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Semira Breitweg, 95

Semira Breitweg, 95

April 28, 1922-Nov. 13, 2017
By
Star Staff

Semira Breitweg, who had lived full time in East Hampton since the death of her husband in 1994, died on Nov. 13 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. She was 95. For the last six years she had lived on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road with her son and daughter-in-law; before that she had lived for 22 years on Flaggy Hole Road in Springs.

Known to her friends as Sally, Ms. Breitweg was born in Brooklyn on April 28, 1922, one of three children of the former Philomena Delano and Alphonse LaVecchia. She grew up and graduated from high school there. She lived later in Queens Village, where she supervised the beauticians at Creedmore Hospital. Ms. Breitweg had had a summer house in Springs since 1964. She was an active member for 22 years of the altar guild at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton and was also a eucharistic minister there. Her family said that she was “devoted to her faith, family, and church.”

When she was 28 years old she married William F. Smith, who died unexpectedly in 1950. In 1968 she married Michael Breitweg. Ms. Breitweg is survived by two of the children she had with her first husband: Kenneth B. Smith of East Hampton and Gareth Smith of New Hyde Park. Her son William Smith II died before her. Two grandchildren, one great-grandchild, several nieces and nephews, and two sisters survive her as well: Phyllis Brodie of Carle Place and Jeanie Anderson of Lindenhurst.

The family received visitors on Sunday afternoon and evening at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. On Monday morning, a funeral Mass was said at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, followed by burial at Calverton National Cemetery in Riverhead. The family has suggested memorial donations to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.

Mechele Flaum, 67

Mechele Flaum, 67

Aug. 8, 1950-Nov. 10, 2017
By
Star Staff

Mechele Flaum of Water Mill and New York City died at home in Manhattan on Nov. 10, with her family by her side. She was 67 and had been diagnosed with cancer in 2009. 

Ms. Flaum was born in Manhattan on Aug. 8, 1950, one of two daughters of the former Clara Storper and George Plotkin. She grew up in the East Village, went to the Brooklyn Friends School, and earned a B.A. cum laude from American University in Washington, D.C. She went on to obtain an M.A. in American folklore at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by an M.B.A. at Columbia University. Seagram and Sons recruited Ms. Flaum as a brand manager, and after that she joined the Thompson Medical Company as the brand director for Slim-Fast.

In 1990 she married Sander A. Flaum, who survives, and began working for her sister, Faith Popcorn, becoming the president of BrainReserve, described as a “future-focused consultancy serving the Fortune 500.” Later on, Ms. Flaum formed her own trend-analysis company, Marketing Fire, and spoke nationally and internationally about consumer trends. She also found time to run her family’s real estate company, Fame, a combination of the first two letters of her and her sister’s names.

Ms. Flaum and her husband held an annual Fourth of July picnic at their house on Kellis Pond and also invited Fresh Air children to stay with them in the summer. She enjoyed shopping for Art Deco earrings at the Ladies Village Improvement Society Bargain Box and took her nieces to the L.V.I.S. fair every July.

In addition to her husband and sister, Ms. Flaum’s stepdaughter, Pamela Weinberg of New York City and Sagaponack, and stepson, Jonathan Flaum of Ashville, N.C., and their families survive, as do two nieces and several cousins and their children. She was close to her stepchildren and their families, her family said. They added that she had “hundreds of wonderful friends who will miss her terribly,” some of whom she had known since grade school.

In addition, her family mentioned how indebted they felt to Ms. Flaum’s nurses, Jo Barr and Holly Hesse, “who serenaded her with her favorite Beatles song, “Michelle, Ma Belle.” They also praised her doctors, Andre Goy of East Hampton and Hackensack Hospital and Bernard Kruger of Bridgehampton and Lenox Hill Hospital, who “did all they could humanly do for her.”

When she came to visit Ms. Popcorn in Amagansett one summer in the 1970s, Ms. Flaum took a job at a diner on Montauk Highway and said that “the potato farmers were the best tippers, a dollar on a well-served cup of coffee.” Her family added that “she was a gracious and giving person . . . fun-loving and optimistic” and could often be seen on the East End driving her “perfectly restored 1971 white convertible Ford Torino.”

