Visiting hours for Alan E. Dixon of Springs, who died on Saturday, will be held this Saturday from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton.
A funeral will be held on Sunday at noon at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, with burial to follow at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton. A reception will be held afterward at the church’s session house.
An obituary will appear in a future issue.
Susan Vitale died on Friday, surrounded by family members and close friends, at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. She had been diagnosed with cancer approximately 18 months before her death.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday morning at 11. Due to the large number of family, friends, and community members expected to attend, the service will be held at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, instead of the smaller Montauk Community Church, to which Ms. Vitale belonged. Bill Hoffmann, a minister at the Montauk Community Church, will officiate.
Coming from a family of nine children, Ms. Vitale was always comfortable working with groups, and was often a galvanizing force in community projects in her adopted home town of Montauk. In 2015, she was part of a Montauk initiative called 12 Women that installed a walking-meditation labyrinth near Navy Beach; at the time, other participants referred to her as the group’s “Mother Earth.” With the Montauk Community Garden, she helped organize the sale of bouquets and vegetables at the farmers market, with profits in turn being donated to the food pantry. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, she showed up barefoot to help the Montauk Shellfish Company salvage its damaged oyster-farming equipment.
She was born in the Bronx on Dec. 28, 1958 to Anthony and Marie Vitale and attended Saint Boniface Elementary School and then Elmont Memorial High School, after the family moved there. During a visit to Montauk in 1998, she was struck by the hamlet’s beauty and moved there soon after, securing a job at Gurney’s Inn. In 2000, she opened one of the first food trucks on the East End, the Gin Beach Wagon, which she parked in the lot off East Lake Drive in Montauk. Later, she also opened a small health food store near Gin Beach.
According to Shannon Cuppola, who said Ms. Vitale was “like a mom to me,” she was particularly passionate about gardening and loved to be around children. She made regular visits to the Montauk School in recent years to teach kindergartners and first graders about planting and nature. She also, Ms. Cuppola said, had a particular soft spot for animals, especially elephants. “It wasn’t unusual to find Susan cooking and feeding others — she was generous in sharing her knowledge, her heart, and her spirituality,” wrote Ms. Cuppola. “She was an angel on Earth and will continue to be in the afterlife.”
Ms. Vitale is survived by her mother, who lives in Jericho, as well as seven siblings: John, Maryanne, Anthony, Tommy, Theresa, Joie Marie, and Michael Vitale, all of whom live on Long Island. Her sister Geri Marie Vitale and her father died before her.
The family has asked that donations be made to the East End Foundation, P.O. Box 1746, Montauk 11954, or to the lighting of the Lighthouse, P.O. Box 44, Montauk 11954.
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Correction: An earlier version of this obituary, which appeared in print and online, gave the incorrect date for Ms. Vitale's memorial service. It will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Mary Lester Byrnes, who lived on Cedar Street in East Hampton, died at home on Nov. 25 at the age of 94. She had helped her husband establish Vincent Byrnes Plumbing and operate it from home.
Born in Bridgehampton on June 26, 1923, to the former Ethel Guyer and Raymond Lester, Ms. Byrnes was an active parishioner at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton as a member of the altar guild and a Sunday school teacher alongside a cousin, Ruth Dendato. She had volunteered with the East Hampton chapter of the American Cancer Society and, with the late Shirley Plitt of East Hampton, was a den mother for Cub Scout Pack 8, her family said.
Ms. Byrnes met her future husband at East Hampton High School, from which she graduated in 1940. Her family said their romance began when she and a girlfriend were stranded at the Edwards movie theater (today’s Regal) because of a flat tire and he rescued them. They married in 1946 and had two sons, Robert, who survives, and Raymond, who died at the age of 4. Her husband died in 2007 and Ms. Byrnes continued to manage the plumbing business with the help of their son, Robert, and grandson, James Byrnes.
Her family said that having had heart bypass surgery at the age of 60, she was “extremely conscious of her health and could be found walking miles every day along the sidewalks and lanes in East Hampton.” She was vigilant about diet and exercise, they said, and continued to be in good health until her 90s.
