Obituaries

Len Rodriguez of Sag Harbor, a skilled carpenter who started his own construction company, died on Dec. 27 after a long illness. He was 87.

Paul Giardina of East Hampton, a nuclear engineer who had a long career with the Environmental Protection Agency, died on Dec. 21 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. He was 75.

Rosemary Reynolds Nichols, a dean of performing arts at the Ross School in East Hampton in the late 1990s and early 2000s, died on Dec. 21 in Austin, Tex. The cause was ovarian cancer.

A requiem Mass for John Conner, a champion international and national age-group runner who built affordable houses here that enabled many to remain in their hometown, is to be recited at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton at noon on Saturday, with burial to follow in the church’s cemetery on Cedar Street.

Visiting hours for Meghan Payne, a Springs School teacher who died last Thursday, will be held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on Tuesday, Jan. 7, from 4 to 7 p.m. Her funeral will be on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 11 a.m. at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton. 

David Stiles of East Hampton and New York City, a prolific builder of treehouses and garden structures as well as a contributor of cartoons and letters to The Star, died in New York on Saturday evening. He was 91.

Larry Penny, former director of East Hampton Town’s Natural Resources Department and a nature writer for this newspaper for about 40 years, died on Dec. 15 in California. He was 89.

Paid Notice: Michele Anne Novak, born October 30, 1951, passed away peacefully at her home in Sag Harbor, New York, after a courageous battle with ALS, which she was diagnosed with in March of this year.

Paid Notice: Geoff Jenkins of East Hampton, N.Y., died at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue, NY, on December 5, 2024, after a courageous battle with cancer. 

Larry Penny, the writer of The Star’s “Nature Notes” column for many years, died on Sunday in California following a two-week hospital stay. He was 89 and had lived in Noyac until recently.

Albert A. Zaccaria of Montauk, a Navy veteran who served as a medic aboard the U.S.S. Saipan during the Korean War and later became a schoolteacher, died at home on Nov. 23. He was 93.

Paid Notice: Jason T. Noble, who hailed from Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor, loved making music and mischief, poetry and paintings, and friends. He died at home in Brooklyn on Nov. 24 of causes related to a spinal-cord injury sustained in 2000. He was 49.

A native of Ireland whose family said she will “always be remembered for her unconditional love and care of others,” Kitty O’Neill of Wainscott and Woodside, Queens, died on Nov. 27 at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center Burlington, Mass. She was 85.

Barrett Whitman Jr., a retired Grumman aeronautical engineer who lived in Montauk full time since 1988, died at home on Nov. 15. He was 95.

A graveside service for Albert A. Zaccaria of Montauk, who died on Saturday at age 93, will take place on Monday at 1:30 p.m. at Calverton National Cemetery.

Jeff Yusko of Wainscott died on Nov. 19 of complications from a traumatic brain injury he sustained about 18 months ago when he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle. He was 64.

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, an attorney and a founder and the current president of the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, died of esophageal cancer at home in Manhattan last Thursday. He was 80.

Phyllis Italiano of Springs, a political activist and former host of “The Democratic View” on LTV, died of cancer at home on Oct. 28 at the age of 88.

Paid Notice: After a long valiant struggle against a rare progressively debilitating illness, Vicki Black passed quietly and with dignity under hospice care at Southampton Hospital; her husband and care-helper friends were by her side. 

Residents of Sag Harbor knew Anthony Brandt as the chairman of its Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review, one of the regulatory boards charged with maintaining the authenticity and character of houses and other buildings in the village. A formidable advocate for preservation, he served in the role for seven years beginning in 1986, five years after he first moved to the village, and again from 2016 to 2019.

Christian Gutierrez “lived his entire 21 years in the most wonderful way,” his family wrote. “He never held back from doing what he loved — spending time with family, cherishing his friends, and riding his motorcycle.” Mr. Gutierrez, an East Hampton High School graduate who grew up in Springs, died in a motorcycle accident in Riverhead on Oct. 6.

Christina David Hupalowsky loved gardening, swimming, birding, and boating in her favorite place, Gardiner’s Bay, her husband, Thomas Hupalowsky, wrote. She died of lung cancer on Oct. 1 in Venice, Fla., at the age of 66.

Despite a lifetime of health challenges, Diana Lee Foster, known as Lee to family and friends, maintained a positive outlook. The Montauk native died of pneumonia last Thursday at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

Frances Morey knew how to keep busy, and she did so into her 90s. She died at home in East Hampton on Nov. 13.

James Kelly of East Hampton and Tarpon Springs, Fla., a retired General Foods executive, sports enthusiast, and proud Irish-American, died at home in East Hampton on Nov. 2. He was 87 and had cancer for the last two years.

Jeff Yusko of Wainscott, who was severely injured in an accident while riding his bicycle in May 2023, died of his injuries at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Tuesday, surrounded by his family. Visiting hours will take place Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton, with a funeral Mass to be said on Saturday at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church at 10:30 a.m.

A wake for Fran Morey of East Hampton, who died on Wednesday, will be held on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral Mass will be said on Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Mrs. Morey was 95.

Phyllis Baker Hammond of Springs, a sculptor who worked in stoneware and metal, died on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles. She was 94.

Among her large network of friends, clients, and co-workers, Roseanne K. Lebwith of Springs was well known for her integrity and kindness, her family wrote. Mrs. Lebwith, who was known as Rosie to loved ones, died of a stroke at home in Springs on Nov. 1 after a brief hospital stay. She was 91.

A memorial service for Constance Mary Cafiso will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Sag Harbor, with a celebration of her life to follow at the Brick Kiln Road firehouse.