Ms. Flaum was a member of Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan and also served on the boards of the Women’s Campaign International, Women’s Executive Circle of the United Jewish Federation, the Global Organization for Organ Donation, the Doe Fund, and the Brooklyn Friends School.

Rabbi Angela W. Buchdahl presided at a funeral service at Central Synagogue on Nov. 12. Ms. Flaum was buried at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont. The family has suggested memorial donations for Hackensack U.M.C., the Clara Goy Foundation, at hackensackumc.org.

Pauline Vigorita, 94

Pauline Vigorita, 94

June 18, 1923 - Nov. 11, 2017
By
Star Staff

Pauline Vigorita, who had spent summers with her husband and children in a cottage on Gerard Drive in Springs since 1975, died on Saturday. She was 94.

Ms. Vigorita was of Neapolitan and Sicilian descent and never lived far from the sea, first in Brooklyn, then Long Beach, then on the shore of Gardiner’s Bay. She loved the scent of the ocean and bay and the wildlife, sunrises, sunsets, and full moons, her family said.

She was born on June 18, 1923, in Brooklyn to Vincent Sabella and the former Amelia Caserta, and attended Bay Ridge High School and Ladycliff College at West Point. She was an accomplished pianist and studied at Julliard. After World War II, she married a Navy veteran, Dr. John L. Vigorita, a Manhattan surgeon. He died in 1981.

Ms. Vigorita worked for many years as the manager in her husband’s medical office and was active in many Cabrini Hospital auxiliaries.

She reared four children in Bay Ridge, where she ran a needlepoint shop, Wool and Canvas, which became a social hub for many women in the neighborhood. She spoke Italian, Sicilian, and a bit of Yiddish and Norwegian, reflecting the diverse environment in which she grew up.

Ms. Vigorita was generous to family and friends, who fondly called her Nonna, and to her children’s friends. Knitting gifts was a joy, as was gardening. She was also a frequent visitor to the Springs Library.

In East Hampton, she was a volunteer for the Meals on Wheels food program and enjoyed attending the Metropolitan Opera’s live broadcasts at Guild Hall. She liked to travel as well, visiting five continents. She said that Italy and Israel were her favorite countries from among her trips.

Ms. Vigorita is survived by her children, Louis Vigorita of Ventura, Calif., Phyllis Mitchell of Wilmot, N.H., Vincent Vigorita of New York City, and Amelia Schirrippa of Springs. She died at the house belonging to Ms. Schirrippa and her husband, Dominic, on Hawthorne Street, where she had lived for 26 years when she was not at the Gerard Drive cottage. She is also survived by eight grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and a sister, Raffaela Bonventre of Douglaston, Queens.

She was buried in the family plot at Green River Cemetery in Springs in a private service.

Memorial donations have been suggested to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.

Gary M. Brady, 64

Gary M. Brady, 64

June 5, 1953 - Nov. 09, 2017
By
Star Staff

Gary M. Brady of Boatheader’s Lane, East Hampton, died of a heart attack at home last Thursday. He was 64.

Mr. Brady settled in Montauk after serving for four years on a refueler tanker in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Growing up in West Hempstead, he and his father had gone out to Montauk on fishing trips. Once he was living there, he got his license and his own charter boat, the Sandpiper. He loved fishing in Long Island waters, both offshore and in the bays. 

In Montauk he and his wife worked for a flooring company, and he was a member of the Montauk Friends of Erin. Once they had moved to East Hampton, he worked for many years doing carpentry and construction jobs, as well as a certain amount of estate care. 

Gary Michael Brady was born in Brooklyn on June 5, 1953, one of four children of the former Lorraine Jones and John P. Brady. He grew up there, and after living in West Hempstead he moved to Mahopac, N.Y., graduating from Mahopac High School. 

He and the former Priscilla Jean Berry married on Nov. 15, 1981, and had two daughters, Kristen Brady and Laura Brady, both of whom survive and live in East Hampton. 

