Neuhaus Service

    Visiting hours for Norma Neuhaus of Oakview Highway in East Hampton, who died on Tuesday at 85, will be today from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral will be held there tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Green River Cemetery in Springs.

    A complete obituary will appear in a future issue.

Joan Mueller Memorial

    A memorial Mass for Joan Mueller of Montauk, who died on June 2 in Port St. Lucie, Fla., will be said at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk next Thursday at 10 a.m.

    John Lockman Helmuth Jr. died on May 15 in Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, two days after having a massive stroke. The former East Hampton resident was 70 years old.

    Mr. Helmuth was born on March 28, 1941, to John Helmuth Sr. (Jack), a painter and naturalist who died in 1983, and Adele Walker Helmuth, who died in 1951. The senior Mr. Helmuth was a frequent guest at Grey Gardens, the house of the Beale Bouviers, and was known to drive around town performing errands for Big and Little Edie.

    Mr. Helmuth grew up in East Hampton and graduated from East Hampton High School in 1958. He attended the University of Rochester, then moved to New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life.

    Mr. Helmuth spent his career in several areas of the medical profession. He worked at Cabrini Medical Center, and later was a senior project assistant in the gerontology department at New York University Medical Center. In the early 1980s, he and a friend established Synapse, a company that computerized medical information. His last position prior to retirement was as office manager for Dr. John B. Montana, one of the first New York physicians to identify and treat people with AIDS.

    Mr. Helmuth was also closely involved with the founding of Senior Action in a Gay Environment (S.A.G.E.) over 30 years ago. The organization provides social services to older gay people whose needs are not met by traditional agencies.

    “John loved music, especially choral music,” said his cousin, Caroline Helmuth of New York City. “And he loved cars and racing. In his younger days, he raced go-karts.” She said that upon learning of his death, a friend commented, “John liked to go fast, and when he died, that’s the way he went.”

    Mr. Helmuth was active in Franklin Lodge 195 of the Masons, and he served in the National Guard.

    His longtime partner, Maurice M. Duncan, died in 1997. He is survived by his sister, Victoria Helmuth of St. Louis Park, Minn.

    A service will be held on June 18 at 11 a.m. at the Church of St. Luke in the Fields on Hudson Street in New York City.

    Daniel DeBoard of East Hampton died on Tuesday at the age of 67. Visiting hours will be held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral service will take place at Calvary Baptist Church here on Saturday at 11 a.m., with burial following at Cedar Lawn Cemetery.

    A full obituary will appear in a future issue.

    Gwendolyn C. Dukette, who in 1952 was one of the first African-Americans to build a summer house in Sag Harbor, died on June 7 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan. She was 88.

    During World War II she worked for the Customs Service in Washington, D.C. In that city she met her future husband, William Henry Dukette, who was a student at Howard University’s dental school. They were married on Dec. 27, 1945, in New York City.

    Once she retired, Mrs. Dukette became a full-time resident of Sag Harbor. She met lifelong friends through her membership in Jack and Jill of America and the Links Incorporated, two organizations for African-American wo­men.

    She enjoyed traveling the world and was “the consummate beach lover,” her family said. She was a fan of the Yankees and of crossword puzzles.

    Mrs. Dukette’s sense of humor was “a constant gift, lifting the lives of those around her with smiles, joy, and laughter,” her family said.

    She was born in Philadelphia on Oct. 24, 1922, to Frances Marie Willis and Andrew Jackson Clower. After her family moved to New York, she attended the Wadleigh High School for Girls in Harlem and went on to graduate from St. John’s University in Queens.

    Mrs. Dukette is survived by three daughters, Sharon Dukette Blum, Linda Diane Dukette, and Ann Marie Dukette, and two grandchildren.

    A funeral Mass was said on Sunday at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor. Burial followed at Calverton National Cemetery.

    Marguerite Shannon, who lived on Spinner Lane in East Hampton for the past six years with her daughter, Marguerite Leeney, died on Sunday at the age of 98. Mrs. Shannon had a stroke after Memorial Day.

    “I wanted to get her to 99 or even 100,” said Mrs. Leeney. “But it didn’t turn out that way.”

