Barbara Ann Schellinger, a former resident and manager of the East Hampton Village mobile home park on Oakview Highway, died at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue on April 9. She was 77 and had been diagnosed with cancer seven months earlier.
She moved to the South Fork in the mid-1990s, and it was in East Hampton that she met Morley Howard Schellinger. The two were married on May 10, 1997. His parents had managed the mobile home park, and she soon took over that job. The couple moved to Pennsylvania in 2005 and later to Connecticut for a time, but they ultimately returned to the East End, settling in Riverhead. Mrs. Schellinger had been a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars ladies auxiliary in Connecticut and remained connected to the organization.
She was born in Queens on Dec. 8, 1948, to Joseph Peterson and the former Muriel Donovan. She grew up there and graduated from Bayside High School in 1966. She had two children with her first husband, Dennis Ruiz Sr.: a daughter, Kathleen, who died as an infant, and a son, Dennis Ruiz Jr. The marriage ended in divorce.
In Queens, Mrs. Schellinger worked as a secretary for Long Island Carpet. In East Hampton, she took pride in her work at the mobile home park and also in her own home there, which was always in top shape. She loved to cook, Mr. Schellinger said.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Schellinger is survived by her son, who lives in East Hampton, a grandson, Dennis Ruiz 3rd, a stepson, Justin Schellinger, and a stepgranddaughter, Phebe Schellinger.
Mrs. Schellinger was buried at Calverton National Cemetery. Her husband has suggested memorial contributions to East End Hospice, which runs the Kanas Center, at eeh.org or P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.
