Obituaries

Lois Erdmann Wright, who had close relationships with Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter, "Little Edie" of Grey Gardens fame, was "an intimate witness to the eccentricities of aristocracy," according to her family. Ms. Wright, an author and longtime LTV host, died of cardiopulmonary arrest and failure to thrive on Oct. 13 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. A nearly lifelong resident of East Hampton, she was 95.

Alexander Mellon Laughlin, a retired investment adviser who had been a chairman of the board of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., died on Oct. 4 at his East Hampton house overlooking Hook Pond.

Karl A. Vermandois, an art teacher at the East Hampton Middle School for 25 years whose own work was shown at many East End galleries, died on Oct. 17 at East End Hospice’s Kanas Center in Quiogue after a long illness. He was 83.

James W. Bennett, “a true old-time Bonacker,” his family said, who opened the Bennett Marine boatyard in Springs in the late 1970s, died on Oct. 10 at home on School Street, where he had lived for 69 years. He was 89.

Edward Bleier, an influential television executive, died at his home in East Hampton, where he and his wife had vacationed for over a half-century, on Oct. 17. He had turned 94 the day before.

James Winkler, an architectural draftsman and a talented flamenco and classical guitarist, died at home in Springs on Friday. He was 89 and had Parkinson’s disease.

Frederick William Yardley, a retired Springs School history teacher and administrator who was at the district for 29 years, died at home in East Hampton on Saturday. He was 88.

A celebration of the life of Elaine Monroe, who died at home in Manhattan on Oct. 15, 2022, will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

Visiting hours for Frederick William Yardley, a retired Springs School history teacher and administrator, will be held on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral will be held on Thursday morning at 11 at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton. A full obituary will appear in Thursday's paper. 

Joseph DeCristofaro, a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War who was the longest-serving active member of the East Hampton Fire Department, died on Oct. 2 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

Betty Rice, a former microbiologist at Southampton Hospital, died on Oct. 1 at Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue. An East Hampton resident for 20 years, she was 97.

Esteban Cordero, a former ad man born in Argentina who lived part time in East Hampton, died on Sept. 15 in New York City. He was 92.

James Francis Jensen, for 40 years the friendly face behind the bar at the Grill and then Cittanuova on Newtown Lane, died in Riverhead on Sept. 22. A Mass will be said Friday at the Basilica Parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Southampton, followed by a gathering at the Southampton Publick House.

A wake for Joseph DeCristofaro of East Hampton, who died on Monday at age 98, will be held today from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home here. A graveside service is planned for Friday at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery on Cedar Street.

Colette Douglas of New York City, a member of the Bridgehampton Club for over 60 years, died on Saturday at the age of 96.

Patricia Anne Sarlo, “a great friend and a model of service and humility in the community,” died of complications of surgery on Sept. 26. She was 82.

Sydney Roberts Shuman, a leading light in New York City’s philanthropic community, died on Sept. 7 at home in Manhattan. She was 82 and had lived part time in East Hampton.

Arthur Ganz, an English professor at City College of New York for over 30 years who published several books on playwrights, died of pneumonia in New York on Aug. 17. The summertime East Hampton resident was 95.

Dr. James McBrayer Garvey Jr., a cardiologist who lived full time in Cincinnati and was an almost lifelong summer visitor to Amagansett, died there on Sept. 8

Janet Rose Dordelman, who lived in Springs and ran her own beauty salon for many years, then retired to Barefoot Bay in Sebastian, Fla., died at home there on Aug. 8 after a two-year illness. She was 89.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, Oct. 13, at 10:30 a.m. at the Basilica Parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Southampton for James F. Jensen, with burial to follow at Sacred Hearts Cemetery.

Ethelyn (Lyn) Atha Chase, who had a residence in East Hampton from 1955 to 2023, died in Manhattan on Sept. 3 at the age of 99. Ms. Chase devoted much of her life to poetry and literature, including a term as president of the Academy of American Poets and as a trustee of the New York Society Library.

A wake for Patricia A. Sarlo of East Hampton, who died on Tuesday, will take place today from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton.

Samuel Fertig, a former advertising executive who lived on Harbor View Lane in Springs and in Manhattan, died at home in Springs last Thursday. He was 85 and had been diagnosed with lymphoma six months earlier.

A graveside service for Pamela R. Cullum, a descendant of the King family, which goes back many generations here, will take place on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Cedar Lawn Cemetery on Cooper Lane. A reception at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett will follow.

Gerald Joseph Granozio, a writer, teacher, and marketing executive formerly of East Hampton, died on Aug. 21 in Rye, N.Y. He was 84 and had been in failing health since a heart attack in January.

Mary Kathryn McDonnell Brackenridge, a former art dealer and fine-art consultant, died at home in New Canaan, Conn., on Aug. 27. She had lived part time in East Hampton for nearly 20 years, and here she was a member of the Maidstone Club and the Garden Club of East Hampton.

Thomas More Griffin of Wainscott and Manhattan, a corporate attorney, died of cardiac arrest on July 22, a week after suffering a serious fall at home. He was 66.

Mary Kathryn Brackenridge, a part-time resident of East Hampton for nearly 20 years who was known as Kathy, died on Aug. 27 at home in New Canaan, Conn. Her husband, Gavin Brackenridge, and daughter, Kathryn Brackenridge, were with her. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

In East Hampton, residents knew Frazer Dougherty as the charismatic and dogged force behind the founding of Local TV, the town’s nonprofit public access television station, which began broadcasting out of his garage in the early 1980s and has since documented all aspects of Bonacker life. Mr. Dougherty died on Aug. 29 at home in Aventura, Fla., where he had been living since 2009, after “a long and illustrious life,” his family said. He was 101.