U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Helen Dorothy Senft
Helen Dorothy Senft of Shelter Island died at home on Wednesday, June 25, 2003. She was 80. Born in the Bronx on November 10, 1922 to Kurt and Helen (nee Spangenberg) Dietze, she and her husband Henry lived in Massapequa, where she was active in the Parent Teacher Association. Predeceased by her husband on March 29, 2000, she leaves her daughter, Karen Mullins and Jeanne Fenkl of Shelter Island and Paula Senft of Piermont, New York; her brother, Walter Dietze of Scottsdale, Arizona and five grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to The Shelter Island Funeral Home. Religious services were held on Tuesday, July 1 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Shelter Island. Interment followed in St. Mary's churchyard. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, New York11978.
Virginia C. Homan
Virginia C. Homan, a resident of Shelter Island since 1961, died on June 21, 2002 at home after an extended illness. She is survived by her son Richard V. Homan, daughter-in-law Rita and three grandchildren -- Andrew, Katherine and Gregory.
In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to be made to the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.
Leon Uris
Leon Uris, author of 13 novels including "Exodus," died of natural causes at his home on Shelter Island at age 78 on Saturday, June 21, 2003. He had been a resident of the Island for the past 15 years.
Mr. Uris came to the Island in 1988. After spending most of the 1960s and 1970s in Aspen, Colorado, having relished the success of several bestsellers including "Battle Cry," "Exodus" and "Mila 18," he was in search of a quieter lifestyle. William Reilly, who grew up in the Hamptons and had recently purchased the theatrical rights to Mr. Uris' book, "Trinity," introduced him to the Island, where the author purchased a creek-side split-level home in the Heights near the Dory.
In an interview with Newsday in July 1993, when asked about his home on Shelter Island, he said, "It's peaceful here, except when the cowboy bar goes off on Saturday night. I live here very privately."
When Mr. Uris moved to the Island he was working on the sequel to his bestseller "Trinity," a novel tracing the trials of three Irish families from the mid-19th century to the Easter Rising of 1916.
He explained that Shelter Island had "done a lot for my psyche." Mr. Uris felt that his sequel "Redemption" presented a matured perspective with greater introspection. His more recent novels focus more on individual relationships, rather than history. "It's the old story of using the second half of your life to get over the first half," he said.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 3, 1924 to Polish immigrant, William Uris, and Anna (Blumberg) Uris, the author suffered the divorce of his parents at about age 4. He spent his childhood moving from poor Jewish neighborhoods in Baltimore, Norfolk, Virginia and Philadelphia.
Mr. Uris never graduated from high school, after failing English three times, and decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 at age 17. He served in Guadalcanal, Tarawa and New Zealand until 1945, when he returned to the States and struggled as a starving writer. He got his first and only job as a circulation district manager with the San Francisco Call-Bulletin and continued writing at night.
He published his first novel "Battle Cry" in 1954. It would be his first of many novels on Marines in World War II.
He proceeded to write the screenplay to "Battle Cry" and "Gunfight at the OK Corral," and achieved enormous success with the publication of "Exodus" in 1958, a story about the creation of Israel.
The novel, translated into 50 different languages and secretly distributed in communist countries, was the biggest bestseller since "Gone With the Wind." It was followed by further success in 1961 with "Mila 18," about the Jewish uprising in Warsaw during World War II, and "Trinity" in 1975.
On Shelter Island, Mr. Uris completed "Redemption" in 1995, "A God in Ruins" in 1999 and "O'Hara's Choice," another Marine story that is purported to be his best novel. It will be released in October.
He is survived by his sister Esther (Essie) Kofsky of Baltimore, Maryland and five children from two of three marriages: Karen Duffy of California, Mark Uris of Colorado, Michael Uris of California and Rachael and Conor Uris of Colorado.
Mr. Uris will be buried later this week in Washington, D.C., where he will receive full military honors.
Gladys Helen Zajicek
Gladys Helen Zajicek of West Sayville, New York, formerly of Shelter Island, died on Monday, June 17, 2002 in Southside Hospital in Bay Shore after a brief illness. She was 87.
Mrs. Zajicek was born in Sayville. She was retired from Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage where she was executive secretary in the manufacturing/engineering division of the lunar module space program.
