Obituaries

Nancy Johnston Mulford of Buell Lane in East Hampton, a volunteer and Presbyterian elder in the many places she lived, died on Jan. 12 in Skillman, N.J. She was 85.

Marilyn Thompson of Montauk, an abstract artist whose career spanned 50 years, died on Dec. 11 while vacationing in Madeira, Portugal. She was 90.

Visiting hours for Louis J. Sapienza of East Hampton will be held today from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A graveside service is planned for tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Jamesport Cemetery.

Gunther Schlessinger, a summer resident of Amagansett who had a 60-year career in finance, died on Dec. 17 of pneumonia caused by Covid-19. He was 93.

Elizabeth Kaplan Fonseca of East Hampton died on Dec. 19 of long-term Alzheimer’s disease. She was 93.

Kathryn D. Vegessi, who had lived in Montauk for many years, died at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn on Sunday of complications from a staph infection. She was 70.

Susan Sullivan Saiter, an author, freelance journalist, and educator, died of pneumonia on Dec. 27 in Winston-Salem, N.C. A part-time Water Mill resident, she was 76.

Jim Miller, formerly of Springs, an illustrator, art director, and graphic designer behind some of theater’s most memorable shows, died of congenital heart disease on Dec. 15 at home in Vero Beach, Fla. He was 83.

Jacqueline Ann Mitchell, a retired elementary school teacher who grew up in East Hampton, died in Newark, Ohio, on Dec. 21. She was 77 and had been ill with liver cancer.

Alice Byrnes Cooley, who began working as a telephone operator before she graduated from high school, and in her retirement was a familiar face at East Hampton Town’s senior citizens center, died at home in Bluffton, S.C., on Jan. 1.

Keith McDonald of East Hampton, a science teacher at the Tuckahoe School for many years, died at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead on Dec. 13 following a series of medical complications.

Helen Ann MacIsaac, formerly of Amagansett, whose career included over a decade of senior international roles in corporate development, finance, and marketing, died on Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Kaplan Fonseca died at home in East Hampton on Dec. 19 after a long illness. She was 93.

Carol Lynne Elms, a caretaker and gardener on Gardiner’s Island and at large estates in East Hampton, died of cardiac arrest on Dec. 10.

Theresa Whelan, who had a long and distinguished law career on Long Island, died of cancer at East End Hospice in Westhampton Beach on Dec. 26. A resident of Wading River, she was 60.

Harry Kamen, former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of MetLife, died at home in New York City on Dec. 20. A summertime resident of Wainscott, he was 89.

Stephen James Gauger, who worked at the late Gerson and Judith Leiber’s estate in Springs for 41 years, died on Dec. 21 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital of complications of Stage 4 lung cancer. He was 63.

Rita Foster, who owned and operated Rita’s Stable in Montauk until 2020, died on Dec. 4 at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

Ernest Cecil Greene Jr., who served in the Marines from 1970 to 1974, died last Thursday at Windmill Village in East Hampton. He was 72.

William J. Hayes, an artist who became a design-builder on the South Fork in the early 1970s, died on Dec. 14 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue after a long illness. He was 89.

Thomas Lindsley, formerly of East Hampton and Springs, a world traveler, an amateur historian, and a cook, died in Schenectady, N.Y., of Covid-19 complications on Nov. 8. He was 71.

Catherine V. Babcock of East Hampton died on Monday at the age of 98. A graveside service was to be held today at 10 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery on Cedar Street in East Hampton.

Susan Gullia, a travel agent who specialized in customized trips for culturally oriented individuals, families, and groups, died of an apparent heart attack on Nov. 13 at home on Hawks Nest Lane in Amagansett.

Heidi Ann Kulp, known as a “neighborhood mother” in East Hampton, died on Dec. 5. She had been in failing health for the past few years and living in East Patchogue.

Geraldine Cronin-Soszynski, who traced her roots here back many generations, died on Nov. 13 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. She was 96 and had dementia.

Edward Kenneth Simons, who was known as Kenny, died of complications of Parkinson’s disease on Nov. 20 in Naples, Fla. Formerly of Springs, he was 80 and had been diagnosed two years ago.

Richard Bender, an architect and professor of architecture and engineering who lived part time in Amagansett from 1961 to 1990, died on Oct. 8 of metastatic cancer at home in Oakland, Calif. He was 92.

Mitchell Rosenthal, who lived in East Hampton and Manhattan, died of complications of pneumonia on Nov. 14 at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. An influential psychiatrist in the field of addiction treatment, he was 87.     

Elizabeth Fasolino, 61, The Star’s arts editor for nearly two years, died of a heart attack on Nov. 5 in Gulfport, Fla., eight months after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma, for which she was being treated. 

Janet Marian Van Sickle, who had lifelong passions for the seashore and horticulture, died at home in Montauk on Nov. 8. She was 86.