U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Margaret S. Joyce
Margaret (Peggy) S. Joyce died Tuesday, February 27, 2001, in her home on Cartwright Road, Shelter Island to which she and her late husband, Robert Joyce Sr., had retired 30 years ago. She was 93 years old.
Born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1908, she spent the years from 1913 to 1919 on American Samoa. She graduated from high school in Great Neck, New York in 1926. For much of her adult life she lived in New York City and worked as an editor for McFadden Publications from 1947 until she retired. For many years she was active on the Documents Committee of the Shelter Island Historical Society.
She is survived by her daughter, Margaret S. Benson of State College, Pennsylvania; her step-son Robert Joyce Jr. of New York City and Shelter Island; and by four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. A family memorial will be held at a later date, to be announced.
Dr. Victor J. Young
Dr. Victor J. Young, physicist, professor emeritus of City University of New York and Queensboro College, a Sperry-Rand research engineer and former vice president of Hazeltine, died on March 1, 2002 at Eastern Long Island Hospital. He was 88 years old and a resident of Greenport.
Dr. Young had visited Shelter Island with his son and daughter-in-law and his dream was to spend his last few years here. "The Island reached out and hugged him," his son, Donald J. Young, said, "he just fell in love with it." Dr. Young was in contract for a home on Gardiner's Creek at the time of his death. His son and daughter-in-law, Dr. JoAnn Frazer Young, plan to live his dream for him in the house on Shelter Island, along with Dr. Young's favorite cat, LaPorte.
Born in Albion, Michigan on April 11, 1913 to Dean C. Young and Katherine Raub, Dr. Young was graduated summa cum laude from Albion College and received his master's and doctorate from the University of Iowa. While at the university, the Phi Beta Kappa member met Margaret Brandt of Hastings, Michigan and they married in June of 1940.
Dr. Young was the author of the book, Understanding Microwaves, and was a member of the team that developed the cyclotron. He was also proud to be an Eagle Scout.
The Youngs spent their retirement years traveling extensively throughout the world. They would select a location they wished to visit and would then spend two months living there. Among the countries they visited were China, Germany, Japan, Austria, Australia, France, Jamaica, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and Iran.
Formerly a 50-year resident of Port Washington, he was a member of the First United Methodist Church there and upon moving to Greenport in July of 2001, he became a member of the Greenport United Methodist Church.
Predeceased by his wife on December 30, 1998, he leaves his sons, Donald J. Young and wife, Dr. JoAnn Frazer Young, of Cutchogue, and Jan Brandt Young and his wife, Mary Henry Young, of Port Washington, Wisconsin; grandchildren, Alice Serra and Tom Young; and great-grandchildren, Julia and Joseph Serra; and his beloved cat, LaPorte.
Graveside services will be held on Thursday, March 7 at 10 a.m. in the Parkview Cemetery in Hastings, Nebraska. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Homes in Southold. A memorial service at the Greenport United Methodist Church is being planned.
Fred Stern
Fred Stern of Shelter Island died at the San Simeon nursing home in Greenport on Monday, February 26, 2001. He was 100 years old.
Mr. Stern was born in Austria on December 12, 1900 to Soloman Stern and Clara Handler. He emigrated to the United States as a child.
In 1920, he began an apprenticeship as an artist's assistant. Later he became the art director for a group of trade magazines and also wrote a column for the magazine, Stamps, titled, "It's Only A Postage Stamp, But," which was eventually syndicated in 65 newspapers. For 30 years, Mr. Stern was the owner of the Manning Advertising Agency in Manhattan.
A well-known resident of Shelter Island, Mr. Stern lived in a creek-side cottage on Bay Avenue until last year, when he went to San Simeon by the Sound. Prior to moving off-Island, Mr. Stern had been a long-time member of the Shelter Island Duplicate Bridge Group, and returned to the Island in December when the group hosted his 100th birthday party.