Mrs. Zajicek was predeceased by her husband of 63 years, Edward, in 1999. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, June and Bruce Garben of West Sayville; son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Elizabeth Zajicek of Central Islip; two sisters, Viola Guerrera and Camille Wilson; four grand-children, Lynn Blasso, Thomas Garben, James Zajicek and Kimberly Berenson; and six great-grandchildren, Gregory and Douglas Blasso, Seth and Rachel Garben, James Hook and Janaya Berenson.
Friends and relatives visited on June 19 at the Raynor & D'Andrea Funeral Home in West Sayville. A religious service will be held today at 10 a.m. at the funeral home with the Reverend Larry Sharpe, Pastor of the Sayville Methodist Church, officiating. Interment will follow in St. Ann's Cemetery in Sayville.
Contributions to the Shelter Island Red Cross Ambulance would be appreciated by the family.
Lillian C. Miller
Lillian C. Miller died on June 13, 2002 at her home on Shelter Island. Known as "Aunt Babe," Mrs. Miller was born in New Jersey and grew up in Jackson Heights and Flushing, Queens. She was a graduate of Hunter College and held an administrative position with A T & T for about 40 years.
Mondays on Shelter Island were special to Babe, her sister-in-law Mary Cronin said. She attended the Senior Citizen Nutrition Program and although she could eat very little, she looked forward to being with her friends. When Babe was young, her aunt had a home on Shelter Island and she was a visitor there since childhood. She and her husband purchased their own home on the Island 32 years ago and she enjoyed living here full time since the early 1990s.
Mrs. Miller was preceded in death by her much loved husband, Uncle Jack; her close and caring sister Estelle Cronin (Aunt Jessie Cronin); and her devoted brother Judge Howie D. Cronin.
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Mary Cronin; her nephews, James and Thomas Cronin of Shelter Island and John Cronin of Bellmore; her nieces, Kathleen Gibney of South Bend, Indiana, Anne Kessler of Hicksville, Mary Fran Romano of Oceanside and Beth Cronin of Bellmore; and 19 grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
A funeral service was held at Our Lady of the Isle on June 17; Father Charles Dougherty officiated. Lillian Miller was laid to rest with her husband in Saint Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.
Robert E. Gesslein
Robert E. Gesslein of Mineola, New York died on June 12, 2002. He was 71. Mr. Gesslein and his family spent almost every summer since 1940 on Shelter Island.
Mr. Gesslein was born on Long Island on January 5, 1931 and was a graduate of Corpus Christi in Mineola and St. Dominique High School in Oyster Bay, New York. He received a degree from St. John's University in Queens, New York.
He served in the United States Army in Germany for several years and worked at the Journal American and later at Long Island University as a public relations and sports director.
Following his retirement, Mr. Gesslein was a volunteer at the Winthrop University Hospital Emergency Ward and volunteered in the hospital's thrift shop. He was also an usher at Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in Mineola.
Mr. Gesslein is survived by his sister, Mary Otten of Williston Park, New York, and his brother, John Gesslein of Chesapeake, Viriginia, as well as by a number of nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.
Elizabeth Needham
Elizabeth (Betty) Lassiter Needham died at her home on Shelter Island on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 at the age of 93.
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, she attended the University of Massachusetts. Her husband of 54 years, Basil Arthur Needham, predeceased her in 1980.
Mrs. Needham was active in women's organizations, particularly Flushing Hospital Medical Center Babies Alumni, which sends children born at the hospital a birthday card every year.
An avid golfer of some 70 years with three holes in one to her credit, she was president of the Women's Metropolitan Golf Association in 1963-1964. She was unofficial poet-laureate of the Nine-Holers, Ogden Nash-style, when she was playing with that group.
Prior to her Gardiner's Bay County Club association, she and her husband were members of Deepdale Country Club in Manhasset for 25 years. They also maintained a residence in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida.
Mrs. Needham is survived by her four children, Cynthia and Robert of Shelter Island, Richard of Noyac and Basil Jr. of Carolina Shores, North Carolina, seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Her family requests that memorial contributions be made to the East End Hospice, 481 Westhampton-Riverhead Road, Westhampton Beach, New York 11978-7048.
Butch Labrozzi Sr.
