Louise Nielsen
Louise H. Nielsen was devoted to her family and her animals, all right, but she was also, one of her daughters said, a real Bronx girl. She loved anything pertaining to that borough, the Yankees in particular, and she didn’t miss a game.
Friends from James Monroe High School in the Bronx, from which she graduated, remembered that she was beautiful and had a beautiful singing voice. After their formal reunions had ended, Mrs. Nielsen and former classmates continued to get together to play cards and argue politics at her house on Twin Pond Lane in Montauk. She died there on Monday at the age of 83 after a long illness.
Born to John Edward Parker and the former Ragnhild Larsen on Sept. 22, 1926, she also attended P.S. 77 in the Bronx. When she was a child her family spent summers on a boat in Northport. Sally Nielsen Glogg, the youngest of her daughters, said her mother was crazy about Frank Sinatra and would go to the Paramount to watch him even before he became famous. In later years she liked to play the New York Lottery’s Take Five.
She and Alfred F. Nielsen were married on Nov. 26, 1950. He was a lifeguard at Hither Hills in Montauk, and after they married they stayed at Hither Hills in the summers before moving to Montauk for good.
Mr. Nielsen and Eugene Haas owned the Beachcomber Motel, and then Mr. Nielsen bought property next door, where he built the Twin Pond Motel in the early 1960s. Reluctantly at first, Mrs. Nielsen came to run the business, from the front office and the people to the room cleaning. Many guests returned year after year, as, later, did their grown children, who told her they had spent the best summers of their lives in the small motel on a hill across from the ocean.
Mrs. Nielsen was a founding member and volunteer at the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, during whose early days she and Annie Houseknecht, also of Montauk, would organize cake sales to raise money for the care of homeless animals. In the early 1970s, Mrs. Nielsen worked for the East Hampton Town clerk, Andy Anderson, a job that led to one in dog enumeration and then as a dog warden for the town.
She also looked after wild cats, including those living in her yard and at the Montauk recycling center, feeding, rehabilitating, and trying to find homes for them.
“She instilled in all her children such a love of animals,” Ms. Nielsen Glogg said, “that they all drive around with a big bag of Cat Chow.”
Mrs. Nielsen is survived by three daughters and one son: Katherine Havlik of East Hampton, Jeanne Nielsen of Amagansett, Sally Nielsen Glogg of Montauk, and Robert Nielsen, also of Montauk. She also leaves a granddaughter, Kimberly Louise Havlik of East Hampton. Another daughter, Nancy Nielsen, died in 1989, and Mr. Nielsen died in 1997. A brother, John E. Parker, and a sister, Eleanor Scholfield, also predeceased her.
A service will be held at noon on Saturday at the Montauk Community Church, the Rev. Ann Stewart Miller presiding. Burial will be at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk.
Donations have been suggested to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978, the Montauk Fire Department Ambulance Company, 12 Flamingo Avenue, Montauk, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, 800 Cherokee Avenue SE, Atlanta 30315-1440, or the Ginny Fund, P.O. Box 967, Long Beach, N.Y. 11561. V.G.
Camille J. Cafiso, 73
She was a familiar face along Main Street, walking briskly down the street two times a day, several miles a day. Camille J. Cafiso, who spent most of her life in East Hampton, died unexpectedly at Southampton Hospital on Jan. 26. She was 73.
She walked like she was on a mission, a daughter, Catherine Cafiso of East Hampton, said yesterday. During her walks, which began near Hook Mill or the I.G.A. parking lot on North Main Street, she would be stopped regularly for directions. Her daughter said that her mother would joke that she should work for the chamber of commerce.
Her twice-a-day walks would end at Main Beach, and she was known to village and town workers who watched her walk each day.
Family was her top priority. Her three grandchildren remembered that she loved to play children’s board games with them. “She would play for hours,” her daughter said. In addition to her grandchildren, she took two local children under her wing and treated them like her own grandchildren. She also loved to do a crossword puzzle or catch a soap opera on TV.
Ms. Cafiso attended Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church every day and worried about missing a day, her daughter said.
She was born on July 23, 1937, the daughter of Dominic Cardoso and the former Lena Fiorelli. She moved to East Hampton from the Bronx when she was 8 years old, and attended the Springs School. She met her husband, Vincent Cafiso Sr., after graduating from East Hampton High School. Mr. Cafiso died in 1992.
Ms. Cafiso is survived by another daughter, Lorraine Fiigon of Fort Myers, Fla., and a son, Vincent Cafiso Jr. of East Meadow. She is also survived by two brothers, Anthony Ricci and Dominic Cardoso, both of East Hampton, and three grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Friday at Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A Mass was held on Saturday at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, followed by burial in the church cemetery.