Ms. Byrnes and her husband had a large vegetable garden and picked beach plums and made jelly in the fall. Her son said she was an excellent cook. In addition to her son and grandson, a granddaughter and three great-grandchildren, all of East Hampton, survive.
She was buried next to her husband and their firstborn son in the family plot at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton. The Very Rev. Denis C. Brunelle presided at a graveside service last Thursday morning, which was followed by a reception in St. Luke’s Parish Hall. The family has suggested donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105.
Philip W. Tate Brown, who spent summers in East Hampton through the early 1960s, died on Nov. 19 in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 86 and had been in poor health, said his brother, Anthony C. Brown of East Hampton.
Mr. Brown, who was called Tate, was an executive at the BBDO advertising agency who later opened the Washington Nursery in Washington, Conn., where he also chaired the board of trustees at the Rumsey Hall School and helped found the American Indian Archaeological Institute. He was a member of the Maidstone Club here, a member of the Columbus Beach Club in Indian River, Mich., and helped found the Churchill School in New York City.
Born on Jan. 21, 1931, in New York City to Phillip Wilson Brown and the former Aralene Miller, he grew up in New York City and Scarsdale, N.Y.
He graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut in 1949 and from Yale University in 1953, and served in the Marine Corps for two years, attaining the rank of first lieutenant.
Mr. Brown married the former Helene Kinnucan in 1959, with whom he had three children. She died in 1977, and he later married the former Nancy Burke, who died in 2006. He and his second wife moved to the Phoenix area, and after her death he moved to Montecito, Calif., with his son Monte Tate Brown, who died in 2015.
In addition to his brother, he is survived by a son, Dwyer Phillip Brown of St. Louis, and a daughter, Daryl Brown Uber of New York City. He also leaves a stepdaughter, Nicole Barry, and four grandsons.
A memorial service is to be held on Jan. 8 at the Rumsey Hall School. Contributions have been suggested to Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara, 512 East Gutierrez Street, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93103.
Christine Epifania of Southampton, a health care director and counselor, a visual artist and chef, and a two-term co-chairwoman of the East End Gay Organization, died on Nov. 20 of complications of cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. She was 68 and had been ill for two years.
Ms. Epifania, who moved full time to Southampton about 25 years ago after being a longtime weekender, also became the executive director of Alternatives Counseling Center in Southampton in 2005, where she developed drug education programs for students and parents, helped expand community outreach, and provided services to the Shinnecock Nation, as well as guiding the creation of the Riverhead Center.
Marguerite Smith, the president of the Alternatives board of directors, said that Ms. Epifania “was an advocate for social justice, including access to behavioral health care” and that she “valiantly fought for adequate resources for these causes even as she fought for her own health. Her voice will be greatly missed.”
Ms. Epifania also served for two terms as president of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton, where she developed worship services that focused on inclusion.
She was born in Manhattan on April 8, 1949, to the former Rose Trombino and Alfred Epifania, and brought up on the Lower East Side, where, according to her friend Jordy Mark, she first “experienced the power of family, community, and diversity.” Even though her family lived for a short time when she was a child in California, she always felt that she had been most influenced by having grown up on the Lower East Side. She graduated from Christ the King High School in Queens before getting a degree from CUNY’s York College in Queens, and then training as a counseling psychologist at Teachers College, Columbia University, in Manhattan.
Ms. Epifania was the health services director for Montefiore Hospital at Rikers Island Correctional Center in the early 1990s, working to manage and improve health care for the whole population and creating a clinic for female inmates. She instituted a “compassionate release” program for inmates with H.I.V./AIDS, addiction, and chronic illnesses, finding housing for them in specialized nursing homes. For this advocacy work she was given a Good Samaritan Award.
She enjoyed entertaining with her wife, Ruth Jacobsen, according to her friends, and was the innkeeper for a time at Centennial House, a bed-and-breakfast on Woods Lane where Chabad of the Hamptons is now. Ms. Epifania also delighted in the rowdy poker games that she and Ms. Jacobsen held at their house. Ms. Mark said that there are “people who will lick envelopes but few who are willing to take charge and organize, and show up. Whatever Chris did, whether it was working or volunteering, her focus was on nurturing people. She had an amazing warmth and embrace.”
