A funeral for Richard C. Wilson Sr. of East Hampton will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on James Lane. Mr. Wilson, who was 78, died on Sunday at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. An obituary will appear in a future issue.
Eileen Bock of Montauk, who once had been executive director of the hamlet’s senior nutrition program, died on Monday at the Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. She was 82. Ms. Bock was cremated and her ashes are to be buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk. An obituary will appear in a future issue.
Kathryn Frances McGuirk, who worked for many years in the nurse’s office at East Hampton Middle School, died at home on the corner of Newtown Lane and McGuirk Street in East Hampton on Oct. 2 after a brief illness. She was 87.
Mrs. McGuirk’s roots here run deep, her family said, and she was a descendant of one of East Hampton’s founding families.
She was born Catherine Frances McGuire in Southampton on July, 5, 1931, to Edward Francis McGuire, who had grown up in Sag Harbor, and Nora Durkan, who came here from County Mayo, Ireland. She preferred the alternate spelling of her name, and went by that or simply Kate for most of her life.
Her grandparents were Alec and Phebe McGuire, who raised 19 children in East Hampton. She spent her childhood years in various East Hampton neighborhoods including Freetown, Cove Hollow Farm, and Below the Bridge.
During the 1938 Hurricane, she and her family took refuge in a garage apartment on an estate near Town Pond.
In eighth grade, she met her future husband, John Leo McGuirk Jr. They married on Jan. 16, 1954, at St. Philomena’s Church, which is now Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and spent 64 years together.
After graduating from East Hampton High School, she took a secretarial job at the Promised Land Fish Factory. She was also a telephone operator, and, from 1971 to 1993, she worked in the nurse’s office at the middle school.
She was a parishioner at Most Holy Trinity, a member of the Sweet Adelines women’s singing group, and a Girl Scout leader.
She is survived by her husband and five children, Susan McGuirk, John McGuirk III, and Barbara Tracey of East Hampton, Sandra Kalke of Mooresville, N.C., and East Hampton, and Mary Ellen Hess of Frisco, Tex. She also leaves a brother, Edward Francis McGuire Jr. of Melbourne, Fla., and 11 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and numerous cousins. A son, Patrick, died before her.
The family welcomed visitors at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on Friday. A funeral Mass was said on Saturday at Most Holy Trinity Church, the Rev. Peter Garry officiating. Burial was at the church cemetery in East Hampton.
The family has suggested contributions to East End Hospice at P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.
Janet T. Sellers loved anything she could do outdoors, from gardening, swimming, kayaking, water-skiing, and whitewater rafting in the warmer months to horseback riding, hiking, skiing, and ice-skating in the cooler ones. “You name it, she tried it,” her family wrote.
Mrs. Sellers, who lived in Springs for many years but who had since moved to Cape Coral, Fla., died on Aug. 25 in Cape Coral. She was 81 and had been in declining health since a stroke four years ago.
A service was held on Sept. 5 at the Springs Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Sellers was buried at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton.
Born on June 2, 1937, in Far Rockaway, Queens, to Henry Arthur Charlton and the former Dorothy Elizabeth Jennings, she grew up there, and as a child often visited Springs, where her parents had a house on Gerard Drive.
She graduated from George W. Hewlett High School in Nassau County in 1956, and earned an associate’s degree in applied science from New York City Community College in 1958.
Fresh out of school, Mrs. Sellers worked as a laboratory technician at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Far Rockaway.
She and Frederick E. Sellers Jr. were married on June 20, 1959. In 1970, the couple moved to Springs. Mrs. Sellers became “C.E.O. of her home while raising her children” — Pamela, Scott, and Matthew — her family wrote. She also worked as a teacher’s aide at the Neighborhood House Preschool in the early 1970s and later became a senior citizens program supervisor, overseeing transportation for East Hampton Town’s Department of Human Services.
She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, served on the Springs Fire Department ambulance squad, and volunteered her time at the food pantry at the Springs Presbyterian Church. In addition to her outdoor pursuits, Mrs. Sellers loved family, friends, and travel.
She and her husband retired to Florida in 2006.
Mrs. Sellers is survived by her children, Pamela Bennett of East Hampton, Scott Sellers of Big Sky, Mont., and Matthew Sellers of Cape Coral, and by 12 grandchildren and four nieces and nephews. Her husband died before her, as did a sister, Lois Bauer.