The family has asked that memorial donations be made to the East Hampton Ambulance Association, 1 Cedar Street, East Hampton 11937, and Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 79 Buell Lane, East Hampton 11937.
Leslie Edward Frank
Leslie Edward Frank, a bicyclist, nature lover, and artist, died at home on Copeces Lane in Springs on Sunday of a heart attack. He was 71.
He leaves his wife, the former Linda Sindlinger, as well as his children from his first marriage, Robin Frank Marcus of North Massapequa and Eric Frank of Forest Hills. Two grandchildren and his sister, Janice Noll of Napa, Calif., also survive.
An interfaith service was held yesterday at the Springs Community Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Tony Larson and Cantor Debra Stein officiating. Burial followed at Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon. Mr. Frank had lived in Massapequa and Seagate.
He was born in Brooklyn on Dec. 13, 1938, the son of Eli Frank and the former Edith Lyman. He attended Charles Evans Hughes High School in New York City and studied textile design at the Straubenmuller Textile High School and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He served in the Army and was honorably discharged in 1965.
At the time of his retirement in 2005, he was a sales manager with the Arley Corporation, a textile manufacturer specializing in curtains, draperies, rugs, and comforters.
His wife said that her husband loved nature, especially the year-round beauty of the Hamptons, and that he treasured the 175-gallon tank that held his “beautiful collection” of saltwater fish.
Memorial donations were suggested for the Springs Community Presbyterian Church, 5 Old Stone Highway, East Hampton 11937.
John M. Ring, 87
John M. Ring died at home on Shadyrest Drive in Noyac on Tuesday. He was 87.
Mr. Ring enjoyed playing a round at the Sag Harbor Golf Club, just off Route 114, and was playing golf there until he became sick about a year and a half ago, his wife, Jane Ring, said. “He loved it. All of his buddies played there. He would go constantly.”
The couple moved to Noyac about 26 years ago, after Mr. Ring retired as the vice president of Williamsburgh Savings Bank in Brooklyn in the early 1980s. He had been with the bank for almost 40 years.
Mr. Ring was born in Brooklyn on March 16, 1922, to Alphonse G. Ring and the former Marie Mallon. He graduated from St. Augustine’s School and attended Fordham University, before going into the Army in 1942. He served in World War II, and was discharged in 1945.
He married the former Jane Fearon on May 3, 1947, and they settled in Plainview, where they raised five children, all of whom survive. His daughters are Marie Levins of East Northport, Noel Ring of Noyac, Elizabeth Ring of Roswell, Ga., and Jane Coppola of Scotia, N.Y. His sons are Michael Ring of LaCanada, Calif., and Gerard Ring of Montclair, N.J. Sixteen grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, two nieces, and one nephew also survive.
Visiting hours will be held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass will be said at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor tomorrow at 11 a.m.
The family has suggested that donations be made to Dominican Sisters Family Health Service, 103-6 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays 11946, or East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.
Ruth Lester Denton
Ruth Lester Denton, a true East Hampton local who was the daughter of a haulseiner, Theodore Lester, and a member of the Bennett family, Jennie Bennett, died of renal failure at Southampton Hospital on Jan. 25. She was 71, and had been ill with diabetes and kidney and heart disease for over a dozen years.
Mrs. Denton was one of six children. She was born on Sept. 18, 1938, on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett. Her family moved to Cross Highway in Amagansett, where Montauk Seafood, the family business, was also located.
Mrs. Denton “spent an enormous amount of time with her family,” said her son, Dwayne Denton of Springs. After attending the Amagansett School and graduating from East Hampton High School in 1956, she married Robert Denton, the brother of a girlfriend, on Sept. 22 of that year.
Besides Dwayne Denton, the couple had a baby boy, William Nathaniel, who died in infancy. They lived on Old Stone Highway in Springs near other members of the Denton family.
Mrs. Denton worked as a bookkeeper at Glennon Buick-Cadillac in Southampton, her son said, and at the Napa Auto Parts store.
Beginning in 1979, she was an active member of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Mr. Denton led a branch of the church that met in the Neighborhood House in East Hampton, while his wife was president of the church’s relief society. When the East Hampton branch discontinued meetings, the couple attended services every Sunday in Riverhead.
She loved to crochet, and enjoyed traveling, taking trips with her husband to Pennsylvania Dutch country, and to visit her sisters in Florida. Mr. Denton predeceased his wife in 1996.
Her son said that she stepped in as a caregiver and took care of his two daughters when their mother died.
A 24-year member of the Amagansett Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, she served as the group’s secretary for eight years.
Besides her son, Mrs. Denton is survived by two sisters, Sally Lafoe of Inverness, Fla., and Gloria Willer, also of Florida. Three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren also survive, as does a daughter-in-law, Susan Denton, who cared for her for years while she was ill.
