later earned a degree in philosophy from St. Paul College in Washington.

Returning to New York after the war, Bob worked as a co-producer of religious programs that aired on CBS-TV while completing a master’s in communications at New York University. In 1968 he joined the staff at PBS Channel 13 and then joined the Communications Department at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey where he taught for the next 35 years.

During his time at Seton Hall, Bob completed his Ph.D. at NYU and, especially on sabbaticals, wrote and produced educational films on a variety of subjects. He was most proud of a 13-part series titled: “Japan: The Living Tradition,” which was rerun on PBS for many years.

In 1962, Bob married Mary Elizabeth Holt of Ottawa, Canada. Their daughters, Barrie and Jennifer, were born in the 1960s. The family has always lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but Bob had visited friends on Shelter Island as a youth, prompting the family to summer here in 1970. Having fallen in love with the Island, Bob and Mary bought land on Serpentine Drive and built a home there that they lived in ever since.

Bob is survived by his wife, Mary Holt Allen, daughters Barrie and Jennifer Allen, grandchildren Nathan Wilson, Sarah, Phoebe and Leah Allen-Cheng and son-in-law Peter Cheng. Bob’s daughters have summered here every year since 1970 and his grandchildren have all called the Island their second home since birth. Also surviving are sisters Margaret Murphy and Mary Bock and brother William B. Allen, their spouses and many nephews and nieces.

Alice Kaasik

Alice Kaasik
Alice Kaasik, known as Ollie to family and friends, passed away on Friday, February 19, 2016 at the Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in Manhattan. She was 62.

Alice was born on April 17, 1953 in West Islip to Evi and Joannes Kaasik, immigrants from Estonia who met in New York City and fell in love at first sight. Alice was the second of seven children.

Her parents and family moved to Shelter Island in 1967 where she graduated from high school in 1971. From here she went to Europe and studied psychology and graduated with a degree from the prestigious University of Helsinki in Finland.

She moved back to the U.S. in 1978 and settled in Pennsylvania.

Alice had a thirst for knowledge and enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia where she gained another degree in accounting. She then became the comptroller at the Women’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

In 1990, she felt she needed a change and took a position at the McClanahan Book Company in New York City. McClanahan went on to be one of the fastest growing children’s book publishers in the country.

In 1995, she briefly formed her own company, The Happy Bookkeeper. She was also employed for more than 20 years by Poets House and Bentley Meeker Lighting and Staging. She rarely took a vacation and not a single sick day until she became gravely ill. Both employers were at her bedside a few weeks ago, intensely loyal to her as she was to them.

The Happy Bookkeeper was the perfect name, family members said, since Alice made a point of being happy. She believed in it. She could always find the bright side of any situation (and make you feel better) and the good in almost every person, her family said.

She was gregarious, chatting freely with everyone she met. One friend remembers pushing Alice in a wheelchair down 14th Street: Ollie was greeted every few feet all the way across town by shopkeepers, residents, homeless people. Everyone knew her. She was so much at home in this world, her friend said, that she could make you feel at home, too.

She delighted in small pleasures: good friends, a bountiful yard sale or her chores. In the words of one of her colleagues, Ollie “was all vitality and pleasure and joy, in anything she did. A highlight of working with her was watching Ollie eat an orange, waving the rind to christen the air before she got to it. She took the time. Ollie taught me to focus on delight. What a treasure.”

In 2006, Ollie met the love of her life, Andrew Wainwright, a man she called her Santa Claus. In June 2013, they were married in a beautiful ceremony at the Manhanset Chapel.

She loved music, dancing and acting. Island residents may remember her performances in “Lively Ladies.” She taught herself to juggle and became Roony the Clown. She encouraged her husband Andrew to become a professional Santa, often appearing at his side as Mrs. Claus.

Ollie was a magic aunt to her nieces and nephews, who she cherished and adored. Family was always the cornerstone of her life. But wherever she went she made life-long friends, the grand attraction, the center of gravity in every community or space she entered.
Alice was predeceased by her mother Evi in 1981 and father Joannes in 2006.