Predeceased by his wife, Ellen, a former fashion model, he is survived by his step-children Sumner Claren of Silver Springs, Maryland and Jane Waldeck of Spring Grove, Illinois; his two sisters, Ann Buchwald and Shirley Drexler, both of New York City; and three step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren.
Services will be held on Saturday, March 3 at 2 p.m. at the Shelter Island Funeral Home at 23 West Neck Road on Shelter Island. A reception will follow at St. Mary's Parish Hall.
Mary Coleman Sherman
Mary (May) Coleman Sherman, formerly of Shelter Island and Georgetown, South Carolina, died on Wednesday, February 20, 2002 at Bristol Glen in Newton, New Jersey. She was 91. She and her husband, the Honorable Chester D. Sherman, had been living at Plantation Village, a life-care retirement community in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The daughter of Thomas A. and Mary Mackey Coleman, Mrs. Sherman was born in Astonia, New York on October 1, 1910. She graduated from Bryant High School and attended the City College of New York. Prior to her marriage, she was employed by the Connecticut Exchange Bank and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
Mr. and Mrs. Sherman spent most of their married lives on Shelter Island, either in their summer cottage, from 1941 to 1951, or at their year-round house, from 1951 to 1984, after which they moved to Wedgefield Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina where they had a winter condo since 1974.
Active in community affairs, Mrs. Sherman served as elder and clerk of the Session of the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church and was membership chairman of the Garden Club of Shelter Island for several years. She served as secretary of the Women's Community Club and treasurer of the Republican Club and was a secondary school teacher and Cub Scout den mother. Her husband was a Shelter Island Town Justice.
In Georgetown, Mrs. Sherman was a volunteer in the gift shop of Georgetown Memorial Hospital and vice president of the Winyah Bay Garden Club. She was a member of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Sherman was a member of the Gardiner's Bay Country Club while she lived on Shelter Island and the Wedgefield Country Club in Georgetown. After moving to Wilmington, she became a member of St. Andrews Convenant Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Sherman is predeceased by a brother, Thomas B. Coleman, and a daughter, Mary Hope Sherman, and by her husband of 65 years, who died in 1996. She is survived by a son, Chester Coleman Sherman of Kenbridge, Virginia, and two daughters, Dorothy Welch of Sparta, New Jersey and Catherine Owens of Anderson, Alabama, as well as seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Sherman's son-in-law, the Reverend Dr. H. Alden Welch, will conduct a graveside service on Sunday, March 3 at 12 noon in the Shelter Island Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Bristol Glen, 200 Woodside Avenue, Newton, New Jersey 07860. Expressions of sympathy may be sent to Dorothy S. Welch, 126 Wagon Wheel Road, Sparta, New Jersey 07871.
Jean Ritchie Dingerson
Jean Ritchie Dingerson, 72, of Rochester, New York, died of cancer on January 31, 2002, at her summer home in Grand Isle, Vermont.
She was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of Russell E. and Virginia W. Ritchie, and grew up in Bellerose, Long Island. In 1950 she graduated from the University of Vermont with a major in political science. She worked for the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York City before marrying William Dingerson in 1952. The couple lived in Philadelphia and Chicago prior to settling in Rochester in l956. The Ritchie family built their home on Ram Island in 1956.
Enthusiastic birdwatchers and hikers, the Dingersons traveled to Ireland, England, France, Russia and Costa Rica and made frequent trips to visit their grandchildren in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Dingerson is survived by her husband, their three children, Ann of San Francisco (with her husband Kevin Corkery); Leigh of Washington, D.C. (with her husband Tom Israel); and Scott of Rochester (with his partner Andrea Fornalik); and by her sister Celia Ann Ritchie of New York City. Four grandchildren will also hold her in their fondest memories: Kelsey and Teagan Corkery and Emma and Abbie Israel.
