Obituaries

    William R. Peters, a corporate lawyer and businessman who had lived in East Hampton for the last 12 years, died on Jan. 21 after a sudden, short illness. His wife of 22 years, Shelley McBee Peters, was by his side. He had just turned 67.

    Mr. Peters was born on Jan. 18, 1946, in Great Neck, and grew up there. He was a graduate of the University of Rochester, where he received a bachelor’s degree, and of New York University Law School, where he earned juris doctor and master’s degrees. During the Vietnam era, he served in the Army.

    Ethyl C. Comerford, formerly of Noyac, a teacher at the Most Holy Trinity School in East Hampton for many years, died on Jan. 8 at the Fairview, a nursing home in Groton, Conn., where she had lived for the past nine months. Ms. Comerford was 92.

    Born on Jan. 14, 1920, in Astoria, Queens, to Joseph Masheck and Rose Cermak, she received a bachelor’s degree from what was formerly known as St. Joseph’s College for Women in Brooklyn. After graduating, she worked first as a secretary at Universal Pictures and later as an executive secretary at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

    James Albert Christensen of Laurel Trail in Sag Harbor, a 91-year old World War II Veteran, died at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton on Jan. 14, seven weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

    Born on Sept. 25, 1921 in Carrollton, Mich. to the former Iva King and Albert Christensen, Mr. Christensen grew up in Saginaw, Mich., where he graduated from St. Andrew’s High School. While there, he served on the Eucharistic committee, English club, Sodality fellowship, and was a member of the football team.

    James H. O’Connell of Bayberry Lane on North Haven, who appeared in numerous community theater productions and was an active member of the Sag Harbor Knights of Columbus and  a lector at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor, died of pneumonia at Southampton Hospital on New Year’s Day. He was 99.

    Mr. O’Connell had retired from Met Life in 1978, where he had a 44-year career as an underwriter and in marketing.

    Mary Michell Kernell, 87,  who came to Amagansett in the early 1980s by way of Beverly Hills, New York City,  Port Washington, and the village of Sands Point in Nassau County, and whose family described her as savvy, extremely well read, kind, and strikingly beautiful, died on Jan. 14 at Southampton Hospital following a brief illness.

    Robert Bruce Anderson Sr., a World War II veteran and descendant of one of East Hampton’s founding families, the Fithians, died on Friday at Southampton Hospital. He was 90 and had lived on Cooper Lane in East Hampton for most of his life.

    He was born on the family homestead on Indian Wells Highway in Amagansett on Jan. 9, 1923, one of 10 children of Herbert Keith Anderson and the former Sybil Rae Fithian. He attended grade school in Amagansett and graduated in East Hampton High School’s class of 1940.

    Robert Harold Levenson, who was as famous for his taglines in the golden age of advertising as he was for his roses in East Hampton, died in New York City on Jan. 16. He was 83 and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

    Mr. Levenson was eulogized in print and blogs in the last week by the advertising industry as a visionary and a generous mentor who told copywriters to imagine they were writing a letter and describing something to an intelligent friend who knew less about the product than they did.

    Walter E. Ershow, who flew 23 missions over enemy territory during World War II, died on Jan. 9 at the age of 89. The cause was heart failure, his family said. A part-time resident of East Hampton, he had been in declining health since October.

    Born in Newark, N.J., on Sept. 14, 1923, to David J. Ershowsky and the former Minnie Reinfeld, he grew up in the Weequahic section of the city. He graduated from Weequahic High School and then attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

    The Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor is handling arrangements for James Christensen of Laurel Trail, Sag Harbor, who died on Monday at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. He was 91. A service had not been announced as of yesterday.

    Mary Kernell, a longtime resident of Amagansett, died early Tuesday morning at Southampton Hospital. She was 87 years old.

    A full obituary will appear in next week’s Star.

    Myron Shulman, an architect who designed houses that embraced the openness and light of the East End, died on Jan. 7 at his house on Sarah’s Lane in Amagansett of Parkinson’s disease. He was 72 and had been in declining health for 13 years.

    Known to his friends as Bud, he was born in Newark to Murray Shulman and the former Augusta Charry on Feb. 17, 1937. Growing up in the Weequahic section of the city, he graduated from Weequahic High School, then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture.

    Robert Bennett of Neck Path, Amagansett, died on Tuesday at the age of 77. A celebration of his life will be announced for a date in the late spring, his wife, Anna Mae Bennett, said. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

    Robert G. Lamparter of Montauk, a civic activist, Boy Scout leader, and dedicated surfcaster who worked passionately to give back to the hamlet he called home, died last Thursday at Southampton Hospital. He was 77 and had cancer.

    Mr. Lamparter built a summer house in Montauk in 1973, splitting his time between Montauk and Commack until he moved east year round in 1996, when he retired from his job as an art and photography teacher at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington.

    Thomas Solheim, a Navy veteran who worked at the Montauk I.G.A. for many years, was found dead at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk last Thursday. The cause of death has not been determined. He was 56.

    He was born on Dec. 28, 1956, on Staten Island, a son of John and Gladys Ford. Mr. Ford survives and lives in Montauk.

    William G. Field, who started Field Appliance Service in East Hampton with his daughter and son, died on Jan. 7, in Ellenton, Fla., after an automobile accident. He was 80.

