Mary Ellen Ramundo

    Mary Ellen Ramundo, who spent summers in Sag Harbor for almost 15 years, died on Tuesday at the Westhampton Care Center after a short illness.

    After retiring in 1994, Mrs. Ramundo and her husband of almost 46 years, Peter V. Ramundo, a former Rockland County legislator, moved to Sag Harbor from Haverstraw, N.Y., to live part time. During the winters, they lived in Naples, Fla. In both places, Mrs. Ramundo stayed active with her gardening, enjoyed playing bridge, and was devoted to her family.

    Mrs. Ramundo was born to George D. Fee and the former Mildred Colligan on Sept. 20, 1938, in Nyack, N.Y., and raised in nearby Nanuet. She graduated from Nyack High School and attended the State University at New Paltz.

    Before marrying, Mrs. Ramundo worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York City, and was a part owner of a mobile home park in Mount Ivy, N.Y.    In addition to her husband, Mrs. Ramundo is survived by two daughters, Jill Ramundo of Sag Harbor and Tracy Brosman of Valley Cottage, N.Y., a son, Peter V. Ramundo Jr. of Upper Nyack, and three brothers, George D. Fee Jr. of Valley Cottage, Frederick Fee of Portland, Ore., and Raymond Fee of San Clemente, Calif. She is also survived by six grandchildren.

    Visiting hours will be held on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor. A Mass will be said on Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor. Memorial donations have been suggested to St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, 122 Division Street, Sag Harbor 11963.

William Sturges

    William Sturges, a professional ballet dancer, actor, and director who took part in East Hampton community theater productions and passed his skills on to his children, died of pancreatic cancer at home in East Hampton on Friday. He was 77.

    “The first play I was ever in was directed by Bill Sturges,” said Hugh King, East Hampton’s Town Crier and director of the Home, Sweet Home Museum.

    “It was ‘The Time of Your Life’ by William Saroyan. I didn’t realize it was an important play. I thought the idea was to have a party every night, but Sturges took me aside and worked with me. I didn’t know anything. He had a penchant for detail. It was very generous of him. He could do it all, of course. He could choreograph, build sets, lighting, and direct,” Mr. King recalled.

    Mr. Sturges was born on April 7, 1931, in Amarillo, Tex., a son of William T. Sturges and the former Zobelea Piotrowski Busey. He moved with his mother to Chicago in the late 1940s and finished high school there. A girlfriend suggested he take dance classes.

    After a stint in the Navy he took her suggestion and studied dance. Three months after his first lesson he was offered a scholarship at the Michiana Summer Theatre, affiliated with Purdue University. He trained with Laurent Novikoff, former lead dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet. Mr. Sturges performed as a soloist with the school’s dance company, but also learned backstage work, and acted in a variety of roles ranging from the butler in “The Importance of Being Earnest” to Shakespearean roles including Iago, Petruchio, and Puck.

    For a year he toured with the Allegro American Ballet Company as well as taught classes and choreographed one of the troupe’s most popular ballets, the pas de deux “Boy Blue.” Mr. Sturges drew acclaim from Dance Today magazine for his performance in “Giselle.”

    In 1964, he went to New York. He appeared in an Off-Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “Servitude” and worked as an associate director of the Lyric Ballet of the ’60s.

    He married Karen Duke, an actor he’d met in New York City, in 1964, soon after the couple decided to move to East Hampton. Mr. Sturges began teaching classical ballet here in his own studio. He worked at Guild Hall as technical director and taught theater at the Hampton Day School. In the 1960s and ’70s, he directed plays including “Oklahoma” and “Oliver” at Guild Hall and also directed two musicals written by his wife, “The Fools of Gotham” and “Ysabelle,” at the Bridgehampton Community House. In the early ’80s he acted and directed in plays held in the round at the Royale Fish resturant in Amagansett.

    He then switched gears, working as a general contractor in East Hampton and studying at the State University at Stony Brook, where in 1989 he earned a master’s degree in social work. In 1991, he moved with his wife back to her hometown in Northampton, Mass., where he counseled people with drug dependencies until he retired. Mr. Sturges moved back to East Hampton following his wife’s death in 2002.

    He is survived by two sons, Thomas A. Thomas of Olympia, Wash., and Nathan Hood of Denver, Pa., and by a daughter, Morgan Sturges of East Hampton. He also leaves a number of step-siblings, Jim DeJong of Chicago, Margaret DeJong of San Francisco, Penelope DeJong of Toronto, Chris DeJong Swilley of Persia, Iowa, John DeJong of Waynesboro, Va., and Catherine DeJong Artman of Gobles, Mich.

    A memorial service will be held at the Sturges house at 68 Accabonac Road on June 25, starting at 1 p.m.

Dolores Wills

    Dolores Wills, known to friends as “Dee,” died at home on Island Road in East Hampton on Saturday surrounded by her family and friends. The 76-year-old grew up in Manhattan and spent her childhood summers in East Hampton before moving here permanently in 1950.