Interment will take place at a later date in Burlington, Vermont. Those who wish may make a contribution in Mrs. Dingerson's name to a charity of their choice.
Arthur Pederson
A memorial service for Shelter Island High School teacher Arthur Pederson will take place on Thursday, February 27, 2003, at Our Lady of the Isle Catholic Church at 1 p.m.
Peter Laird Vielbig
Peter Laird Vielbig, 32, of Fresh Pond Road, North Haven, died February 19, 2003 at home. An accomplished professional chef, he was the son of Peter and Gail Morrison Vielbig of Shelter Island.
Born July 15, 1970, in Princeton, New Jersey, Laird graduated from Princeton Day School and the four-year culinary program at the New England Culinary Institute (NECI) in Montpelier, Vermont. He was a life-long resident of Princeton before he moved to the East End five years ago.
He was the personal chef of Kenneth Kuchin and Bruce Anderson of East Hampton and told people that he had the best job in the world, one with caring, discriminating employers whose commitment to the highest standards supported the work of the kitchen. Their aesthetics challenged his skills and pushed him to new heights of professional accomplishment, he said.
Before going to work for the Kuchin/Anderson family last year, he worked in the kitchens at Nick and Toni's, Rowdy Hall, The Beacon and Red Bar in the Hamptons. He appreciated the accessibility of local produce and seafood, which he incorporated in many of his recipes. He made many good friends among the culinary community here and enjoyed their company on and off the job.
He felt it was a stroke of the best luck to have interned in the kitchen of Hiro Sone at Terra in St. Helena, California, rated by Zagat's as having the best kitchen in the Napa Valley. Following Terra, he returned to the East End where he'd spent every summer since childhood.
Laird approached his cooking as if it were a gift with which he was honoring the recipient. He experienced pure joy in every aspect of food preparation from the selection and care of his tools to the quality of the ingredients to the actual preparation. He insisted on personally selecting each element of a recipe, ostensibly to insure its quality, but his parents said they suspected it also had something to do with the pleasure he got from talking with the butcher at Citarella, the fishmongers at Wainscott Seafood and all the other local purveyors.
When not in the kitchen, Laird indulged his passion for everything on and of the waters off Shelter Island and Sag Harbor, often fishing with his dad and brother, Alex, on their Verity skiff, Mandalay. He learned to sail as a youngster on his dad's Sunfish and in the last few years enjoyed a family friend's mini-fleet: the Hinckley Pilot Guinevere and the Stone Horse Charming Nancy out of Coecles Harbor. He crewed for George Martin on the Osprey in the Wednesday Night Races of the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor.
He and his brother Alex were helping to raise a puppy for the Guide Dog Foundation.
Laird's zest for life was contagious. A friend said last week that "he could light up a room when he walked in" and another added, "It wasn't limited to a room. It spilled over and extended outside to the sidewalk as well."
He experienced depression and addiction for a good part of his life. He identified his problem and sought treatment. Following more than two years of sound health, Laird had a brief relapse, which resulted in his accidental death. Ralph Gibson Jr., M.D., Laird's internist, expressed respect and appreciation for the hard work and dedication Laird invested in getting and staying well. In one of his writings, Gandhi said " as long as you are trying your very best, there can be no question of failure."
He is survived by his parents and brother as well as a sister and brother-in-law, Leslie and Christopher Del Col and nieces Charlotte and Lucy Del Col, all of Wellesley, Massachusetts; and his grandmother Jeanne D. Vielbig of North Haven.
Gatherings will be held Friday, February 28 at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, 50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, New Jersey, and Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m. at the Siena Spirituality Center, 615 Montauk Highway in Water Mill to give thanksgiving for his life. His ashes will be buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor next to his grandfather.
Arrangements are being handled by Yardley & Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Laird Vielbig Memorial Fund. Proceeds will be used to dedicate a memorial bench by the water at Long Beach in Noyac and to fund a culinary scholarship for a student from the East End. Donations can be sent to: Chris Del Col, Goldman Sachs & Co., 125 High Street, 17th floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110-2704.