The family has suggested donations to the Springs Food Pantry, 5 Old Stone Highway, East Hampton 11937, online at springsfoodpantry.com, or to the Springs Presbyterian Church, at the same street address.
Jo Carney of East Hampton, whose talents as a writer and performer enriched the culture of the East End for more than four decades, died on Sept. 27 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. She was 74 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May.
Ms. Carney, who relished living near the ocean and the woods, frequently took walks along the beaches and bays and went kayaking near her house in Northwest Woods. Her favorite spots included Sammy’s Beach, Gerard Drive, and Two Holes of Water. An animal lover, she frequently helped dogs that needed homes or turtles that needed to reach the other side of the road.
Born on Nov. 14, 1943, in Centerville, Iowa, to Virginia Yant Carney and Clyde Carney, she grew up there and also spent several of her formative years in Japan, where she lived with her family as part of the post-World War II occupation. When she returned to Iowa, she took up golf, winning several local championships.
She studied English literature at Drake University, going on to pursue a successful acting and singing career that took her around the country. A protégée of Dick Haymes, one of the most popular singers of the 1940s, she toured for years as the lead singer of the Cal Bezemer Trio. After living in Los Angeles, Manhattan, and the Black Hills of South Dakota, she settled in East Hampton, drawn to the natural beauty and the thriving community of artists and writers.
Ms. Carney practiced real estate, most recently with Corcoran, while participating in the theater scene here, giving poetry readings, and performing as a jazz singer. Having studied with Lee Strasburg, she acted in Off Broadway productions and worked as a radio voice-over artist for Warner Brothers before moving to East Hampton. Here she appeared in numerous theatrical productions at Guild Hall, Kate in “Kiss Me, Kate” being one of her most memorable roles.
As a poet, Ms. Carney wrote a chapbook, “Konkon’s Granddaughter,” and her work appeared in numerous anthologies, including “Montauk” from the Montauk Press, “Out of Season” from the Amagansett Press, and the Saltwater Press’s “Poems for the Shore.” She read her work at Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, the East Hampton Library, and the East Hampton Town Marine Museum in Amagansett. At the time of her death, she was working on several projects, including a trilogy of historical novels and a memoir detailing her adventures across Alaska.
Ms. Carney would often visit her daughter, Samantha Jo, in Philadelphia, Boston, or Chicago, and regularly cheered on her son, Christopher, from the sidelines of a rugby field or at the finish line of a Soldier Ride bicycling event.
“She traveled often and thoroughly, and loved meeting people from all corners of the world,” her family said. “While she was happy with simple pleasures, like a good book and a full cup of coffee, she never settled for anything less than finding the best in life.”
Her children, Samantha Jo Carney of Chicago and Christopher Carney of East Hampton, survive her, as do three grandchildren. Two brothers, Michael Carney of Centerville and James Carney of Des Moines, also survive.
Barbara Elizabeth Brewer Person of Bridgehampton, who played piano and organ for services and choirs at a number of churches on the South Fork and in California from 1949 to 2018, died on Aug. 31, at Park Avenue Extended Care in Long Beach. She was 80.
Ms. Person started piano lessons when she was 7 years old, her family said. She began accompanying the Bridgehampton First Baptist Church Sunday School Choir when she was about 12. Later on, she played for the junior and senior choirs.
When she was still young, the Rev. Ralph C. Spinner would pick her up in Bridgehampton to play at the precursor to Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton, where he was minister. Ms. Person gave concerts and played at innumerable funerals and weddings.
After moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s with her husband, Louis C. Meacham, whom she married in 1956, she played for St. Mark’s A.M.E. Church and the Temple of God Pentecostal Church. She returned east in 1969 and took up again at the First Baptist Church in Bridgehampton, playing for the senior and gospel choruses.
Before a recent illness made it difficult to continue, she also played at services at Triune Baptist Church, which worships in Sag Harbor.
Barbara Elizabeth Brewer was born on Sept. 30, 1937, in Queens to Thomas Brewer and the former Fannie Square. As a child, she went to live with her maternal grandparents, Maynard and Gladys Square, in East Hampton, where she began school. She later attended the Bridgehampton School — where she played in the band.
She spent her freshman year in high school at the Nannie Burroughs School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C. She returned to Bridgehampton, graduating there in 1956. “The happiest days of my life were in Bridgehampton School,” she would say.
While living in Los Angeles, she and Mr. Meacham had three children, Jacqueline, Lewis, and Penny.