A wake was held last week at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton, and a service took place last Thursday at the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Steven Howarth presiding. Burial was at Green River Cemetery in Springs.
The family has suggested memorial contributions to the Amagansett Fire Department Ambulance Company, P.O. Box 911, Amagansett 11939, or to the department’s Ladies Auxiliary.
Henry Edward Metz, 88
“Every time he saw me, he called me his baby girl,” Mary Grady, a daughter of Henry Edward Metz, said yesterday. The two share the same birthday. “Now I have no one to call me baby girl,” she said. Mr. Metz, who was 88, died in Florida of congestive heart failure on Jan. 14.
“He was a gem,” Ms. Grady said. Mr. Metz loved fishing and would often take Ms. Grady and her sister, Robin Metz, fishing off the Gann Road dock in Springs on Friday nights during their childhood. Along with fishing, Mr. Metz enjoyed boating, gardening, and playing cards.
Before moving to Deltona, Fla., over 20 years ago, Mr. Metz lived in the Wainscott house his father built.
Mr. Metz was born on June 25, 1921, to Samuel Metz and the former Claudia Coleman in Columbia, S.C. He grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., and served in the United States Army during World War II in Germany. Upon his return, he worked as a mason and builder until his retirement.
A funeral service was held on Jan. 23 at the Deltona Memorial Funeral Home. Mr. Metz was cremated and a memorial service will be held in East Hampton in June, when his ashes will be spread over the ocean.
In addition to Ms. Grady of East Hampton and Ms. Metz of Wainscott, Mr. Metz is survived by two sons, Roger and Kent Metz, both of South Daytona, Fla., and his companion of 45 years, Nancy Hagerty. He is also survived by two sisters, Sadie Jackson of New Rochelle and Madeline Metz of Peekskill, N.Y., and eight grandchildren.
Susan V. Whitney
Susan V. Whitney, a caregiver at the East Hampton Town Adult Day Care Center, died in Blairstown, N.J., on Jan. 25. She was 64 years old. According to her husband, Christopher Whitney, the cause of death has yet to be determined.
Education was very important to Ms. Whitney. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Marymount College, earned a nursing degree at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and returned to Marymount after that for a Bachelor of Arts degree. She then earned a master’s degree in philosophy at Columbia University.
She was a nurse at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and working toward a doctorate in bioethics when she met her husband, who lived next door to her in Manhattan.
The couple were married on Aug. 14, 1982. Ms. Whitney put her education on hold to have two sons, and the family moved into a house on Copeces Lane in Springs. They had spent summer vacations there before.
Mr. Whitney, a woodworker, said she spent eight years with her children before returning to work, this time for East Hampton Town. For about three years, in the late 1990s, she ran a shop on North Main Street called Springs Quilts and Crafts. “She made a lot of friends through her quilting store, which was next to Frank’s Barber Shop,” her husband said. For a time, she was a deacon at the Springs Presbyterian Church.
She and her husband became estranged, and she moved to New Jersey about two years ago.
Ms. Whitney was born on Jan. 21, 1945, in Paisley, Scotland, to Jacob Van Strien and the former Susan Smith. The family settled in Forest Hills, Queens, when she was 8. Three years later, they moved to Middletown, N.Y.
She is survived by two sons, Jacob Whitney of Pittsburgh and Patrick Whitney of Springs, and by a stepdaughter, Tavia Whitney, who lives in Chicago. Three grandchildren and a niece and a nephew also survive.
Ms. Whitney was cremated. A memorial service is to be planned for a future date. Her family has suggested donations to the Retreat, 13 Goodfriend Drive, East Hampton 11937-2584, or to the Springs Fire Department, 179 Fort Pond Boulevard, East Hampton.
Joseph R. Comfort Jr.
Joseph R. Comfort, an auto mechanic who lived in Sag Harbor most of his life, died at home in Palm Bay, Fla., last Thursday. He was 53.
Mr. Comfort was an honorary member of the Sag Harbor Fire Department, for which he volunteered for many years. About five years ago, he moved to Florida, according to his former wife, Maryanne Piccione of Sag Harbor.
He was born on July 29, 1956, in Southampton, to Irene Comfort of Sag Harbor and the late Joseph R. Comfort Sr. His mother survives him, as do his three children, Shawn M. Comfort and Kimberly A. Comfort, both of Hampton Bays, and Jack E. Comfort of Florida.
Mr. Comfort took his own life. He was cremated. No service has been scheduled.
Stanley Benfield, 85
Stanley Benfield, a decorated veteran of World War II and a resident of Sag Harbor, died on Tuesday at Southampton Hospital. He was 85. Prayers will be held at Yardley and Pino in Sag Harbor tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. with burial to follow at St. Andrew’s Cemetery. A full obituary will appear at a future date.