In addition to her wife and a sister, Rosemary Parker, two nephews and a niece, all of Garden Grove, Calif., survive, as do three great-nieces, a great-nephew, and many cousins.
When her illness made it impossible for her to attend the Women’s March on Washington in January of this year, she prepared bag lunches for every person on the bus from the East End that had been organized by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork. “I was on that bus,” Ms. Mark said, “and cheers went up when the food was distributed.”
On Dec. 15 at 2 p.m., the congregation, at 977 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton, will hold a service for Ms. Epifania, presided over by the Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson.
The family has suggested donations to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, P.O. Box 1444, Bridgehampton 11932; Fighting Chance, P.O. Box 1358, Sag Harbor 11963, or Alternatives Counseling Services, 291 Hampton Road, Southampton 11968.
Toni Lind of Springs, an artist who was committed to working with the underprivileged and those with special needs, died at home on Friday, not far from her favorite swimming spot at Maidstone Park.
“She survived many health issues in recent years and bravely persevered with strength and grace in the face of difficult challenges, inspiring those who knew her,” her family wrote. She was 72.
She was born on Christmas Day in 1944 to Raymond and Jessie Spicer Zerner of Laporte, Pa. Her childhood summers were spent in Bermuda with her grandmother Lilias Burtenshaw, who ran a well-known guesthouse, Salt Kettle, a painting of which by Winslow Homer hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Lind attended high school in Sullivan County, Pa., and went on to graduate from Penn State University. She met her future first husband, Erik Lind Sr., while studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. They traveled through Europe together and lived for a time on a kibbutz in Israel.
Ms. Lind moved to Springs in 1969 and eventually earned her master’s degree in teaching at Southampton College. She raised her two sons, Erik and Rune Lind, on what became a sort of family compound on Sandra Road. Her sister and brother-in-law, Amy Zerner and Monte Farber, lived next door, and for a time her mother lived with them. Later, Ms. Lind’s sons each lived with her while their sons were infants, Erik with his wife, Karen Pettit Lind, and their son, Blair, and Rune with his wife, Heather Steele Lind, and their son, Magnus.
A talented artist and painter, Ms. Lind created personal mixed-media assemblages from found objects. She loved swimming at Maidstone Beach in Springs, her favorite spot, and at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, and was proud of having once trained for and completed a triathlon.
Ms. Lind was very close to her mother, a children’s book illustrator, and in 1996 collaborated in writing “The Great Bible” activity book with her for Waldman Publishing.
She enjoyed working with children and was a teacher for Head Start in East Hampton for 17 years. She also spent several years as a psychiatric rehabilitation case manager for the Suffolk County Department of Social Services in Riverhead. For the last three years, Ms. Lind served as a social services coordinator for St. Michael’s and Windmill housing in East Hampton, helping residents navigate their home and health needs and linking them to necessary services.
In addition to her sister and her sons, Erik Lind of New Zealand and Rune Lind of Springs, Ms. Lind is survived by a brother, Peter Zerner of Winston-Salem, N.C., her two grandsons, and a granddaughter.
A service will be held on Saturday at noon at the Springs Presbyterian Church, where the family will gather afterward.
Her family has suggested memorial contributions to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.
A gathering in memory of Tom Leo of Sag Harbor, who died on Oct. 14 at the age of 80, will be held on Saturday afternoon at 2:15 in the Unitarian Universalist meetinghouse at 977 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton.
Robert Winslow, who co-owned and operated the Amagansett I.G.A. for almost 30 years, died on Nov. 12 in Lafayette, Colo., where he had moved three years ago. The cause was a chronic infection. Mr. Winslow, who was 91, had been ill for five years.
With his business partner, Robert Moss, Mr. Winslow ran the I.G.A. at its Main Street, Amagansett, location for 10 years before moving it, 50 years ago, to its current location on Montauk Highway.
“Bob Moss and Bob Winslow, proprietors of the local I.G.A. store, are having an appreciation sale this week,” read an Amagansett note in The Star’s Oct. 29, 1959, issue. “This is in lieu of their grand opening, which had to be postponed because of the pressure of the summer season. The ladies of the community are to be presented with orchids, which will be flown in from Hawaii.”