    Mrs. Shannon was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 25, 1912, to Nunzio Pisane, a monument engraver, and the former Teresa Barba. “She grew up on the Great South Bay,” said her daughter. “In those days, it was very beautiful there.”

    Mrs. Shannon met and married Edward Shannon, a builder, and they made their home in Stony Brook. She enjoyed “being a mother and grandmother. She was a great cook, and loved to read,” Mrs. Leeney said.

    While living in Stony Brook, Mrs. Shannon volunteered at the Long Island Museum there, and even audited classes at Stony Brook University when in her 80s, choosing courses in Gaelic and history.

    Her husband died before her. In addition to Mrs. Leeney, she is survived by a son, Richard Shannon of Columbia, S.C., and two grandsons, Timothy Leeney of East Hampton and Matthew Shannon of Greenwood, S.C.

    A Mass celebrating Mrs. Shannon’s life will be said this morning at 11 at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton, followed by burial in the church cemetery.

    Melvin Eugene Riddick, the treasurer of Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton from 1979 to 1994, died in North Carolina on April 19. A service at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Harrellsville, N.C., was held on April 23 to honor Mr. Riddick, who was the church treasurer there from 1995 to 2008.

    Mr. Riddick was born in Colerain, N.C., on Sept. 2, 1935, the son of Della and James Riddick. After graduating from high school, he joined the Air Force, serving from 1957 to 1961. After he was honorably discharged he moved to Montauk, where he worked for the Civil Service until 1970. From then until his retirement in 1994, Mr. Riddick worked for the Federal Aviation Administration as an electrical engineer at MacArthur Airport in Islip, ending his career with four years as a highly respected supervisor.

    Mr. Riddick and his wife, Beulah Mae Riddick, preferred life in East Hampton to a move to Islip and stayed here to raise their children, Melvin Lorrone Riddick and Angela Renee Riddick, who survive. According to a pamphlet from his funeral service, “Melvin was known in East Hampton as the community barber, the yearly tax preparer, the neighborhood mechanic, the part-time carpenter/handyman, the head fire pit cook of the annual church barbecue, the ‘please can your husband come over and help’ gentleman for all the elder women of the church, the transporter of those who needed a ride, and so much more.”

    Mr. Riddick was a lifetime member of the N.A.A.C.P. and served as vice president of the local chapter in North Carolina, where he retired. He also was a member of the American Legion, through which he devoted time to community service.

    In addition to his wife and two children, he is survived by two grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews.

    Anna Clark Mott, whose family house was at one point the closest dwelling to the Montauk Lighthouse, died on May 16 at Southampton Hospital surrounded by her family. She was 91.

    Born on Nov. 20, 1919, to Gladys Marie Hedges and Wilson Glover Hedges, she grew up in a house on the north side of Montauk Point built by her grandfather, Capt. Joe Clark, who was a fisherman. Mrs. Mott’s grandmother had a restaurant on the bluff between their house and the Lighthouse, and as a young woman, Mrs. Mott enjoyed working alongside her grandmother and mother in the summers. She would reminisce to her family about her time spent cartwheeling down the Lighthouse hill, roller-skating on the hilly roads, and playing basketball in the barn built by Captain Clark.

    A letter on display at the Lighthouse and written by a former keeper’s daughter mentions Mrs. Mott and her family.

    Mrs. Mott married George Lewis Mott from East Hampton in 1937, and was later divorced. They had four daughters, Ann Sandstrom of South­ampton, Geri Boyle of Sag Harbor, Patricia Mott-Intermaggio of Southampton, and Connie Mott-Hopping of Bridgehampton, who survive her, as do 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

    Mrs. Mott always loved the ocean, a love passed down through the generations. Another grandfather, Capt. Carl Hedges, was one of the original founders of the Life Saving Stations built to help shipwrecked passengers.

    Mrs. Mott raised her four daughters and spent much of her adult life as one of four generations under the same roof in a house on Narrow Lane in Bridgehampton that Captain Hedges had built. She moved in with her daughter, Mrs. Boyle, about two years ago, when she was almost 90.

    In addition to raising a family, Mrs. Mott worked caring for the sick, homebound, and dying. According to Mrs. Boyle, Mrs. Mott was “a class act” and “greeted every moment of her life — be it sorrow, pain, or glee — with a loving smile and incomprehensible gratitude.”