After returning to New York, she married Willie D. Person in 1971. He died before her.
Continuing to play piano until this year, she accompanied the Bridgehampton Baptist Church Sunday School, Youth, Sun Beam, and Male Choirs, and assisted with the Harvest Gospel Choir.
As to life beyond the churches, Ms. Person worked for many years for Sears and briefly for TJ Maxx. Travel was a passion of hers, and she went on many trips and cruises with her husband, family, and friends. She was never without a video camera to record her travels and events she took part in, her family said.
Ms. Person and her longtime friend Gloria Harris attended many Gospel Workshops of America together.
Computer bowling was an interest as well. She and her online friends took part in Pogo leagues and tournaments.
She is survived by her children from her first marriage, Jacqueline M. Lattimer of Rockville Centre, Lewis H. Meacham II of Southampton, and Penny Meacham of Albany, a grandson, and three step-grandchildren.
Two of her cousins, Rosa Hanna Scott of East Hampton and James Nicholson of Chesapeake, Va., were like her sister and brother, her family said.
A service for Ms. Person was held at the Bridgehampton First Baptist Church on Sept. 6 with a eulogy by the Rev. Samuel R. Fulford Sr.
Burial was at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton.
A funeral Mass for Kathryn Frances McGuirk will be said on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton. The family will receive visitors tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton.
Mrs. McGuirk, who was 87, died at home on McGuirk Street in East Hampton on Tuesday. An obituary will appear in next week’s Star.
Robert M. Barnes Jr. of Barnes Coy Architects died in Manhattan on Sunday of an apparent heart attack. He was 68.
The family will welcome visitors at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton Friday between 4 and 8 p.m. A funeral Mass will be said on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton. An obituary will appear in a future issue, with a suggested recipient of memorial donations. The family has asked that no flowers be delivered to Yardley and Pino.
The family of Winifred McKinney of Indialantic, Fla., formerly of Montauk, is planning a memorial service for her, to be held in San Francisco at a date to be decided.
Ms. McKinney died on Aug. 6 at the age of 95. A full obituary will appear in a future issue.
Bernadette Sullivan Costanzo of Montauk, the owner of the former Montauk Beach Store on Main Street, died of a stroke on Sept. 25 at Stony Brook University Hospital, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks. She was 73.
Ms. Costanzo was diagnosed in 2000 with hemochromatosis, a condition that causes the body to absorb too much iron. She was hoping that Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan would put her on a waiting list for a liver transplant and the Montauk community rallied in her support. More than 50 residents attended a hearing of the hospital’s medical board and more than 100 faxed letters. A transplant was approved; it was said to have given her an additional 18 years of life.
Born on April 17, 1945, in Jersey City to the former Sara McCarthy and Edward Thomas Sullivan, she spent her childhood in the towns of Union and Maplewood in New Jersey. She first attended Marymount University and then Boston University, from which she received a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also earned a master’s in early childhood special education from the Bank Street College of Education in New York. She became a Montessori schoolteacher and taught English as a second language in Mexico.
In 1970, she married Conrad J. Costanzo, who introduced her to Montauk. The couple, who got engaged in the hamlet, bought an oceanfront summer house on Surfside Avenue in 1972. Ms. Costanzo had been a Pan American Airlines flight attendant in the 1960s and ’70s, based in Miami and New York, and the chief purser for her crew. She retired upon the arrival of her first child, but retained a fondness for travel. She especially enjoyed spending winters in Playas del Coco, Costa Rica.
Ms. Costanzo and her husband moved to Montauk full time in 1993, and she bought the Montauk Beach Store from her friend Paulette Ehrenberg three years later. Her son, Kai, who worked with her, launched the Kai-Kai sandal brand, for which the store is now named.
In Montauk, Ms. Costanzo was the scholarship director of the Montauk Village Association, an active officer of the Surfside Estates Association, and a parishioner of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church. She also was an inaugural member of the Friends of Montauk Library. In her free time, she loved to cook, do needlepoint, and read.
She is survived by her husband and son, who both live in Montauk, and her daughter, Gabrielle Costanzo Long of East Hampton as well as two grandchildren. Her son, J. Kai Costanzo, also lives on Block Island.
A wake was held at her oceanfront residence on Sunday. On Monday, the Rev. Tom Murray of St. Therese of Lisieux officiated at a funeral Mass, with burial following at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk. The family has suggested donations to DonateLife.net and has urged friends to become organ donors.