Phyllis B. Kriegel's "restless intelligence and eagerness to share intellectual discoveries kept her friends on their toes," her family wrote. An editor turned painter who spent summers in Springs for 30 years, Ms. Kriegel died at home in Greenport on July 29. She was 95 and had been in declining health.
Ms. Kriegel had a lifelong interest in feminist issues and earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in women's history from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. She went on to be an editor of New Directions for Women, a feminist newspaper, eventually becoming editor in chief before retiring in 1993.
Afterward, she turned her attention to fine art, studying painting at the Victor D'Amico Institute of Art (the Art Barge) on Napeague, at the New School in Manhattan, and in Assisi, Italy. She had shown her work in Manhattan, Amagansett, Sag Harbor, Southampton, and East Hampton.
She attended the Institute for Retired Professionals at the New School until she was 90 and left New York for Peconic Landing in Greenport. There "she shared her intellect with her new community, organizing, amongst other endeavors, an Agnes Varda film festival," her family said.
"Phyllis was a strong woman, she had strong feelings, strong opinions, and a strength to follow her passions into her own learning and artistic practices," wrote her grandson, Malcolm Kriegel. "She was the first to encourage her grandchildren to pursue their artistic endeavors, and was a large part of their continuing on to make careers in the arts."
In addition to her grandson, she is survived by a granddaughter, Sophie Kriegel, and by her children, Nancy Kriegel of Norfolk, Conn., and David Kriegel of Shelter Island and Brooklyn; her daughter-in-law, Cynthia Flint, and her sister-in-law, Peggy Kriegel. "It's worth noting that Malcolm is a glassblower working in Brooklyn and Sophie is a screenwriter in L.A. (just nominated for an Emmy!)," her son wrote.
She was born in Hackensack, N.J., on Oct. 1, 1929, to Harry Barnes and the former Etta Schatz. She grew up there, and on Dec. 10, 1950, she married Allan Kriegel. He died in 1983. She lived in Englewood, N.J., for 42 years and then split her time between Greenwich Village and a farmhouse on Old Stone Highway in Springs until 2019. The house here was "surrounded by lush gardens which she delighted in from the serenity of her porch. She hosted friends regularly, and the guests knew to be well prepped for queries on what they were reading, seeing, and thinking," her family said.
A service is to be held in September at a date to be determined.
