U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Richard A. Edwards
Richard A. (Dick) Edwards, long-time Island resident and owner of the Dory, an Island landmark, died on December 10, 2002 after a prolonged struggle with cancer. He was 73.
Mr. Edwards was born on December 21, 1929 in Brooklyn. He graduated from Poly Prep C.D. School in Brooklyn in 1948. He had an outstanding record of achievement while at Poly, earning distinction in football, wrestling and track. He was the president of his senior class and president of the school's Honor Society.
He graduated from Williams College in 1952. While at Williams, he was president of his fraternity and a member of the Air Force R.O.T.C. He won the New England intercollegiate heavyweight wrestling championship.
Following his graduation from Williams, he entered the Air Force flight program, earning his wings and spending the balance of his tour of duty flying F-86 Sabrejets in the American Defense Command. His last assignment was at Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh. Older residents of Shelter Island may recall one of the several times he flew his jet over the Island on a training mission.
Islander David Huschle, Mr. Edwards's friend for more than 50 years, remembers an incident in the mid-50s involving the young jet aviator. "While flying over New York, at night, he unwillingly found himself a member of the 'Caterpillar Club,'" named for the caterpillar silk from which parachutes were made then. This was "a unique association of aviators who are forced to bail out of a stricken aircraft. The story was front-page news in the New York Herald Tribune and the Daily News." In 1950-51, he remembers, they "worked together on the infamous lima bean machines," as part of the Shelter Island Farmers' Cooperative.
In the mid-60s, after leaving the Air Force, Mr. Edwards owned and operated a restaurant and bar in New York City, just off Lexington Avenue. The name of the establishment was, not surprisingly, Dick Edwards. It was during this time that he and a friend of his, also a summer resident of the Island, bought a small plane and attempted to start a weekend commuter business between New York City and the eastern end of Long Island. The Shelter Island terminus was Frank Klen's Shelter Island International Airport. The business survived for several years until the partners decided to sell the aircraft.
Having spent the first 40 or so of his summers on Shelter Island, Mr. Edwards decided it would be a good place to make his year-round home. In the late 1970s he moved to the Island on a permanent basis, built a house overlooking Shelter Island Sound and became a full-time owner and operator of the Dory Restaurant in the Heights. His brother Bob commented that Dick acquired the Dory for exactly the same reason he had bought the restaurant in New York -- he spent much of his non-working and leisure time at the bars in these establishments and decided that instead of the money flowing from his pocket across the bar he would buy the place and reverse the direction of the flow.
Mr. Edwards never married but he lived a full and eventful life. "He was strong willed and held strong opinions on many subjects," his family said, "but his many friends both on and off the Island will remember him as a loyal and generous friend. His family and friends will miss him and will share fond memories of the many good times shared with him."
Bob Edwards wrote that the family particularly wanted to thank Tricia and Jim Lenzer "for all the love, care and affection they afforded to Dick during the past few months. Words can never express our appreciation for all they did."
Mr. Edwards was predeceased by his parents, Gordon L. and Maie Edwards, formerly of Brooklyn and Dering Harbor, and is survived by his brother Gordon R. (Bob) Edwards and his sister-in-law Nancy L. Edwards, both of Houston, Texas. He is also survived by two nieces, Sharon L. Edwards of Atlanta, Georgia and Susan Bopp of Houston; his nephew, Dr. Gordon W. Edwards of Houston; and three grand-nieces and one grand-nephew.
Funeral arrangements are in the care of the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home on Shelter Island. A memorial service will be held at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Shelter Island on January 11, 2003 at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Mary's or a charity of the donor's choice.
Jan Garis
Jan Russell Garis of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Nantucket, Massachusetts; and Hatfield, Pennsylvania; and a former employee of the Dering Harbor Inn, died Tuesday, November 19, 2002 in Cheyenne. He was 50.
Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Doris (Grasse) Gans of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania and the late Russell E. Garis. He was a 1970 graduate of North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania and a 1975 graduate of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
A resort and hotel manager, Mr. Garis was employed by the Quality Inn in Cheyenne at the time of his death. In the 1980s, he worked for several years as part of the management team at the Dering Harbor Inn. His career included hotels on Nantucket, in the British West Indies, Middletown, Virginia and in Michigan and Ohio.
Mr. Garis is survived by his mother and his sister Jane Rebecca Garis of Reading, Pennsylvania.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102.
Helen Ledgerwood Davis
Helen Ledgerwood Davis, a full-time resident of Hilo since she and her husband, the Reverend Lewis H. Davis, retired to their Shelter Island home in 1967, died, after a brief illness, of heart failure at Eastern Long Island Hospital on December 11, 2002. She was 99.
An artist who worked in several mediums and painted 18 hope chests on separate themes for her children and grandchildren, Mrs. Davis served with her husband throughout his career in seven Methodist pastorates in New York and Connecticut, including two on Long Island: Bellport (1933-1934) and Cutchogue (1934-1939). The Reverend Davis, who died 19 years ago at the couple's Shelter Island home, also served for a time as interim pastor at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.
As a self-employed artist, Mrs. Davis made quilts, hooked rugs, drew Shelter Island scenes, worked in oils, watercolor, ink and colored pencils and decorated furniture.
