Obituaries

Dr. Berry James Vaughan, a dentist with a private practice in East Hampton from 1974 until 2018, died on Jan. 7 at the Westhampton Care Center. He was 75 and had been ill with cancer and other health complications.

Frederick A. Terry Jr., an attorney and sportsman, philanthropist and scholar, died at home in East Hampton on Jan. 13. He was 90.

George D. Meredith, a co-founder and creative director of Gianettino & Meredith, a New Jersey advertising agency, died at home in Springs on Jan. 5. He was 82 and had been in declining health.

James Gerard Stier of Montauk, who had a long career with W.R. Grace & Company, a multinational with roots in materials, chemicals, and shipping, died at his son’s house in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Jan. 3. He was 94 and had been in hospice care for about two months.

Kathryn D. Vegessi, shoreside support for the Lazybones, a popular half-day party boat hailing out of Montauk operated by her husband, Capt. Michael Vegessi, died at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn on Jan. 8. She was 70.

Louis J. Sapienza, the owner of East Hampton Masonry Supply, died on Jan. 8 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. He was 70 and had lived with heart disease for several years.

Nancy Johnston Mulford of Buell Lane in East Hampton, a volunteer and Presbyterian elder in the many places she lived, died on Jan. 12 in Skillman, N.J. She was 85.

Marilyn Thompson of Montauk, an abstract artist whose career spanned 50 years, died on Dec. 11 while vacationing in Madeira, Portugal. She was 90.

Alice Byrnes Cooley, who began working as a telephone operator before she graduated from high school, and in her retirement was a familiar face at East Hampton Town’s senior citizens center, died at home in Bluffton, S.C., on Jan. 1.

Elizabeth Kaplan Fonseca of East Hampton died on Dec. 19 of long-term Alzheimer’s disease. She was 93.

Visiting hours for Louis J. Sapienza of East Hampton will be held today from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A graveside service is planned for tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Jamesport Cemetery.

Gunther Schlessinger, a summer resident of Amagansett who had a 60-year career in finance, died on Dec. 17 of pneumonia caused by Covid-19. He was 93.

Jacqueline Ann Mitchell, a retired elementary school teacher who grew up in East Hampton, died in Newark, Ohio, on Dec. 21. She was 77 and had been ill with liver cancer.

Jim Miller, formerly of Springs, an illustrator, art director, and graphic designer behind some of theater’s most memorable shows, died of congenital heart disease on Dec. 15 at home in Vero Beach, Fla. He was 83.

Kathryn D. Vegessi, who had lived in Montauk for many years, died at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn on Sunday of complications from a staph infection. She was 70.

Susan Sullivan Saiter, an author, freelance journalist, and educator, died of pneumonia on Dec. 27 in Winston-Salem, N.C. A part-time Water Mill resident, she was 76.

Keith McDonald of East Hampton, a science teacher at the Tuckahoe School for many years, died at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead on Dec. 13 following a series of medical complications.

Carol Lynne Elms, a caretaker and gardener on Gardiner’s Island and at large estates in East Hampton, died of cardiac arrest on Dec. 10.

Elizabeth Kaplan Fonseca died at home in East Hampton on Dec. 19 after a long illness. She was 93.

Helen Ann MacIsaac, formerly of Amagansett, whose career included over a decade of senior international roles in corporate development, finance, and marketing, died on Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C.

Theresa Whelan, who had a long and distinguished law career on Long Island, died of cancer at East End Hospice in Westhampton Beach on Dec. 26. A resident of Wading River, she was 60.

Harry Kamen, former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of MetLife, died at home in New York City on Dec. 20. A summertime resident of Wainscott, he was 89.

Stephen James Gauger, who worked at the late Gerson and Judith Leiber’s estate in Springs for 41 years, died on Dec. 21 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital of complications of Stage 4 lung cancer. He was 63.

Ernest Cecil Greene Jr., who served in the Marines from 1970 to 1974, died last Thursday at Windmill Village in East Hampton. He was 72.

Rita Foster, who owned and operated Rita’s Stable in Montauk until 2020, died on Dec. 4 at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

Thomas Lindsley, formerly of East Hampton and Springs, a world traveler, an amateur historian, and a cook, died in Schenectady, N.Y., of Covid-19 complications on Nov. 8. He was 71.

William J. Hayes, an artist who became a design-builder on the South Fork in the early 1970s, died on Dec. 14 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue after a long illness. He was 89.

Catherine V. Babcock of East Hampton died on Monday at the age of 98. A graveside service was to be held today at 10 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery on Cedar Street in East Hampton.

Geraldine Cronin-Soszynski, who traced her roots here back many generations, died on Nov. 13 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. She was 96 and had dementia.

Heidi Ann Kulp, known as a “neighborhood mother” in East Hampton, died on Dec. 5. She had been in failing health for the past few years and living in East Patchogue.