Obituaries

Sue Bogart's entire professional career was devoted to teaching children. “She inspired students in Illinois, the state of her birth; New York, and, for the last 23 years of her career, East Orange, N.J., an experience she regarded as the most enriching of her professional life,” her family wrote.

Linda Sue Russell's lifelong goal, her family wrote, was to be happy and raise a family, and that she did. She died at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Nov. 13.

Visiting hours for Bruce J. Hoek of Springs will be held on Monday from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A service is planned for Tuesday morning at 10 at the funeral home, with burial to follow at 11 at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk.

Samuel Joffe of Water Mill and New York City came to professional baking later in life but took to it with gusto, enrolling at the age of 65 in the International Pastry Arts Center and eventually opening Georgica Bakers in Amagansett.

Linda Lawry, a well-known wine educator who retired in 2018 as director of the International Wine Center in Manhattan, died of cardiac arrest on Nov. 25. “For me, and for countless other wine professionals in New York City, Linda was the reason they pursued wine as a career," her successor at the center said.

Bruce J. Hoek of Clearwater Beach, Springs, died on Friday after an illness. He was 73. Mr. Hoek was a Air Force veteran and a 20-year member of the Fire Department in White Plains, N.Y.

Visiting hours for Dennis Franklin Donatuti of Springs, who died on Nov. 5 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, will be held Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton.

A. Robert Towbin, an investment banker and sailor who lived in Key Largo, Fla., and New York City, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on Nov. 18 at home in Key Largo. A former East Hampton resident, he was 86 years old.

A wake for Richard Bono will be held on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral will take place on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Cedar Lawn Cemetery here.

Kevin Francis Konzet, formerly of Springs, died of a heart attack on Nov. 25 at home in Cornelius, N.C. He was 68. The family will receive visitors on Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral Mass will be said on Friday at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church here, with burial to follow at the church cemetery on Cedar Street.

Visiting hours for Chris (Mac) McErlean of Flanders, who grew up in Sag Harbor, will be Monday from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor. He will be buried on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Oakland Cemetery. Mr. McErlean died suddenly on Tuesday while at work. He was 38. An obituary will appear in a future issue of The Star.

When he was a senior in college, Edwin Collins decided he wanted to take a solo bicycle trip across the United States. He prepared by taking training rides on the East End that started and ended at his parents’ house in Montauk, and he often rode home after midnight, after his dishwashing shift at Gosman’s Dock restaurant. The journey ultimately took him from Portland, Ore., to Beacon Hill in Boston, where he pedaled up to his sister’s apartment and was greeted by cheers from his family.