In a homily presented by her son-in-law Robert W. Howard at the December 14 funeral for Mrs. Davis at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, he spoke of message from Mrs. Davis's niece sent upon learning of her passing. She "saluted Helen for her graciousness and her artistry. She also remembered her waste-not, want-not principle, born, I suspect, from a childhood in a family with little enough means, a bias accentuated by her later years as the wife of a preacher during the Depression."
Born August 25, 1903 in Sandborn, Indiana, Mrs. Davis moved with her family when she was a young child to South Pasadena, California, where she grew up. She earned a B.A. degree at Los Angeles Campus of UCLA and went on to Teacher's College of Columbia University in New York, where she earned her master's degree and met her future husband, a student at nearby Union Theological Seminary, on a blind date. They were married November 1, 1932 at Union Seminary's Lampman Chapel.
The Reverend Davis, who was from Amityville, was a sailor and one highlight of their life together came early: a six-month cruise after their marriage on a 36-foot motorsail out of Greenport. They were reported lost at sea in a gale off Cape Hatteras "that had everyone, including The New York Times, wondering about their safety," according to her son-in-law Mr. Howard, and continued on to tour the Caribbean, where after six months they shipwrecked on a coral reef off Cuba. They returned home by way of a sugar boat and began their 35 years of professional life.
They served Methodist pastorates in the Connecticut towns of Seymour, Torrington, Bristol and Stamford as well as in Brooklyn and Dobbs Ferry, New York. After they retired to Shelter Island, the Reverend Davis was a frequent preacher at the Presbyterian Church, a tenor in the choir and an "unofficial pastor" to many Island families, according to his son-in-law, who is retired pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Valley Stream.
Mrs. Davis is survived by her children Barbara Davis Howard and Eleanor Davis Tener of West Hartford, Connecticut, and Donald Ward Davis of Portchester, New York. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by two brothers, Charles and Kenneth Ledgerwood, and a sister, Evelyn Bishop.
Services on December 14 at the Presbyterian Church were officiated by Pastor Bill Grimbol.
Louis Studer
Louis Studer, 95, of East Charleston, Vermont and Shelter Island, died peacefully on December 7, 2002 in the Bel Aire Nursing Home in Newport Center, Vermont.
While summering on Shelter Island, he designed and created the logo for the Shelter Island Country Club (Goat Hill Golf Course), which is the logo currently used by the club.
The legacy of his original poems, memoirs, works of art, jewelry and recipes will live on, a family member commented.
Mr. Studer graduated from the master's program of the Fine Arts Academy in Rome, Italy. In 1928 he relocated to the United States, founded and was president of Consolidated Engravers of New York City where his knowledge of art was applied to commercial endeavors.
After recuperating from a massive heart attack in 1955, he returned to Rome where he established and was CEO of Leoni and Studer, a new Fiat automobile dealership in Frascati, which served 18 surrounding towns.
He was predeceased by his wife Rita of Jessup, Pennsylvania and his son-in-law Richard Butler of Shelter Island. He is survived by his daughter, Linda Butler of Shelter Island; his grandson Major Chris Butler, his wife Julie and three grandchildren residing in Arizona; his son Bruno Studer and wife Linda of East Charleston, Vermont, their four children and seven great-grandchildren.
A private service will be held for family members in Venice, Florida on December 21. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a local hospice chapter or St. Gabriel's Retreat Center.
Gail Fokine
Former Shelter Island resident Gail Fokine died after a long illness on April 1, 2003 at her home in Shaftsbury, Vermont, where she had moved from Shelter Island in June, 2002.
The daughter of the late Daniel and Dorothy (Venus) Kearns, Mrs. Fokine was born in Bronxville, New York on February 18, 1953 and educated in the Yonkers, New York public schools.
She was married to John Fokine in Yonkers on August 3, 1980. Mrs. Fokine operated a copying service called Island Blueprint on Shelter Island. Her last employment was as a pharmacy technician at Cerr Drugs in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she had moved after living on Shelter Island from 1988 to 1993. She returned to the Island in 1995 before her move to Vermont last year with her husband.
"She was a loving and caring person who touched the hearts and lives of all who knew her," her friend Naeme Clark of Shelter Island said.
She was a member of the East End Church of Christ in East Hampton. Survivors in addition to her husband include a sister, Donna Jones of Tinton Falls, New Jersey and her very close friend, Naeme Clark.
Private services were to be held at the convenience of the family.
Memorial donations may be made to the East End Church of Christ, P.O. Box 1187, East Hampton, New York 11937.
Annemarie S. White
Annemarie S. White died on Friday, September 26, 2003 at her home on Shelter Island.
Born in Leipzig, Germany on October 29, 1917, she moved to New York City in 1939, becoming a U.S. citizen and member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
After summering on Shelter Island for many years, Mrs. White moved here permanently in 1973 with her husband, the Reverend Paul C. White. She worked for many years as a chef for the Shelter Island Yacht Club and Gardiner's Bay Country Club.
Skilled at sewing, knitting and crocheting, Mrs. White also enjoyed working in her garden and swimming at Island beaches. She was a member of the Shelter Island Senior Citizens Association and lent her dressmaking skills to many Shelter Island Players productions.
Predeceased by her husband, Paul, and brothers Carl and Helmut Voigt of Germany, Mrs. White is survived by nephews Helmut Voigt and Wolfgang Voigt of Leipzig.
A funeral was held at the DeFriest-Grattan Shelter Island Funeral Home with interment at the Emily French Cemetery on September 30.
Those wishing to remember Annemarie may make a donation to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, New York 11978.