In addition to his wife and daughters, nine grandchildren and four nieces and nephews survive, as do his brothers Daniel Brady of Pawling, N.Y., and Mark Brady of Stormville, N.Y. His brother Jack Brady of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., died before him.

Mr. Brady enjoyed his grandchildren’s school games, plays, and pushing them on the swing, his wife said. After he retired, he enjoyed gardening, working on projects around the house, and watching his daughters and family playing in the water, kayaking in the bay, and digging for clams. “He will be missed and remembered by many,” his wife said.

The family will receive visitors today from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., a funeral Mass will be said at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton. Mr. Brady will be buried at Calverton National Cemetery. The family has suggested memorial donations for the Brady family at 37 Boatheader’s Lane, East Hampton 11937.

Dino Levi, 77

Dino Levi, 77

Aug. 24, 1940 - Oct. 16, 2017
By
Star Staff

Dino Levi of Outlook Avenue in East Hampton died on Oct. 16 at N.Y.U. Langone Medical Center in Manhattan of complications from his cancer treatment. He was 77 and had been diagnosed eight months ago.

Mr. Levi, who began living in East Hampton part time with his wife in 1971, was a regular volleyball player at the ocean beach in Amagansett and also enjoyed boating and skiing. He had his own hangar at East Hampton Airport, where he kept a small plane; he had begun flying in connection with his fabric-importing business. In addition to being an importer, he owned a weaving mill in Lincoln, Me., which produced high-end worsted yarn for women’s fashions.

Dino Levi was born in Milan on Aug. 24, 1940, to the former Parda Contini and Elio Levi. He moved to New York City in 1960 and attended City College for three years, majoring in industrial psychology. He had always been interested in learning to fly, his widow said, and when he realized how much time flying himself would save when he had to visit clients in the South, he took lessons and bought his own plane.

On Sept. 27 1963, Mr. Levi married the former Leslie Dash, who survives. They started living on the East End full time in 1976. In addition to his work with fabric and fashions — and creating his own computer programs for those businesses — Mr. Levi had once launched a small charter airline company and a business transporting military personnel.

He had requested a large party for family and friends to celebrate his most unusual and interesting life, which Ms. Levi is organizing and expects to host next summer. In the interim, family members held a small memorial lunch on Oct. 28. Mr. Levi donated his body to Stony Brook University for medical research.

In addition to Ms. Levi, a sister, Daniela Levi, and a niece, both of Milan, survive, as do his daughter, Lara Petrick of Sea Cliff, and one grandson. 

Yaedi E. Ignatow, 60

Yaedi E. Ignatow, 60

Nov. 1, 1956 - Nov. 09, 2017
By
Star Staff

Yaedi E. Ignatow, a poet, screenwriter, playwright, and filmmaker, died in Tucson on Oct. 9. She had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer four years ago. 

Although primarily a poet and playwright, Ms. Ignatow also worked on the East End between 1995 and 2003 for the Hamptons International Film Festival, Harold Shepherd Real Estate, Allan M. Schneider and Associates, and as an administrative assistant to Budd Schulberg, the Academy Award-wining screenwriter of “On the Waterfront.”

Yaedi (rhymes with lady) Elizabeth Ignatow was born in Queens on Nov. 1, 1956, the daughter of David Ignatow, a poet celebrated internationally and particularly well known on the South Fork, and Rose Graubart Ignatow, a painter, poet, and writer. Her parents died before her, as did her half brother, David.

Although she spent her infancy and very young years in Queens and Kansas, by the time she was 4 or 5, Ms. Ignatow was living with her parents in Springs, where she attended the Springs School before heading to East Hampton High School and graduating from the Hampton Day School in Bridgehampton.

Ms. Ignatow earned a B.A. in literature and creative writing at Southampton College, graduating with the class of 1979, after which she earned an M.F.A. in writing and the study of contemporary poetry at Vermont College of Norwich University, near Montpelier, Vt., in 1985.

Sheep Meadow Press published a book of her poetry, “The Flaw,” in 1984. And, in 1986, the late Robert Long compiled and edited “Long Island Poets,” a collection that featured her work as well as that of her father.

