Obituaries

Paid Notice: Rescued by Eileen Roaman from a kill shelter as a puppy in New York City in 2011, Georgie proved to be an exceptional creature.

Bernice Marie Beckwith, a Round Swamp Lester who was born at home on the corner of Springy Banks and Three Mile Harbor Roads, died on Nov. 12. She was 97.

Jean P. Parmelee, a former flight attendant and nature lover, died under hospice care at home in Springs on Sept. 24. She was 98.

Jean Stewart Atha Coakley, a teacher and garden designer who was the first woman senior warden in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, died on Nov. 8. She was 96 and had lived in Springs.

Kathryn Karabelas of Montauk, a gourmet cook and gardener, died on Sept. 4 following a stroke. She was 87.

A farmer, firefighter, and “daredevil” who raced cars as a young man and rode motorcycles into his late 80s, Lawrance Leroy Osborn of Wainscott died at home on Nov. 13 at the age of 91.

Mary Dellapolla Curles, described as a “pillar of the Amagansett community,” died at home on Nov. 10 at the age of 101.

Heidi A. Johanson of East Hampton, a special education teacher in the Greenport School District who retired in 2014, died on Nov. 1 at the Acadia Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Riverhead. She was 66.

Nancy Pardue Scheerer, who grew up in East Hampton and summered on West End Road in the village from childhood until 2023, died on Oct. 31 in Duxbury, Mass. She was 96.

Ted Hartley — Navy pilot, actor, investment banker, writer, movie studio head, and, with his late wife, Dina Merrill, philanthropist — died on Oct. 10 in New York City. An oceanfront homeowner in East Hampton, he was 100.

Andrea Brown, owner of the Victoria’s Mother boutique in East Hampton and later Southampton, died on Sunday at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Westhampton Beach after a short illness. She was 86.

Bonnie Munshin, who for more than three decades presided over the front room of Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton, died of dementia-related causes on Oct. 30. She was 84.

Paid Notice: Oskar Pahwul, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and cherished member of the Sag Harbor
community, passed away peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of art, beauty, and joy that
continues to inspire all who knew him.

Alice Tillotson of Sagaponack, the owner and manager of Perennial Charm Nursery for many years, died on Oct. 23 in Westhampton Beach. She was 74.

Paid Notice: Anthony Lombardo, a retired designer and manufacturer of fine furniture and decorative wall paneling, died on October 20 at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., after undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery.

Paid Notice: Cecile Otte Pernica, 90, died peacefully on October 27, 2025. Born in Iowa, she lived much of her life in Wisconsin, graduating from Lawrence University in Appleton in 1957. Cecile had careers in public relations and marketing research upon moving to New York City.

Paid Notice: Elizabeth Spitz, affectionately known to her close friends and family as “Betty,” peacefully passed away in her sleep on October 15 in Los Angeles. Betty was 79 years old. 

The Abstract Expressionist artist Frank Wimberley of Sag Harbor, a key figure in African-American art, died on Oct. 9 at the age of 99.

George Allen Nama, whose artwork is in the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Morgan Library, died on Oct. 22. He was 86 and lived in Montauk.

Henry Dean Lester III, who ran his own business in the building trades for over 30 years, died on Oct. 14 in Sebastian, Fla. Formerly of Springs, he was 77.

Paid Notice: Sarah Andrews Hill-Wood (“Sally”) of East Hampton died on Friday, October 10, at the age of 83.

Paid Notice: Dr. John J. Cossentino, age 93, of St. Petersburg, Fla., and formerly of Fort Myers, Fla., Brooklyn, Malverne, Rockville Centre, Montauk, and Southampton, sadly left our world on October 5, 2025, after a life richly lived in service and kindness.

Darlene Marie Lancaster, a former deputy East Hampton Town clerk and member of the Montauk Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary, died at home in Montauk on Oct. 16. She was 76.

Paid Notice: Elizabeth Bond (Stoner) Welsh, 98, a longtime resident of Swarthmore, Media, and for the past 23 years, White Horse Village, Newtown Square, Pa., passed away peacefully surrounded by family on July 2, 2025.

Jerry P. Keeler of Springs died on Oct. 6 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. He was 86.

Air Force Maj. Kevin Joseph Reilly Sr., formerly of Montauk, died on Sept. 16 in San Diego, where he had moved in March. He was 77.

Chip Dayton, a rock-and-roll photographer with an impressive portfolio, died of cardiac arrest on Sept. 9 in Skowhegan, Me. The former East Hamptoner was 74.

Paid Notice: Charles F. Hummel, noted author and expert on the Dominy craftsmen of East Hampton, passed away on September 14th peacefully at his home in Delaware.

Jason H. Bertanzel, who had lived on Swamp Road in East Hampton for much of his life, died of a heart ailment on Oct. 2 in Manorville, where he resided for the last year. He was 45.

Paid Notice: Kathleen Ingrid Burns, known as Deedee and Kathy to her family and friends, died in New York City on September 28th with her beloved son Thomas by her side.