    A descendant of the Springs Lester family, Ms. Wills was born on Nov. 24 1931, in New York City to Peter F. Byrnes and the former Mary Hannah Lester. She graduated from Valley Stream Central High School in 1950 and worked as a receptionist for the late Dr. Francis Cooper at the old East Hampton Medical Group when she came here after graduation.

    On Feb. 10, 1957, she married the late Russell J. DiGate. She became a homemaker, raising their four children.     

    A member of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, she regularly attended Sunday Mass there until her health would not allow it.

    She thoroughly enjoyed the natural beauty of East Hampton and could often be found at home looking from her windows at the waters of Three Mile Harbor, her binoculars at her side. She loved to watch the boats coming and going, and was quick to point out any sightings of ospreys, hawks, cardinals, and the white-tailed deer who often came to raid her bird feeders.

    She remarried on March 3, 1973, to J. George Wills, who also predeceased her. Her life revolved around her family. Her doors were always open, with a cold drink at the ready, her family said.

    She is survived by four children: Russell J. DiGate Jr. of Wilmington, Del., Mary Jo Bennett and Peter F. DiGate of East Hampton, and John T. DiGate of Westminster, Md. She is also survived by eight grandchildren, a brother, Robert Byrnes of Montauk, and a sister, Nancy Gillespie of Seaford.

    A funeral Mass was celebrated at Most Holy Trinity on Tuesday, and Ms. Wills was buried in the church cemetery. Her family suggested that donations be made to East End Hospice, Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978-7048, to Project MOST, Box 1486, East Hampton 11937, or to Doctors Without Borders, Box 5030, Hagerstown, Md. 21741-5030.

Tony Einsmann

    Tony Einsmann, a resident of East Hampton for almost 20 years, died on Saturday at home in Timberlake, N.C. The cause was lung and brain cancer. He was 66.

    Mr. Einsmann and his wife, Sharon E. Einsmann, raised their children in a house on McGuirk Street in East Hampton. A veteran of the Army, he worked in the restaurant industry starting at the age of 14. He was the floor manager at Gordon’s restaurant in Amagansett for many years and also worked at Schwenk’s Dairy in East Hampton.

    He and his wife moved to Durham, N.C., 21 years ago. Mr. Einsmann was most recently employed by Sports Endeavors, a grassroots soccer and lacrosse company based in Hillsborough, N.C.

    Born in Jamaica, Queens, to Phillip and Antoinette Einsmann, on March 5, 1942, Mr. Einsmann is survived by his wife, three daughters, Pam Schrieber of Southampton, Dawn Eckhoff of Durham, and Christine Williams of Timberlake, a brother, Phillip Einsmann of Thomasville, N.C., and nine grandchildren.

    Visiting hours were held on Tuesday at the Clements Funeral Home in Durham, followed by a funeral service at the Clements Funeral Chapel. Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Duke Home Care and Hospice, 4321 Medical Park Drive, Suite 101, Durham, N.C. 27704.

Lawrence Miller

    Lawrence L. Miller of Copeces Lane, Springs, died of lung cancer on Saturday. He was 67.

    Mr. Miller, who was born to Daniel L. Miller and Mildred Cunningham Miller on May 8, 1941, grew up in Pine Bluff, Wyo. He came to Springs after being stationed at the Montauk Coast Guard Station in the early 1960s.

    A retired mail carrier, Mr. Miller had the Springs mail route for more than 30 years. According to his family, the job gave him the opportunity to know many Springs families and he watched several children grow up, marry, and have children of their own.

    But most important to Mr. Miller was his commitment to the fire department, first as a member in East Hampton for five years and then 40 years in Springs, where he held a number of positions including chief. On the night he died, Mr. Miller’s role in the department was remembered and he was honored at the department’s inspection dinner for his 45 years of combined service, which was met with a standing ovation.

    Linda Lester Miller, his wife of 46 years, said this week that he was proud of his son, Jeff, being the first second-generation chief of the Springs Fire Department.

    Mr. Miller was a member of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church and a deacon for a number of years. He was a charter member of the Red Knights New York Chapter XXV, which is a fire department motorcycle group chartered two years ago, and a member of the American Legion.

    Besides his wife and son, Mr. Miller is survived by his daughters, Dana Lester of Springs and Leslie Labrozzi of Sag Harbor, his brother, Ken Miller of Tupelo, Miss., and a sister, Sandy Miller of Meridian, Idaho. Another sister, Sierra Sue Miller, died before him. Five grandchildren also survive.

    A funeral service will be held today at 1 p.m. at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church followed by burial at Round Swamp Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Springs Fire Department Benevolent Association, 179 Fort Pond Boulevard, East Hampton 11937, the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, 120 Main Street, East Hampton 11937, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis 38105.

Mary Louise Dodge, 92

    Mary Louise Dodge, a descendant of two of East Hampton’s founding families, died at home on Fireplace Road in Springs on May 7. She was 92, and had suffered from dementia for a number of years.

    Mrs. Dodge was born on Sept. 7, 1914, in the Fireplace Road house built in 1881 by her grandparents, Julius Dayton Parsons and Mary Elizabeth Schellinger, who once ran the Springs General Store. The daughter of Merton H. Edwards and Betsy Parsons, she was a descendant of William Edwards, a 1650 settler of East Hampton, and of Samuel Parsons. “She was very proud of her ancestry,” said a son, Carter Dodge of Hanover, N.H.