Ms. Ignatow was married to Chris Conforti, whom she had met in 1984 at Reed’s Photo Shop in East Hampton. They divorced in 2008 but stayed close friends and creative partners, according to Mr. Conforti. For the past eight years she had been living with Patrick Teske in Tucson. She had just finished her first short film, “The Aria,” several months before she died.

In addition to Mr. Conforti and Mr. Teske, three cousins, living in New York City and Washington, D.C., survive.

There will be a celebration of her life on Sunday in Tucson. At her request, her ashes will be dispersed at East Hampton beaches in the future.

Joanne Parker Perry

Joanne Parker Perry

April 13, 1931-November 19, 2017
By
Star Staff

Joanne Parker Perry, a popular member of the CVS Pharmacy staff in East Hampton for two decades, died on Sunday at Stony Brook University Hospital after a brief illness due to complications of cancer. 

Ms. Perry, who was 86 years old, had beaten both breast cancer and kidney cancer in recent years, until a recent recurrence, and had continued to work until earlier this year. 

She was born in Philadelphia on April 13, 1931, the daughter of William Reed Parker and the former Kathryn Thompson. Her father had a career as a Navy officer and she grew up in several states.

After his return to civilian life, the family moved to Elmira, N.Y., where she attended the Emma Willard School. She went on to Wellesley College, and graduated from Elmira College.

She was married in 1951 to William Perry, a composer, and the couple settled in Chappaqua, N.Y., in a white colonial that had begun life as a dry goods store in the days before the American Revolution. The marriage ended in divorce.

Ms. Perry leaves a daughter, Kathryn Taft Perry of East Hampton, and a son, Charles Thompson Perry of Munich, along with three grandchildren.

While raising her family, Ms. Perry worked in fashion sales, learned French cooking from the founder of Le Cordon Bleu, and raised elegant Great Pyrenees dogs.

She became an accomplished artist, especially in watercolors. She took many painting trips abroad including to Ireland, Greece, and Kenya.

With her children grown, Ms. Perry moved to East Hampton and built a house on Atlantic Street, where her daughter and grandson later joined her. She adopted a dog named Scout from the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, and loved it dearly, her family said.

Ms. Perry was always an avid reader and a contributor to many charitable causes, but she may best be remembered for her friendly and good-humored personality by the hundreds of customers she came to know at her checkout counter at the CVS drugstore on Pantigo Road, her daughter said.

As per her request, there will be no  service and burial will be private. Visiting hours were scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 22, at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton from 7 to 9 p.m. 

Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons at P.O. Box 901, Wainscott 11975.

Fred W. Nagel

Fred W. Nagel

Feb. 18, 1931 - Oct. 21, 2017
By
Star Staff

From his stint in the Navy, where he played the bugle, to the nightclubs of New York City during the modern jazz heyday, music and the exploration of human consciousness were key parts of Fred W. Nagel’s life. The former Jungian psychotherapist and licensed real estate agent died on Oct. 21 after a series of illnesses. He was 86.

Mr. Nagel had been a summer resident of Amagansett, having built with his own hands a small place in the dunes, completing it in 1963 with his sister, Arlene Coulter, and their respective spouses. More recently, he lived in Springs with his wife, Nancy Peabody, who died in 2010, in a house they called Quince de Mayo. He had earlier marriages to Patricia Buris and Suzanna Ellard.

He was born in Ridgewood, Queens, on Feb. 18, 1931, to Frederick William Finkernagel and the former Jewel Hess. After finishing school in Queens, Mr. Nagel served in the Navy from 1951 to 1953. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University, which he attended on the G.I. Bill, and received a master’s degree from the C.G. Jung Institute, going into private practice as a psychotherapist in 1967. 

He saw patients in his office on the Upper West Side of Manhattan until 2007. His therapy practice often focused on helping patients achieve creative self-expression and fulfillment, something he also sought to instill in his small circle of family and close friends.

He joined Allan M. Schneider real estate as an agent in 1994 and continued with the Corcoran company in its Amagansett office after it bought Schneider. He retired in 2012.

