Obituaries

William Q. DeNatale, a fashion designer and artist, died on July 28 at his home near Cedar Point in East Hampton. He was 79.

Arthur P. Dodge of East Hampton and Crystal River, Fla., a descendant of a 1661 English buyer of Block Island, died of complications of Covid-19 at home here on Sept. 11. He was 78 and had been in declining health since a bout with the virus earlier this year.

Carolyn M. Pharaoh of Sag Harbor died at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Aug. 13. She was 82.

Jawahir Jairam, who worked at Southampton Hospital as a nurse for 27 years and lived in Montauk for 50, died at East End Hospice in Westhampton Beach on Sept. 13. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other health problems, and would have turned 81 later this month.

Joseph P. Houston, the owner of a wallboard and spackling business, died of heart failure on June 16 at home on Shelter Island. He was 65.

Lani Kennefick, whose given name was Mary Elaine, died on Sept. 3 in Portland, Me., cared for by her daughter and her mother, Mary Laura Kennefick. She was 59 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few weeks earlier.

Mark Field, who worked for the East Hampton School District for 34 years, died of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 13, 2019, in Port St. Lucie, Fla., The Star has learned. He was 62 and had been ill for two and a half years.

Francile Downs, an abstract painter known for vibrantly colored canvases inspired by East End landscapes and a founder of the Accabonac Protection Committee, died on Aug. 8 at home in Springs.

Diane L. Frazer, who grew up on Old Stone Highway in Springs, died on Sept. 7 in Peoria, Ariz. She was 70 and had been ill for many years, her family said.

Jimmy Hewitt, a storied figure in Montauk and longtime owner of the Shagwong Tavern and several other hospitality businesses in the hamlet, died in Montauk on Sept. 3 surrounded by his family. The cause was congestive heart failure. Mr. Hewitt was 79.

Word has been received here of the death of Winifred Anne Robins, a longtime summer resident of Amagansett, who died at home in Stonington, Conn., surrounded by her family, on Dec. 23, 2019. She was 94 years old and had been in declining health for a short time.

Arcadi Nebolsine, a retired professor of English and the humanities and a voice for preservation of cultural landscapes both here and abroad, died on Aug. 21 at the Westhampton Care Center after a long illness. He was 87.

Dan Budnik, a photographer whose subjects ranged from artists of the 1950s to the civil rights movement to Native American culture to the baymen of the South Fork, died at an assisted living facility in Tucson, Ariz., on Aug. 14.

David Rogers Osborn, a Wainscott farmer known as "the cabbage king," died of complications of cancer on Sunday at the Westhampton Care Center. He was 88.

Frederick Butti, a real estate broker, died of heart disease at home in East Hampton Village on Aug. 10. He was 75 and had been in declining health for a year. 

Gail Sheehy, a New York City journalist, commentator, and author who had lived part time in East Hampton until about 2008, died unexpectedly of complications of pneumonia at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Aug. 24. She was 83.

James F. Hewitt died last Thursday afternoon in Montauk at the home of his son and daughter-in-law, Shawn and Karen Hewitt. The cause was congestive heart failure. Mr. Hewitt was 79. Am obituary will appear in a future issue.

John W. Jurgensen, a former sergeant in the mounted unit of the New York Police Department, died of pancreatic cancer at home in Montauk on Saturday. He was 74, and had been ill for more than two years. 

Kathryn Goodhart Graham, a psychotherapist and advocate for women's rights, L.B.G.T.Q. rights, and the environment, died after a fall at home in Stamford, Conn., on Aug. 28. Also a resident of Water Mill and New York City, she was 73.

Dick Jones, a veteran media industry executive who traveled the world but never lost his Southern gentleman demeanor, died on Sept. 5 at home in Pompano Beach, Fla., at the age of 105.

Robert J. Badkin of Mulford Lane in Amagansett, who was fondly known to many as Robbie the Welder, died at home of a heart attack last Thursday.

Thomas Gaines, who worked in pest control but might be a familiar face from years behind the bar at an East Hampton Village pub, died on Aug. 12 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was 71.

Cintra Carter-Sander of Montauk and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., died on Aug. 3 at home at Marsh Landing in Florida. She had been in failing health for a week.

Gail Sheehy, a New York journalist and writer of renown who also lived for a time in East Hampton, died on Aug. 24 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

Helen Louise Burke of Montauk and Boynton Beach, Fla., died on Aug. 21 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. She was 89. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

John Francis McCaffrey, “a true son of Wainscott,” his family said, died on Aug. 21 at the Highlands Living Center in Pittsford, N.Y. He was 88 and had a recurrence of pancreatitis. A month earlier he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer.

Robert P. DeVault of East Hampton, a Vietnam veteran and artist, interior decorator, carpenter, and entrepreneur, died unexpectedly at home on Aug. 25. He was 65.

Steven Levin, a Manhattan commercial real estate developer turned surfer, died at home in Montauk’s Hither Hills on Aug. 20. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, with which he had been afflicted for many years.

Virginia DiPietro, a longtime East Hampton resident who was known as Dolly, died of a heart attack on Saturday, Aug. 22, at home in Ocean Township, N.J.

Virginia DiPietro, who had lived in East Hampton for many years, died on Saturday at home in Ocean Township, N.J. Known as Dolly, she was 96. A funeral Mass was said yesterday at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton. An obituary will appear in a future issue.