Obituaries

Josephine Crasky, an Amagansett resident for most of her life, died on April 11 at the age of 101, three months after a birthday celebration that saw a congratulatory proclamation from East Hampton Town and a lively party at the town’s senior citizens center.

Margaret Ora-Lee Capozzola of Montauk, a homemaker who spent many sunny days in her vegetable and flower gardens, died on April 15 at San Simeon by the Sound Nursing and Rehabilitation in Greenport. She was 88.

Helen S. Rattray may have stood only 5-foot-1 in her prime, but she was a towering figure in the newsroom and in the town her paper served. A consummate journalist, exacting editor, and dedicated champion of the free press, Ms. Rattray served as publisher of The East Hampton Star until her death on April 16 and was its editor in chief from 1980 until 2003, when her eldest son, David E. Rattray, took over that role.

Evelyn (Cissy) Bradford Ritz of Bridgehampton, a former teacher in South Fork schools and real estate broker, died last Thursday at Peconic Landing in Greenport. She was 86.

Visiting hours for Josephine Crasky of Amagansett, who died on Friday, will be on April 24 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton.

Visiting hours for Margaret Ora-Lee Capozzola of Montauk will be held on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Robertaccio Funeral Home in Center Moriches.

Paid Notice: Born June 28th, 1927, in Canandaigua, N.Y. in the home city of her maternal grandparents. Her mother had moved home temporarily needing help with two older daughters while her father stayed in Ithaca, N.Y., for work.

Kryn Olson, a teacher at the Sag Harbor Elementary School for 25 years, died of a heart attack at home in Sag Harbor on April 3. She was 66.

Paid Notice: Marion Louise Dailey of Stamford, Conn., passed away peacefully in her home on April 9, 2025.

Paid Notice: It is with deep sorrow that we announce that Sean Michael Mendillo, 49, passed away at his home in Lake George, N.Y., on April 2, 2025. Sean was a loving father, son, brother, cousin and friend who will be deeply missed by his extended family and friends.

Vincent Maher of Manhattan and Springs, a surfer and fisherman who worked for many years as a mate on Montauk sportfishing boats, died on Feb. 13 in Manhattan. He was 78.

Helen S. Rattray, the longtime editor and publisher of The East Hampton Star, died early Wednesday morning at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport.

Eunice Golden, a pioneering feminist artist, writer, and lecturer who over six decades created aggressively visceral images of male sexuality from a woman’s perspective, died last Thursday at her East Hampton residence and studio after a short illness. She was 98.

John Tusa of East Hampton, who had worked as a community advocate and activist for most of his professional career, including many years as an addiction therapist at the Family Service League here, died in Southampton last Thursday at the age of 91. 

Joseph Santacroce, a retired carpenter, Air Force veteran, and native of Sag Harbor, died on March 28 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. He was 93.

Elaine Stimmel, a real estate agent in East Hampton for many years, died of pancreatic cancer at home in New York City on March 15. She was 82.

Paid Notice: Notable East End Chef James Carpenter passed away unexpectedly on December 27, 2024, in Hopewell Junction, N.Y.

Albert Arthur Niggles Jr., a lifelong Wainscott resident who had a career with New York Telephone, died on March 18 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital at the age of 92.

Kenneth Martin Ferrin, an entrepreneur who started East Hampton Industries and worked for IBM in the early days of computers, died at home here on March 15. He was 92. 

James A. Avitabile of East Hampton, who was retired from the New York State Office of Court Administration, where he had been a court planner for the New York City court system, died at home on March 1. He was 82.

Judith Ann Favata, who worked as a receptionist at Advanced Auto Parts in East Hampton, died on March 7 at the age of 70.

Karen Alice Schulz, an integral member of the Presbyterian Church in East Hampton for the 20 years that her husband, the Rev. Dr. Fredrick Wiley Schulz, was its pastor, died on Feb. 6 in Blue Ridge, Ga. She was 89.

Rory Callahan, who grew up partly in Amagansett and had a 30-year career in wine marketing, died on Feb. 18 at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, N.Y. He was 75.

A funeral for Judy A. Favata of East Hampton will be held at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Amagansett next Thursday at 4:30 p.m., with a reception at the family home to follow. Ms. Favata, who was 70, died on Friday. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

“Youth is full of sport” is written above Bob Vishno’s photo in the Branford (Conn.) High School yearbook of 1949, a fitting saying for one who would go on to coach golf, basketball, and baseball at Sag Harbor’s Pierson High School for a generation, a 31-year tenure that he and his late wife, Lillian, who also was a Sag Harbor teacher, set forth upon in 1956. 

Eugene Richard Samuelson, a founder of the Wednesday Group of plein-air painters here, died of complications of diabetes at home in Amagansett on Feb. 15. He was 85.

“A passionate gardener, baker, sailor, animal lover and advocate,” Nancy S. Cardoso “filled her life with reminders of the things she loved — nature, art, and speaking the truth,” according to those who knew her. She died on Feb. 27 at home in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Robert Emmett Ginna Jr., a reporter, editor, filmmaker, and teacher, died at home in Sag Harbor on March 3 at the age of 99. Twenty-five years earlier, when he was 74, he strapped on a 38-pound rucksack and set off to walk the length of Ireland. The journey became a book, “The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland’s Past and Present.” Illustrated with his own sketches, it was just one chapter in a lifetime of adventuring in words and images, working in art museums, magazine and book publishing, television, and film.

Donald D. Wells Jr. of East Hampton, who ran his own company, Action Irrigation, for 30 years, died at home on Feb. 15. He was 77.

Helga Koegl Coppola, who began summering in Montauk in the 1970s and moved there full time in the 1980s, died of respiratory complications on Feb. 6 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She was 88.