Obituaries

Elizabeth Bowser, whose lineage and devotion to history propelled her to work for the East Hampton and Eastville Historical Societies and to have an impact on the understanding of Native American, African-American, and colonial crafts and culture, died at the age of 96 at Southampton Hospital on Dec. 17.

Frederick Ernest Bock, a Korean War veteran who worked at Grumman Aerospace making parts for the NASA lunar module, died at home in East Hampton on Jan. 11.

Catherine Gagliotti was known as a dedicated teacher who was generous with her time, patient with students, and helpful to colleagues during the 37 years she taught at East Hampton High School.

The Star has learned of the death of Geraldine Brulte Campsey, the founder of the popular clothing store Flashbacks, in Sag Harbor, where she was a longtime resident.

"He was a man of the ages that we will never see again," said Daniel Rodgers, an attorney and advocate for East End commercial fishermen. "He was very easy to underestimate, but he was absolutely brilliant, one of the smartest men I ever met."

Dorothy Pierson Page Early, a lifelong resident of Sag Harbor who was known as Tootsie, died on Dec. 24 at the Westhampton Beach Care Center.

Dr. Leon Peltz, a New York City physician with a 40-year-long attachment to the East End, died at his North Haven home on Jan. 8.

Services for Fred Bock, who died at home in East Hampton on Monday, begin Thursday.

Gilbert E. Kaplan, who made his fortune as a publisher in the financial world but gained international renown for conducting Mahler’s Second Symphony, died on New Year’s Day in Manhattan of cancer, at 74.

Joe D. Roberts, a veteran of the Army who spent many years employed by the South Shore Produce Company in Bridgehampton, died of cardiac arrest on Dec. 30 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in Lakeland, Fla.

Linda Tuthill, who had worked as a nurse’s aide at Southampton Hospital, died on Dec. 15 at Peconic Bay Medical Centers in Riverhead.

William Hubert Duggan Jr. of Southampton, an attorney with a practice in East Hampton for nearly 40 years who had been a member of the board of directors of Southampton Hospital and Guild Hall in East Hampton, died on Jan. 6 at Southampton Hospital.

Daisy C. Bowe of East Hampton, a graduate of the Bridgehampton School who returned there to become a much-loved elementary teacher for 33 years, died on Dec. 29 at the Adler Center for Caring in Aldie, Va.

Erika Reider Mark of Manhattan, who owned a house in East Hampton Village for over 30 years and was a member of the East Hampton Tennis Club and the Noyac Golf Club, died in New York City on Tuesday.

Frances Shilowich, an accountant with the Markowitz and Preische firm in East Hampton for many years before opening her own practice, counted not only many local businesses but also the artist Willem de Kooning among her clients and friends.

The family of Gilbert E. Kaplan, who died in New York City on New Year’s Day, will receive friends today at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Avenue, from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m.

Irving Hirschberg, a year-round resident of Amagansett for the last 35 years, died at Southampton Hospital on Dec. 30 following a heart attack.

Janine Marie Strong, familiar to many as a dental assistant in East Hampton offices of Dr. Gerald Sexton and later Dr. Michael Edwards, died at home in East Hampton on Saturday.

Karen Rickenbach Mesiha, 54, a survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and the daughter of East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and his wife, the former Jean Smith, died of cancer on Dec. 12 at St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, a village in Nassau County, after a long illness.

Leonard Exter Spector, who most recently divided his time between a house on Flaggy Hole Road in Springs and Deer Isle, Me., died on Dec. 12 at Southampton Hospital.

Antoinette O’Connor, a part-time resident of Montauk for 43 years who was called both Rose and Toni, died on Dec. 5. She was 85 and had had a respiratory illness for about eight years.

Mike Kirshenbaum, a retired director of personnel for the Department of the Navy, died at Southampton Hospital on Friday at the age of 96. The cause was attributed to congestive heart failure and pneumonia.

Patricia Story, the East Hampton High School nurse for 25 years who cared for children with AIDS after her retirement, died on Dec. 13 at Avow Hospice in Naples, Fla.

Rose Millevolte, an artist who owned and operated Gallery East in East Hampton for 25 years, died in Naples, Fla., on Dec. 20 following what her loved ones described as a “long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease.”

Ann Shengold, an artist and art director who lived on Sherrill Road in East Hampton for several years, died of lung cancer on Nov. 26 at home in Mattituck.

Pete DeCastro of Springs, a carpenter and builder who was a descendant of Sag Harbor fishermen and whalers, died at home of cancer on Friday evening.

Richard Moore Thayer, a Sagaponack resident and former member of the Sagaponack School Board, died at home last Thursday.

William B. Conway, who grew up in Montauk and became a civil engineer and partner in Modjeski and Masters, which specialized in bridge-building, died on Dec. 14 in New Orleans, where he had lived with his family for many years.

William H. Miller, a former resident of Amagansett, where he played in the men’s slow-pitch softball league for many years, died on Dec. 12 in Panama City, Fla.

Clara LiPani, who was an active and devoted member of St. Terese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, where she had lived with her family, died on Dec. 3.