    In an interview with The Star in 1998, when she represented Springs on the East Hampton Town 350th anniversary committee, she described her childhood in the hamlet, when outings included a bicycle trip to the landing at Fireplace or a visit to Maidstone Park.

    Her father was a commercial fisherman with a fishing station on Gerard Drive who kept his fish fresh by packing them underground in salt hay in ice cut from Accabonac Creek. Mrs. Dodge recalled how, by stretching a cord attached to his Delco generator across Fireplace Road, her father would provide electricity for dances at Ashawagh Hall or church socials at the Springs Presbyterian Church.

    She attended the Springs School when, she said, it had “two teachers, four grades in a room.” After skipping a few grades, she graduated from East Hampton High School at age 15. At 16, she went off to college. She studied secretarial skills and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y.

    On August 1, 1941, she was married to Cleon Carter Dodge, a counselor at the Fireplace Lodge boys’ camp on Gardiner’s Bay whom she had met while fetching milk at the Talmage dairy on Fireplace Road.

    The couple lived at the United States Military Academy in West Point, and later in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., but summers were usually spent on Fireplace Road. After World War II, when Mr. Dodge worked in New York City and flew his Cessna to East Hampton on Fridays, he would circle above the beach at Louse Point to signal his arrival to Mrs. Dodge and their two boys. “I had no trouble getting the boys to pick up their toys then,” she said in 1998. Mr. Dodge would land his plane in a field behind the family house.

    The family moved to Springs full time in 1959. Mr. Dodge died not long after. Besides Carter Dodge, Mrs. Dodge is survived by her other son, Cleon Dodge of Berwick, Pa. Four grandchildren also survive.

    Mrs. Dodge was a member of a number of community groups including the American Association of University Women, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Eastern Gate Garden Club, and the Ramblers, an East Hampton women’s literary club begun in the early 1900s. She was a former director and member of the Springs Historical Society, a treasurer for the Springs School District and the Springs Improvement Society, and “keeper of the wampum” for the Lost Tribe of Accabonac. At the Springs Presbyterian Church, she served as a deacon.

    In East Hampton, Mrs. Dodge worked in the offices of David Bodstaver, a lawyer, and Alfred Scheffer. As an elderly woman, before she became ill, Carter Dodge said, his mother helped to care for friends and relatives who were in their last days.

    Mrs. Dodge was cremated. A memorial service and a burial at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton will take place at a future date.

    Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Springs Improvement Society’s scholarship fund, P.O. Box 537, East Hampton, or to the Springs Presbyterian Church, 5 Old Stone Highway, East Hampton 11937.

June Kluglein

    June Kluglein died at home on Pheasant Road in Sag Harbor on Friday of ovarian cancer. A self-taught watercolorist whose paintings and lithographs were shown around the country, she was 78 years old.

    Ms. Kluglein’s works often depicted natural objects such as leaves and birds’ nests. “Her inherent style had a sensitivity and detail that portrayed her subject beautifully,” her daughter Karen Kluglein of East Hampton said.

    The family also said Ms. Kluglein believed in celebrating everything, even by dressing up for Halloween in her later years.

    In New York, Ms. Kluglein showed her work at the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. She was exhibited at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, at the Hampton Road Gallery in Southampton, and at Fisher’s Home Furnishings in Sag Harbor. She donated artwork to numerous organizations, including the Group for the East End and the Retreat.

    After meeting on a blind date, she and her husband were married on Dec. 8, 1952. Although he was born Helmuth Kluglein, the new wife promptly changed his name to Bob. “My name was so atrocious from the day we were married she said, ‘Now you’re Bob.’ No one ever dared to call me anything else,” Mr. Kluglein said. For the next 55 years, he said, the two were only separated once, when his wife was in the hospital.

    Ms. Kluglein was a peace activist who for many years belonged to a group in Sag Harbor called Save Our World. In the 1970s she was active in a group trying to shut down the nuclear power plant at Shoreham. At the height of the season they would hold up signs on Montauk Highway saying, “How fast can you evacuate today?”

    She worked at the food pantry in Sag Harbor and made organic soups from vegetables she grew in her garden long before it became fashionable to do so. She donated them to a soup kitchen in Bridgehampton.

    “She embraced life and found beauty all around her,” her daughter said. “She enjoyed parties, cooking at the beach, her many friends, and the occasional risqué joke.” Her daughter said that her mother’s optimism through her illness had been inspiring.

    Born on April 25, 1930, in Jamaica, Queens, to Jack Gilda and the former Jessie Borthwick, Ms. Kluglein lived in Valley Stream and Merrick before moving to Sag Harbor in the 1970s.

    Besides her husband and daughter Karen, Ms. Kluglein is survived by another daughter, Kathi Cavanaugh of Sag Harbor, two grandchildren, and a sister, Joyce Keleher of Islip. She was cremated and her family will hold a memorial service at a future date.

    Donations in her name have been suggested to Gateway for Cancer Research, 1336 Basswood Road, Schaumburg, Ill. 60173.