Estelle McCallum
Estelle McCallum, recently of the New England Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, passed away on February 20, 2003. She was 88.
Mrs. McCallum was born in Woodhaven, New York and was a longtime resident of Cutchogue and Shelter Island before retiring to Sun City Center, Florida.
She was predeceased by her husband of 53 years, R. A. McCallum. Surviving her are daughters Myra (Wendell) Terry and Lois (Frank) Klos; grandchildren Jill (Ronald) Springman, Chris Terry, Kerry Klos, Eric Klos; great-grandchildren Jared and Andrea Springman; and a sister, Evelyn (Gene) Zaiser.
Memorial services will be held in Sun City Center, Florida at a later date. Memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society or a charity of one's choice.
Mary Elizabeth R. Zust
Mary Elizabeth Richardson Zust, known as Baba, passed away peacefully at a hospital near her home in New Jersey on February 13, 2001, after a brief illness.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of Stewart Richardson and the former Grace Burger, who were among the first summer residents of Silver Beach.
A lifelong summer resident of Shelter Island, Mrs. Zust spent much of her early life in Port Washington, New York. On April 18, 1953, she married Robert Zust and went to live in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, moving a few years later to nearby Saddle River. Her husband predeceased her in 1977.
Mrs. Zust is survived by two daughters, Lisa R. Zust of East Hampton and Lion Robin C. Zust of Porto Ronco, Switzerland and Sag Harbor. She leaves three grandchildren, Geoffrey R. Brodrick, Emily C. Brodrick and Robert J. Brodrick. A sister also survives, Constance R. Williams, of Port Washington and Shelter Island.
Services were held on Saturday, February 17 at Our Lady of the Isle Church on Shelter Island. Burial followed at the Catholic cemetery.
The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Hayground School, P.O. Box 1827, Bridgehampton, New York 11932.
Leonard T. Bliss Sr.
Leonard T. Bliss Sr., community leader and former supervisor of the Town of Shelter Island, died Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a 14-year battle with cancer. He was 84.
Mr. Bliss was born on August 3, 1917, in Brooklyn, where he worked as a printer. In 1953, he moved with his wife, Mae, and their five children to Shelter Island, where he devoted more than 40 years to serving the town, his community and his church.
He helped found the Island's Conservative Party and in 1975 became its first candidate elected to the supervisor's office and only the second candidate from the party to win any town seat after Leo Urban was elected to the post of highway superintendent in 1973. He was the first non-Republican supervisor of Shelter Island in 40 years and served two terms, from 1976 to 1980.
Under his leadership, the Town Board appointed a committee to study affordable housing for young people and granted a 50-percent property tax break to 25 property owners whose income was less than $6,000 a year.
He was supervisor when the town took title to Crescent Beach in 1978. Also in that year, Mr. Bliss appointed a shellfish conservation committee to study the shellfish stocks in Island waters. In 1979 he was instrumental in the town's acquisition of 42 acres comprising the Shelter Island Country Club -- Goat Hill -- and nine acres of property on which Ice Pond is located from the Heights Association. It was the town's largest open space acquisition to date. He cited groundwater protection as one of the most important challenges facing Shelter Island and saw the acquisitions as a step in that direction.
During his four years in office, he urged the Long Island Lighting Company to improve its service on Shelter Island, resulting in an upgrade to a 13,200-volt system in 1979 that markedly improved power distribution throughout the Island.
Mr. Bliss was an active member and past president of the Shelter Island Lions Club and in 1981 the organization named him Citizen of the Year. He was a former president of the Shelter Island Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Shelter Island Police Benevolent Association and a member of the Shelter Island Chapter of the American Red Cross ambulance corps. He served on the board of directors at Eastern Long Island Hospital and often volunteered his time driving cancer patients to their treatments.