    Mr. Field was born in Springs on April 22, 1932, to William H. Field and the former Concetta Alberti, and was “an original Bonacker,” his family said.

    Catherine O’Neill, who helped found the Women’s Refugee Commission in 1989 and in a long career had worked for the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund among other notable organizations, died on Dec. 26 at the University of California Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 70 and had had cancer for 12 years.

    Like most college students, Grace Kaufman went to class and did her homework.  Unlike most of her classmates, however, she had earned her first academic degree when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. Ms. Kaufman, a longtime East Hampton resident, died on Dec. 25 in Marlborough, Mass. She had lived for the last 12 years at Lasell Village in Newton, Mass., a retirement community whose residents do hundreds of hours of course work each year at Lasell University, which owns the complex.

    “I count myself a lucky survivor and am pleased, as I hope readers will be, with what I’ve done with my time,” Harvey Shapiro wrote in the author’s note of his final book of poems, “The Sights Along the Harbor,” published in 2006.

    An editor at The New York Times for nearly 40 years and the author of 12 books of poetry, Mr. Shapiro died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 88 and had been in failing health since an operation in November.

    Holly B. Zink Miller of Dogwood Street in Noyac died on Sunday at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. She was 58. Her death followed treatment for pneumonia at Southampton Hospital, her family said.

    Ms. Miller was described by her family as a mother and homemaker with a loving, generous spirit. She was an extraordinary cook, they said, and enjoyed sharing her baking and chocolate-making talents with her loved ones, especially during the many memorable celebrations she hosted at home.

     Margaret E. Stokes, who was 93 and lived at the mobile home park on Oakview Highway in East Hampton, died at home on Christmas Day. She had lived in this area for more than 30 years.

    Ronald E. Sullivan, a seaman who moved to Montauk to raise his family there, died at home in his sleep on Dec. 21 at 74 years of age. Doctors were uncertain of the cause of death, but his family said he died peacefully.

    Born in the Bronx to Edward Joseph Sullivan and the former Anne Dunham on March 16, 1938, he grew up in the Bronx, enlisting in the Navy after he graduated from high school.

    “He served all over the world — Spain, Tripoli, Scotland,” his daughter Julie Smith remembered yesterday.

    Sandra Cantey, a master gardener who designed the gardens at Home, Sweet Home in East Hampton in the 1970s and was also involved in a number of other village activities, died at Southampton Hospital on Dec. 28 after a long illness. She was 74.

    William Cathor of Montauk, a retired New York City police officer, died while enroute to Southampton Hospital on Dec. 17. He was 63 had lung cancer for three-and-a-half years.

    Mr. Cathor was an army veteran and served with the New York Police Department. for 20 years. He was born on May 14, 1949, in Queens. He grew up in Flushing, attended the St. Ann’s parochial school there, and graduated from Francis Lewis High School, also in Queens.

    Beate Sirota Gordon, the author of the key women’s rights aspects in the post-war Japanese Constitution, died of pancreatic cancer at home in Manhattan on Dec. 30. She was 89.

    Ms. Gordon, who had summered in Amagansett since about 1990, was attracted to the South Fork by its art scene. “She had dear friends in the arts community,” her grandson Sam Gordon said.

    A gifted linguist who spoke six languages, she was born in Vienna, Austria, on Oct. 25, 1923, to Leo Sirota and the former Augustine Horenstein.

    Elizabeth Marie Dragotta, a lifelong resident of Amagansett and East Hampton, died on Sunday while vacationing with her family in Palm Beach Shores, Fla. She was 74 and had been ill for some time.

    There will be a funeral service at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church for Sandra Cantey, a Wooded Oak Lane,  East Hampton, resident who died on Friday at Southampton Hospital.

    An obituary will appear in a future issue.

    Irene Dynenson Steinman lived through one of the 20th century’s darkest times. The longtime resident of the Northwest area of East Hampton died on Nov. 30 in West Nyack, N.Y. She was 85.

    She was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1927. In 1941, her family fled the invading German army for Russian-controlled territory, where they obtained visas from Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat to Lithuania. Sugihara is credited with saving the lives of thousands of Jews by way of the travel visas he issued.

    Juana Maria Bahamondes-Castro of Queens Lane, East Hampton, died at Southampton Hospital on Dec. 11 after a yearlong illness. She was 77, having been born in Las Cabras, Chile, on June 12, 1935.

    Born to Abraham Castro and Rufina Donoso, Ms. Bahamondes-Castro was one of 12 children, all of whom immigrated to this country.

    She was married to Jose Bahamondes, who survives, and had enjoyed life as a parent and homemaker.

    Joan Mercado, who had worked in the hospitality and travel industries, died last Thursday at 74 in Conroe, Tex., where she was visiting her son, George Mercado, and his family. Her family said she had been in poor health, but her death was unexpected.

    Louise Turissini, who lived in Noyac year-round from 1968 to 1995, died on Dec. 24 in Indianapolis. She was 96.

    Ms. Turissini began visiting Noyac in 1947 with her husband, Dan Turissini. In 1968, they became full-time residents. After he died, she lived there until 1995, when she went to live with family. While living in Noyac, she was a member of the Sag Harbor Columbiettes, a Catholic women’s organization.

    She was born Louise Monchiero on Feb. 11, 1916, in New York City to the former Teresita Zaghini and Luigi Monchiero.