    No matter what happened in life, she told her family, “Hold your head up high and put a smile on your face.”

    A funeral service was held at the Southampton Methodist Church on May 20.

    A memorial to celebrate the life of Eleanor Sage Leonard will be held on Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lotos Club, at 5 East 55th Street in Manhattan.

    The event will include special music and informal speakers, as well as wine and food. It is by invitation only, however, there will soon be a concert to honor Ms. Leonard held at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor. Also, the Music Festival of the Hamptons, which she founded, is starting a scholarship in her name; those interested can send donations to Music Festival of the Hamptons, P.O. Box 1525, Amagansett 11930.

    Ms. Leonard died in February.

    Frances Hyatt Hockman, who had moved to the house she and her husband built in the early 1980s on North Haven when her husband retired, died on May 26 at home of complications because of Parkinson’s disease. She was 70 years old.

    Mrs. Hockman was born on Nov. 8, 1940, in Lovelady, N.C., one of the three children of Samuel Perry Hyatt and the former Mursetis Young. Her sister, Theresa Hyatt Cotton of Tennessee, and brother, Robert Hyatt of North Carolina, survive, as do four nieces and two nephews.

    She attended Swain County High School near where she grew up in Cherokee, N.C. She was a salutatorian of her high school class and a majorette in the marching band. After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Mrs. Hockman remained a lifelong Tar Heels basketball fan.

    Her daughter Angela Hockman wrote that her mother “married her true love,” William Hockman, on Dec. 30, 1961, which was about the time the couple began visiting North Haven. They celebrated their 49th anniversary in December of last year. Mr. Hockman died on April 29.

    Mrs. Hockman moved with her husband to Tampa, Fla., and then to El Salvador to support his career in export management. She brought up their three children, Gregory Hockman of South Orange, N.J., Michelle Cunningham of Glen Rock, N.J., and Angela Hockman of Jamaica Plain, Mass., in Watchung, N.J. They survive.

    According to Ms. Hockman, her mother “ran her home like a well-oiled machine. She was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother who never missed one of her children’s sporting events, and tended to her family’s needs with love and grace.” She derived much joy from her five grandchildren, who also survive.

    Mrs. Hockman enjoyed entertaining and was considered an accomplished cook, especially when she prepared coq au vin, Yorkshire pudding, rack of lamb, and cheese grits. Although she was fit and slim, she had a sweet tooth, being especially partial to Haagen Dazs ice cream, lemon-filled Godiva chocolates, chocolate pie, and cheese pie.

    Ms. Hockman also wrote that her mother “had a sharp wit and what she enjoyed most in life was to laugh.” She called her mother “a lovely human being: beautiful, kind, intelligent, loving, gentle, and funny. She walked through the world with true grace, and will be greatly missed.”

    An accomplished musician, Mrs. Hockman played not only the piano but also the saxophone, clarinet, flute, and guitar.

    A memorial service will be held at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor at 2 p.m. on June 19. Memorial donations have been suggested in Mrs. Hockman’s name to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 780, New York City 10008-0780, or to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.

    Helen Williamson died at home in East Hampton on May 26. She was 93.

     Ms. Williamson was born in South­ampton on Nov. 26, 1917, to Marjan and Lydia Szczepankowski. She grew up on a farm in Wainscott and graduated from East Hampton High School.

    Ms. Williamson raised her five children in Bridgehampton, taking in laundry to earn extra money. She lived in Bridgehampton for 40 years before moving to East Hampton 15 years ago.

    Ms. Williamson was a prolific gardener and had a flower garden in Bridgehampton that reminded her family of window boxes in Holland. She passed along her love of flowers to her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren.

    She enjoyed spending time them, watching them play and grow, her family said.

    Ms. Williamson is survived by her children James Williamson of Sag Harbor, Eileen Cob of Virginia Beach, Va., Helen Wallace of Wilmington, N.C., and Patricia Hanson of Castle Rock, Colo. A fifth child, Michael, died in 1998. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

    The family received visitors on May 30 at the O’Connell Funeral Home in Southampton. A Mass of Christian burial was said on May 31 at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Bridgehampton. Burial followed at Sacred Hearts Catholic Cemetery in Southampton.