He was a leader of Boy Scout Troop 56 and a longtime member of the Shelter Island Fire Department. He was a deacon of the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church and supervised Sunday School there.
Mr. Bliss was manager of Gardiner's Bay Country Club for 18 years, founder of Bliss Press and the former owner of Bliss' Department Store. He was an avid bayman and operated a charter fishing boat.
He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, said one family friend. Mr. Bliss, with his distinctive handlebar moustache and well-groomed appearance, always rose from his seat when a lady entered the room, even when he was struggling with the disease that took his life.
No child who ever visited Bliss' Department Store when Mr. Bliss was there will ever forget his generosity, his smile and that moustache, which always was perfect.
Mr. Bliss had a great sense of humor, too. In his final supervisor's column to the Reporter on December 27, 1979, he thanked each and every member of the town's various boards, committees and panels and ended the column with this: "And now for something completely different. Take one package of pickling spices, soak in one cup of white vinegar. Use this as a marinade to baste your next pot roast ."
"He was to me the epitome of a Shelter Island community leader," said David Huschle, a founder of the Island's Conservative Party and a real estate broker on the Island. "He blended into the community and the community welcomed him. When he was invited into politics, he was a natural candidate -- he had honesty, sincerity and warmth. He always had a hello for you. Len had the remarkable ability to relate to local townspeople, summer people and the business community."
Huson "Hoot" Sherman, a former three-term town supervisor, had this to say about Mr. Bliss: "Len was my Boy Scout leader and later, when I moved back to the Island, he was the head of the Sunday School program my kids were involved in. I remember how active he was in politics, the Lions Club, the church and so many other organizations. He didn't just join a group to become a member, he was a worker.
"I think a lot of people aren't aware of how generous a man Len was, because he did things quietly and without a lot of fuss," Mr. Sherman said. "With his many connections on the Island, he saw to it that individuals and families in need of help got it. Sometimes it was through the Lions Club or the church, but often it was out of his own pocket. His store was the first place community groups would go when they needed a donation for a local cause because he never turned anyone away.
"I will always remember Len Bliss as a loving family man, a true gentleman, my Scout leader and my friend."
George Walsh, owner of George's IGA Supermarket, was a friend and runningmate of Mr. Bliss and served as a councilman and town justice during Mr. Bliss' second term as supervisor.
"It was great to serve with Lenny. He brought enthusiasm and life to everything he did and he was concerned about other people," Mr. Walsh said. "He did a lot for this community. Len and I worked in the Chamber of Commerce together. It was down to nothing before we got involved.
"When he first came here, he started working on boats, on the water, scalloping and fishing, and he had a charter business." While both men were on the Town Board, Mr. Walsh asked Mr. Bliss if he was going to attend an Association of Towns meeting that was being held at a seafood restaurant. "He told me, 'I'll go but I don't eat seafood,'" Mr. Walsh recounted with a laugh. "Here he was a fisherman but he didn't eat seafood. 'I'll get a steak,' he said."
"He was great friend and a great Islander. He thought of the community first in everything he did. He'll be missed."
Mr. Bliss is survived by three sons, Robert L. Bliss of Boca Raton, Florida, Leonard T. Bliss Jr., of Savannah, Georgia, and Thomas J. Bliss of Albany, New York; two daughters, Dorothy Bliss of Tega Cay, South Carolina, and Peggy Johnson of Shelter Island; nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
He also is survived by his second wife, Betty, of Shelter Island. He was predeceased by his first wife, Mary "Mae" Bliss, who died in 1980, and two sisters.
Calling hours will be 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, February 14 at the Shelter Island Funeral Home on West Neck Road. Funeral services will take place at 11 a.m. on Friday, February 15 at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church on Route 114. Interment will follow at the church cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mr. Bliss' name to the Shelter Island Chapter of the American Red Cross's ambulance corps, the American Cancer Society or East End Hospice.