In addition to her husband, Andrew, she leaves behind sisters Marian, Marika (Bill) and Veronica; brothers John (Anu), Karl and Marcus (Eda); nieces Evi Rose, Johanna, Katrina, Lisa and Serina; and nephews John, Nicholas and Phil.

There will be a gathering in  honor this Sunday, March 13, at 1:15 p.m. at Middle Collegiate Church, 50 East 7th Street (entrance on 2nd Avenue) in Manhattan.

Also, there will be a memorial service on Sunday, June 26, 2016 at the Manhanset Chapel.

Jeffrey R. Simes
Former Shelter Island Town Supervisor Jeffrey R. Simes of Margate, Florida, passed away on February 4, 2016. He was 74.

He was remembered by his family as a wonderful husband, brother, son and father who excelled in all these roles and laid the foundation for generations to come in modeling the way in life and in death.

Jeff was the oldest of four children of Henry and Barbara Simes. He grew up on the Island where he attended Shelter Island School though high school. Jeff held a variety of occupations throughout his life, including serving as a lead mechanic in the United States Air Force, a lead mechanic with Pan American Airlines, a police officer and chief, town supervisor, a commercial fisherman and — his favorite role — a thoroughbred horse owner and breeder.

Jeff was an extraordinary brother, his family said, to three wonderful sisters, Jane, Marty and Tina. As the oldest, he was a rock of support during the tougher times and a ray of sunshine during the great times.
He was married in 1966 to Estelle Simes whom he loved more than any words could express, his family recalled.

Those looking at it from the outside often said it was a true marriage made in heaven. Jeff and Estelle spent an extraordinary, happy life together laughing and enjoying every minute they had together.

Proud parent of three children, David, Robert and Craig, Jeff thoroughly loved being a father doing everything from coaching baseball, playing golf and finding time to just hang out and have a glass of Merlot with his family.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Estelle; his three sons, David (Suzanna), Robert (Nona) and Craig (Sara); and grandchildren Emma, Alex, Luke, Megan and Wyatt.

Julia Sturges O’Connor

Julia Sturges O’Connor, 90, of Bronxville, New York and Shelter Island died peacefully in hospice care at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville on April 12, 2016.

Predeceased by her husband of nearly 65 years, Robert Hartley O’Connor, Julie, as she was also known, is survived by her sister Cary S. Burns of Rye, New York; her former sister-in-law, Joan S. Russo of Canaan, Connecticut and Shelter Island; children Sandra D. O’Connor (Edwin Hydeman) of New York and Shelter Island, Russell H. O’Connor of Cody, Wyoming, and Linda Casertano (Drew) of Millbrook, New York and Weekapaug, Rhode Island; and grandsons Alexander Casertano (Renee) of Larkspur, California, Tyler Casertano (Annie) and their son McCauley Casertano of Washington, D.C., and William Casertano of New York. Her brother Perry MacKay Sturges Jr. predeceased her.

A daughter of avid sailors, Perry MacKay Sturges and Julia Green Sturges, who met on the Island, Julie grew up in Princeton, New Jersey.

She attended Miss Fine’s School and Milton Academy and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1948. She met Bob on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend of their fathers. They were married in 1950. While raising their children in Newington, Connecticut, in Loudonville, New York and on Shelter Island, Julie volunteered for countless organizations. An avid needleworker, gardener, tennis and paddle tennis player, golf was her passion.

A resident of Bronxville for 41 years, Julie was a member of the Bronxville Field Club and Christ Church, Bronxville, where she served on the altar guild for 40 years. A summer resident of the Island since 1961, she was a member of Gardiner’s Bay Country Club, where she was a staunch supporter of women’s golf for over 40 years. She made her fourth of four life-time holes in one at age 75 in a Gardiner’s Bay Country Club Pro-Am tournament that her team won.