Albert Louis (Butch) Labrozzi Sr. passed away on Sunday, May 25, 2003 at Southampton Hospital. His funeral was held on Friday, May 30, 2003 at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church with The Reverend William Grimbol officiating.
Butch, as he was known to all who knew him, was born on July 27, 1938 to Julia and Antonio Labrozzi. He graduated from Shelter Island High School in 1957 and was self-employed as a mason contractor.
He was a member of the Shelter Island Fire Department and the American Legion. He served as a sergeant in the National Guard and was in charge of all U.S. Army vehicles based in Riverhead.
Everyone who knew Butch was well acquainted with his devotion to his family and his love of children. He taught them to hunt, to fish, to work on cars and other mechanical equipment and to love and respect the beauty and heritage of Shelter Island. "This gentle giant," as Pastor Bill Grimbol referred to him, will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Butch is survived by his wife Cynthia and son Albert (Butch) Jr. of Shelter Island and his brothers Matthew and Mark of Shelter Island. He was predeceased by his sister Julia Ann of Shelter Island and son Lawrence Scott.
The family asks that memorial donations be made to the Presbyterian Church.
Correction
The obituary for Albert Louis (Butch) Labrozzi, Sr. omitted the name of his brother, Anthony of Sylvan Beach, New York, as among the survivors.
Virginia Devine
Virginia ("Ginna") Devine, nÉe LeVoy, died on June 3, 2002. She was 85.
Mrs. Devine was born on January 10, 1917 in New York City. The family moved to Maryland where she completed a bachelor's degree in English in an accelerated three-year program at the University of Maryland. Her love of literature continued throughout her life. She was "always writing" and was a "voracious reader," her friend and South Midway Road neighbor Helen Kornblatt said. During the winters, she read to children at the Shelter Island Library.
On October 4, 1940, she married Gerard M. Devine, who would be her husband for 61 years. They lived on Long Island for many years and became residents of Shelter Island 18 years ago. They left the Island this year to move to Warwick, New York where Ms. Devine's son and his family live.
Mrs. Devine worked for several years as an administrative analyst for the City of New York's department of buildings and was at one time an aide to the building commissioner.
On Shelter Island, Mrs. Devine played with the nine-holers at Gardiner's Bay Country Club to which she and her husband belonged. She was a member of the Garden Club of Shelter Island and a "ribbon collector," Mrs. Kornblatt said, for some of her floral displays.
Mrs. Devine was also a volunteer at Eastern Long Island Hospital.
"She was a poet, humanist and source of life and love -- a beautiful woman," her family wrote.
She will be missed, they said, by all who loved her but especially by her husband, Jerry; her sister Nadine Sullivan of Bayside, New York; her daughter Leslie and husband John Page of Barrington, Illinois; and her son, Christopher and his wife Marie of Warwick, New York. She leaves five grandchildren -- John and Ginger Page and Christopher, Lindsay and GT Devine.
A memorial service will be held today, Thursday, June 13 at 3 p.m. at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow at the home of Helen Kornblatt, 90 South Midway Road.
Lucius Boley
Lucius Boley, 79, a long-time weekend resident of Shelter Island Heights, died May 10, 2002 at his Manhattan apartment. The cause was heart disease.
Antiquarians will remember him for his love of old things. He never missed a Shelter Island Library book sale, where he might pick up an obsolete textbook or out-of-date children's book. At yard sales he found Shelter Island memorabilia and old post cards. One wall of his living room displayed an assemblage of old small tools, cookware and utensils.
His affection for the old extended to his terrace full of plants. He carefully cared for the geraniums, petunias, begonias and herbs that generally thrived in the sun on his deck, but if one was aging and drooping, he kept trying to bring it back to health.
He was born in Gorizia, Italy, grew up in Milan and came to America with his family just before the outbreak of World War II. He was educated at City College of New York and Columbia University. A civil engineer, he had a long career as a general contractor and continued to work in real estate throughout his life. He built a house in the Heights 35 years ago and spent weekends here year-round.
Mr. Boley was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of Gardiner's Bay Country Club.
He is survived by his companion of 48 years, Josephine Dakin; by his brother Bruno; a niece, Jacqueline Boley; a nephew, Daniel Boley; and a grandniece.
A memorial service will be held in the late summer.
