Obituaries

Pat Mansir, who served three terms on the East Hampton Town Board and had a reputation reflecting her “willingness to think for herself,” died on Dec. 10 of complications of heart disease. She was 77.

Visiting hours for Andrew Strong, formerly of East Hampton, will be held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor on Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A celebration of his life will take place Friday at 10 a.m. at the St. Luke's Episcopal Church parish hall in East Hampton.

Paid Announcement: Deborah L. Thompson, 73, peacefully passed away at her home in Montauk while surrounded by family on Dec. 6, 2023.

Visiting hours for John Benedict, 72, of Springs will be held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on Saturday from 4:30 to 7 p.m., with a short service to be held at 6:30. Mr. Benedict died on Dec. 5.

Joseph Thomas Newman, a chemical engineer from Sag Harbor, died of complications of pulmonary fibrosis on Nov. 17 in Napa, Calif., where he had lived for 44 years. He was 84.

Mary Ann Whitehead, a New York City schoolteacher for many years, died at home in Sag Harbor on Nov. 3 after a short illness. She was 85. 

Thomas Paul Darenberg, a voice-over professional who owned and operated his own electrical contracting business, died on Nov. 28 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue at the age of 62.

Jeffrey Bay Miltenberger, an early information technology specialist who spent summers in East Hampton, died of Parkinson’s disease on Friday in Wisconsin at the age of 81.

Marc Peros Brugnoni, a director and television producer who won five Emmy Awards for his work, died in his sleep on Nov. 5 at Stony Brook University Hospital. He was 87.

Thomas Paul Darenberg of Montauk and Lake Suzy, Fla., died at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue on Nov. 28. He was 62.

John Cronopulos of Springs, who had a long and fruitful career as a TV advertising executive, died on Nov. 7 at Newport Hospital in Rhode Island. He was 83.

As a landscape artist and the owner of a landscaping business called Cottage Gardens for 25 years, Kenneth Keyser of East Hampton had an "incredible green thumb," his family wrote. "His love of the natural world prompted frequent trips to New England where he especially savored the waterfalls, fall foliage, and early snowfall."

Richard Dreyfus Kahn of Montauk, a corporate attorney, environmental advocate, and gardener, died on Nov. 17 in Calvary Hospice at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was 92.

William F. Eggert, an attorney, veteran, and onetime candidate for the House of Representatives who spent summers in Springs in his youth, died at home in Hampton Bays on Oct. 16 after a brief illness. He was 73.

Randie Wasserman, a freelance designer and illustrator in New York City for many years, died at home in East Hampton on Oct. 27 from complications of a stroke.

Richard Kahn of Montauk died at Calvary Hospice at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Friday. He was 92. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

Sally Bernard, an elementary school teacher for over 40 years who retired to East Hampton in the 1990s, volunteered here for the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall and redevoted herself to pursuing her interests in swimming, yoga, literature, classical music, and opera. She died on Nov. 14 in Boca Raton, Fla.

Eleanor Whitmore of Amagansett, a beloved community volunteer, Sunday school teacher, philanthropist, and education advocate, created “a legacy of an unwavering commitment to countless causes and people close to her heart,” her family wrote. “I don’t feel as if I’ve done anything so wonderful,” Mrs. Whitmore told The Star in a 2005 interview. “I do it because I love to, and I can’t say no.”

Evelyn Edwards Ludlow Tureski, a onetime member of the Bridgehampton School Board, died on Nov. 4 at home on Chester Avenue in Bridgehampton. The cause was heart failure. Mrs. Tureski, who had been ill for a year, was 94.

Jaki Jackson, a well-known yoga teacher who had led classes in and around East Hampton for nearly five decades, died at home in Springs on Oct. 22. She was 92.

William Vassiles of East Hampton, a court stenographer, died on Nov. 3 at his apartment in New York City of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

A celebration of the life of Eleanor Whitmore, the community volunteer and educational advocate for whom the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center was named, will take place Thursday at 11 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in East Hampton.

Dennis John Bennett, an Air Force veteran and a devoted patron of the East Hampton Library, died on Oct. 25 at San Simeon by the Sound in Greenport. He was 95.

Doris Brill Karp, a founding member of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, died in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Oct. 19, three weeks shy of her 100th birthday.

Visiting hours for Evelyn Ludlow Tureski of Bridgehampton, who was 94, will be held on Monday from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton. A funeral will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church.

Frederick Notel Sr., a former sergeant with the East Hampton Town Police Department, a carpenter, a Boy Scout leader, and a jack of all trades, died at home in Springs on Friday. He was 92.

Paid Announcement: Capt. Richard MacGarva, USCG (Ret.), died on Oct. 6, 2023, at the New York State Veterans Home in Montrose, N.Y.

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.

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.