She was also a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on the Island and the Garden Club of Shelter Island, of which her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Thomas D. Green, was a founding member. She was a former member of the Shelter Island Yacht Club.

Julie spent childhood summers at the Sturges home on Nostrand Parkway, which had been in her family since 1903. Her maternal grandparents, Thomas D. and Julia D. Green, also had a summer home on the Island — on Divinity Hill. She and Bob and their children visited family on the Island throughout the 1950s. Julie became the new owner of the Sturges home in 1960.

They joined the Shelter Island Yacht Club and rebuilt the Sturges clay tennis court, which would be the scene of hours of friendly, competitive mixed doubles, men’s doubles, ladies doubles and family tennis through the years. Julie crewed for Bob in their Wood Pussy and in their Lightning in the Yacht Club’s one design series and in his Princess class 27 foot sloop.

Last summer Julie’s beloved Island was just the place for her to continue her recovery from abdominal surgery. She played golf with her devoted friend Connie Fischer, among others, attended Bucks games, Perlman Music Program performances, Garden Club meetings and St. Mary’s services and visited with family and friends on her front porch with its views of Southold Bay.

The funeral will be held at Christ Church, Bronxville, on Saturday, April 30, at 1 p.m. with a reception immediately following the service. A private interment will take place this summer in St. Joseph’s Memorial Garden at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to New York-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital, Development Dept., 55 Palmer Avenue PH4, Bronxville, NY 10708; Christ Church, 17 Sagamore Road, Bronxville, NY 10708; or St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, P.O. 1660, Shelter Island, NY 11964.

Alice Louise Schneider

Alice Louise Schneider, of Southampton and Shelter Island, died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 7 after a brief illness. She was 87.

Born in Astoria, Queens, on September 1, 1928, she was the sixth of seven children of Frederick Schneider and the former Elsa Kruger. Her parents were descendants of the founding families of Lindenhurst.

Alice attended P.S. 70 in Astoria until 1937, when her family moved to Jamaica Estates, and then graduated from Jamaica High and Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.

Alice enjoyed a career of over 30 years working for Standard Oil (later Exxon) as an administrator in its Manhattan headquarters, first in shareholder relations, then in the law department and in public affairs.

An enthusiastic world traveler, she became the first woman to be sent on foreign assignment for the firm when she helped to relocate the Esso East division to Hong Kong.

In 1983 she opted for early retirement and moved with three of her siblings to the East End, changing to a lifestyle with more emphasis on the outdoors. She enjoyed biking, walking, golf and canoeing, and tried to swim as many days as possible from late May until early October.

An avid volunteer and community activist, Alice was a member of the Women’s Republican Club and the Southampton Study Club. She volunteered for the American Cancer Society, assisted in the founding of the Southampton Artists Association, and served on the board of the Combined Veterans Organizations, helping to raise funds for the Fourth of July parade.

As Crescent Beach became more thronged with visitors each year, Alice and her brother Hank worked to ensure that residents would have 24/7 parking spaces. Ms. Schneider attended the Hamptons United Methodist Church in Southampton and was a trustee of the Union Chapel in the Grove on the Island.

In addition to her community activities, she was the main caregiver for four of her siblings in their final years.

Alice was preceded in death by three brothers, Fred, Hank and Ralph; and three sisters, Helen, Mildred, and Ruth. She is survived by three nieces, Jean Curcuru and husband Anthony, and Janet Young and husband Tony Hilliard, and Diane Young, all of Massachusetts; a great-nephew, Gregory Moses and his children Savanna and Tariq; a great-niece, Stephanie Blanchard, husband Joe, and daughter Adelina, all of Massachusetts; and several cousins.

Visiting hours will take place at the Brockett Funeral Home, 203 Hampton Road, Southampton, on Monday, June 13, from 9 to 11 a.m. Burial at Pinelawn Memorial Park will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Road, Southampton, NY 11968.