Mr. Nagel was a quiet and deeply thoughtful person who took devoted care of his wife, dogs, and Springs home, his family said. He was moved by the works of Shakespeare, Joseph Campbell, and Ernest Hemingway. His book of poems, “Twenty-Five to Life: A Love Story,” was published by Accabonac Press in 2011. Other writing, chiefly memoir, appeared in The East Hampton Star. 

As his illnesses worsened in recent years and he needed a helping hand, his niece Gillian Coulter lived with him in Springs.

In addition to his sister, who lives in East Hampton, and niece, Mr. Nagel is survived by a grandchild, another niece, and three grandnephews. 

A memorial service for Mr. Nagel, who was cremated, will be held on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Springs Presbyterian Church, where he was a member of the congregation. The Rev. Scot McCachren will officiate.

Peter Macgregor-Scott, Producer of Many Films

Peter Macgregor-Scott, Producer of Many Films

Dec. 28, 1947 - Oct. 29, 2017
By
Star Staff

Peter Macgregor-Scott, an award-winning film producer who spent as much time as possible in East Hampton during the last six years, died on Oct. 29, six and a half weeks after being thrown from a taxi in New York City when the driver failed to realize Mr. Macgregor-Scott was following another passenger into the vehicle. He was 69 years old.

Born in Maidenhead, England, three days after Christmas in 1947 to the former Joyce Harries and J.C. Macgregor-Scott, he grew up in his native town as well as in London. After graduating from Dover College, he went to work for Pinewood Studios in England as a producer. 

Mr. Macgregor-Scott is best known as the producer of the 1993 film “The Fugitive,” starring Harrison Ford, which was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. The following year, he produced “Black Beauty,” narrated by Alan Cumming. He produced “Batman Forever” in 1995 and “Batman and Robin” in 1997, and was named a Make-A-Wish Humanitarian of the Year during his “Batman” years.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1970 to work for Independent Film Productions and worked as a production manager on Peter Landis’s hit comedy, “Animal House” early in his career. He had a stint with Universal Studios. From the ’90s through 2002, he was with Warner Brothers, and he was with the Walt Disney Company during the last decade.

He had begun his career in Los Angeles as a production manager of a TV movie, “Ride the Tiger.” He doubled as a production manager and associate producer on “The Jerk,” starring Steve Martin, in 1979, and was associate producer on “The Prisoner of Zenda” the same year.

During the 1980s, he co-produced or produced films including the Oscar-nominated musical “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds, the comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” and two Cheech and Chong comedies. 

Mr. Mcgregor-Scott was introduced to East Hampton in 2000 by his wife-to-be, Susan Brustien, who had a weekend house here. Over the course of their first weekend here, he fell in love both with her and East Hampton. Not a beach person, he loved the cultural side of life here, Ms. Macgregor-Scott said. “He loved the garden tours and was a big supporter of Guild Hall. He was a fixture at his favorite restaurant here, Rowdy Hall, were he had a regular seat, she said. The couple had a Manhattan residence, but for the last several years, she said East Hampton was really their home.

“Peter was a magical combination of brilliance, kindness, optimism, loyalty, mischief, and passion,” his wife said in an email earlier this week. “He developed lifelong friendships throughout his career and wherever he traveled. He was an inspiration and mentor to many,” she said.

Besides his wife, he is survived by two adult children, Elizabeth Kennedy of Corinth, Tex., and Taylor Macgregor-Scott of Roswell, Ga., and by a brother, Ian Macgregor-Scott of La Canada, Cal.

A celebration of his life is being planned for early next year in Los Angeles.

For Semira Breitweg

For Semira Breitweg

By
Star Staff

Semira Breitweg of Flaggy Hole Road in Springs, who moved full time to East Hampton after the death of her husband in 1994, died on Monday at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Westhampton Beach. She was 95. The family will receive visitors on Sunday between 2 and 4 p.m. and 7 and 9 at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. On Monday at 10 a.m., there will be a funeral Mass said at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton, followed by burial at Calverton National Cemetery. The family has suggested memorial donations to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.

An obituary will appear in a future issue of The Star.