“He had the store, so he worked,” said his daughter JoAnn Geyer of Franklin, Wisc. “It was always a big treat for us if he could make it to the beach or backyard picnics.”
Robert L. Winslow was born on March 28, 1926, in Waterbury, Conn., to Leland Newtown Winslow and the former Mildred Edwards. His father died when Mr. Winslow was a child, said another daughter, Corinne Page of East Hampton, and his mother felt that life for her five children would be easier in a rural setting. The family moved to a house on Hand Lane in Amagansett, and Mr. Winslow grew up there. He attended the Amagansett School and East Hampton High School.
At 18, he enlisted in the Navy, serving as an aviation machinist’s mate on the U.S.S. Attu, an escort carrier named for one of the Aleutian Islands.
Mr. Winslow and Lois Sweeting were married on Sept. 17, 1946. They had met at East Hampton High School, in Ms. Geyer’s recollection. Mrs. Winslow, who was born in Montauk and grew up on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett, died in 2015.
In 1948, Mr. Winslow built a house next to the one in which he had grown up, where he and his wife would remain until moving to Colorado. The couple were members of the Amagansett Presbyterian Church. Mr. Winslow also served with the hamlet’s Fire Department.
“He was very family oriented,” Ms. Geyer said, “always wanting to be with the grandkids.” He enjoyed gardening, collected coins, and liked to travel. He and his wife went to Europe several times, she said.
In addition to Ms. Page and Ms. Geyer, a son, Robert B. Winslow of Lafayette, Colo., survives. Six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren also survive, as does a brother, Leland N. Winslow of Amagansett.
Mr. Winslow was cremated. His family will hold a private memorial service at a future date.
Harriet Talmadge Peele, a 60-year resident of Cooper Lane in East Hampton Village, died on Nov. 20 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital three days after a stroke. She was 91.
Mrs. Peele was a deacon and retired 15-year secretary of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, where she worked during the tenure of the Rev. Frederick W. Schulz. As a descendant of a Revolutionary War veteran named Hand, she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
Born at home in Sag Harbor on May 28, 1926, she was the only child of the former Edith Wade and John Talmadge. When she was growing up in Sag Harbor she was known by her middle name, Estelle. She graduated from Pierson High School in 1943 and from Rider College in New Jersey in 1945. After working for a year in Manhattan, she returned to the South Fork to begin her career as an employee of the Town of East Hampton, for which she held different jobs, including as secretary in the assessor’s office.
Willie Mae Yardley, a friend, introduced her to Richard T. Peele of East Hampton, whom she married in 1950. He died in 2000, just before what would have been their 50th anniversary. Their adopted son, Thomas Peele, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, said that his mother was known for her cookies, especially the chocolate chip and molasses ones, and that her friends would drop in frequently to “see what was coming out of the oven.” This was, Mr. Peele said, “one of the ways she stayed connected to the community.”
Mrs. Peele enjoyed going out to lunch with her friends in East Hampton and Sag Harbor and she ate frequently at the East Hampton Senior Citizens Center on Springs-Fireplace Road. She had survived bone cancer in the late 1980s and had trouble walking, but, according to her son, “she never slowed down.” She liked to attend presentations about East End history and had contributed her memories of living through the Hurricane of 1938.
She “was a child of the Great Depression,” Mr. Peele said. “Thrifty, tough, and generous with whatever she had. She had a strong work ethic.”
In addition to her son, she is survived by twin granddaughters, all of Oakland, Calif.
Her funeral was held on Nov. 29 at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, with both the Rev. Scot McCachren and Reverend Schulz officiating. Mrs. Peele was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the church’s memorial garden, as her husband’s had been. The family has suggested memorial donations to an organization she was in the process of joining when she died, the Sag Harbor Historical Society, P.O. Box 1079, Sag Harbor 11963.
A graveside service for Leonard M. Goldberg of Amagansett, who died on Wednesday, will be Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Independent Jewish Cemetery in Sag Harbor. Mr. Goldberg was 95.