Alice Recktenwald, 88
Alice Recktenwald died of complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder at home in East Hampton on Saturday, with her family around her. She had been in hospice care for a week, after being ill for a several years.
Mrs. Recktenwald had worked at the Bulova Watch Company of Sag Harbor Industries, and later at the East Hampton House. She eventually started a home care service for private clients.
She was born on Oct. 2, 1930, one of nine children of Lucy Rosalia Bennett and James Louis Leedham.
Mrs. Recktenwald grew up in East Hampton and went to school in Huntington, where her mother’s family used to spend time. In 1968 she married Charles (Jed) Recktenwald, who used to set type at The Star after school. They had six daughters, of whom four survive: Linda Mackey of Alabama, Charlotte Jarvis of Sag Harbor, Tonya Bennett of East Hampton, and Sarah Scainetti, who had moved in with her and, through her care, had extended her life by three years longer than the doctors had predicted.
Her daughters Sandra Jarvis of East Hampton and Alice Sheridan of Alabama died last year.
Three sisters survive, Florence Valerio of Ronkonkoma, and Gloria King and Lois Bono of East Hampton. Her other siblings, Edna Van Dyke, Ella King, Mary Harrington, and Nettie King, all of East Hampton, and her brother, George Leedham of Kings Park, died before her.
Countless grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild also survive.
Once she had more time, two of her daughters said, she “discovered she had the ability to sketch and paint pictures and it became her passion until she fell sick” at 85.
In addition to painting, she was also a devoted Jehovah’s Witness, which “gave her strength and comfort through her many years of illness,” her family said. She was a longtime member of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Water Mill, where a funeral will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. Tomorrow evening from 7 to 9, the family will receive visitors at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton, with a eulogy given at 8.
She will be buried on Tuesday in a private ceremony at Cedar Lawn Cemetery.