Obituaries

A Zoom memorial and in-person gathering for Beryl Bernay, who died of Covid-19 on March 29, 2020, are planned for next week. Both are being organized by her niece, Carol Gonzales. The memorial will be held on Wednesday from 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Participants will be asked to share reminiscences up to two minutes in length.

Family and friends of Mike Finazzo, who died on April 15, will gather at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk on Saturday at 2 p.m. to celebrate his life. A casual reception will follow at the Clam and Chowder House at Salivar's in Montauk from 3 to 5 p.m.

Pamela Choy, a textile specialist for the fashion industry, an animal lover who was a dedicated volunteer at the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, and a spirited lover of life, died at home in New York City on May 24 after a heart attack. She was 68.

Patricia Saar of North Haven, a nurse who later worked in the Springs and East Hampton school systems, died on Sunday after a brief illness. She was 78. Known as Patty, she was a dedicated gardener and nature and animal lover. Whether it was a dog, orphaned baby raccoons, or a flock of chickens, her family said that they cannot recall a time that there weren't animals around the house.

Ruth A. Johnson of East Hampton, a homemaker and longtime volunteer for Meals on Wheels, died of heart failure on April 16 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She was 94, and had been ill for a month.

Mr. Urvalek, widely known as Captain Bill, first came to Montauk in the mid-1970s and began his fishing career in the early 1980s working for the Viking Fleet. At the same time, he worked toward earning his captain's license, which led to the acquisition of his own charter boat, the Karen Sue, named after his wife, who survives. He sold the Karen Sue in 2012 and opened a fiberglass boat repair business.

Dina Chimpoukchis Lewis of Montauk, a cook for many years at the former Steve's Diner and Salivar's restaurant on the hamlet's docks, died in her sleep on May 3 at her winter residence in West Palm Beach, Fla. She had had chronic pain for a number of years.

Meg Perlman, who was the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center's founding director until 1989, died on June 1 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at age 71. Her death was attributed to complications of an aortic dissection that occurred in January.

The Star has received word that Peter Jay Steckowski, a Marine Corps sergeant who went on to a career in the information technology field, died on Dec. 22. The Amagansett native had most recently been living in Boomer, N.C.

A lifelong music maker whose mantra was "do it your way," Tim Feleppa died at home in Springs on May 23 of sudden cardiac arrest. He was 57.

A graveside service for Timothy Richard Feleppa will be held on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church Cemetery on Cedar Street in East Hampton. Mr. Feleppa died on May 23. A celebration of his life and music is planned for July 22, which would have been his 58th birthday. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

Irving Markowitz, a founding member of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons who served as its president and on its board of directors, died on May 14 in Rockville, Md. He was 94.

As an engineer, sales manager, photographer, and writer, Marcel Bally's journey in life took him from his home country of Switzerland to Canada, the United States, and several other international destinations. Over the years, he amassed a large portfolio of black-and-white photographs, many of which have been exhibited in shows on the East End.

Meg Perlman, a curator who was the founding director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs and later the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation, died on Tuesday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City of complications of an aortic dissection that occurred in January. She was 71 and lived in East Hampton. An obituary for Ms. Perlman will appear in a future issue.

Irwin Sarason, an art director who left the advertising world in 1980 to devote himself to his properties on the East End, died of lung cancer on Feb. 10 at home in Bridgehampton. He was 85.

Pat Lillis, who devoted her life to rescuing and caring for every kind of animal, died at home in East Hampton on April 23, having had cancer for several years. She was 70.

Scott Leslie Wilson of Wainscott, the owner of a landscaping company, died of complications of leukemia on May 18 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He was 64 and had been ill for more than three years.

When William J. Davis was a student at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx in the 1940s, his shop teacher "suggested to him early on that, as he was not that good with his hands, he had better study hard and learn something else," his wife, Georgia Hinde, recalled. "He did just that, and he did it very well." It was a story that Mr. Davis, who would go on to become a New York State Supreme Court justice, told often.

Word has reached The Star that Harry Striebel, a fashion designer who lived in East Hampton for many years, died on Oct. 19 in Delray Beach, Fla., after a five-year illness. He was 84 and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Barbara H. Rothstein, a preschool and English teacher, died of heart failure on Friday at home in Cambridge, Mass. The former East Hampton and Montauk resident was 92.

From an early age, Brian Kenneth Russell had a curiosity and love for science, animals, and the outdoors, and could often be found watching National Geographic or the Discovery Channel on television. He loved looking through microscopes, and by the time he was in the seventh grade he was a junior-certified scuba diver.

Irving Markowitz, formerly of East Hampton, died on May 14 in Rockville, Md.

Sharon S. Rack, the head of custodial workers for East Hampton Town, died of heart failure on Monday at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. The East Hampton native was 70 and had been ill for a month.

Carole Ann George, familiar here from her jobs at the I.G.A. markets in Amagansett and East Hampton, died of cardiac arrest at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Va., on March 8. She was 73 and had been ill for two years.

Alec Petroulias, an electrical engineer who worked on the Apollo space program in the 1960s, died of heart failure and cancer on April 10 at home in East Hampton. He was 91, and had been briefly ill. 

Joyce Hayes Whitman was proud to be a part of the Montauk community, which she demonstrated in her extensive volunteer work with the Montauk Library. She read stories to children for nearly 20 years -- before there was a children's librarian there -- and held nearly every board position at one time or another with the Friends of the Montauk Library.

Pat Lillis of East Hampton died at home on April 23. She was 70. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

When David A. Merrill "was making people laugh, he could keep the riotous mayhem going until your sides ached," his family wrote. "He truly shined in those moments." 

As word of Henry Craig Benzenberg's death reached his former East Hampton High School classmates last month, they remembered him as kind, funny, and "a great guy." 

Michael J. Finazzo, who pushed for affordable housing when he was an East Hampton Town councilman in the early 1980s, sold insurance, captained sportfishing boats, and coordinated for 20 years the hamlet's popular St. Patrick's Day parade, died in Boca Raton, Fla., on April 15 at the age of 72.