Elean Quackenbush, 72
Elean Quackenbush, a lifelong resident of East Hampton, died of lung cancer on Aug. 14 at her house in Springs overlooking Three Mile Harbor. She was 72.
Mrs. Quackenbush “would do whatever it took to make others happy,” relatives said, adding that she always put other people first. She was a caregiver from the age of 16, after her grandmother Phebe Ott was diagnosed with cancer.
She much enjoyed crocheting and knitting, not only supplying a wide circle of family and friends with hats, mittens, blankets, and potholders, but also teaching anyone willing to learn.
Mrs. Quackenbush was born in Southampton on June 2, 1946, one of four children of Morley L. Schellinger and the former Florence Ott. She grew up in East Hampton, graduating from East Hampton High School and then from the School of Practical Nursing in Glen Cove. She worked for Dr. John Halsey in obstetrics and gynecology in Southampton until her marriage to James T. Quackenbush in October 1968, after which she went into business with her husband at G.T. Stanley Cesspool Service.
They had three children. She was a “devoted and very much loved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend,” her family said.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, James L. Quackenbush of East Hampton and Michael M. Quackenbush of Madison, Ga., and a daughter, Linda Rea of East Hampton. One sister, Sally Riva of Canaan, Conn., and two brothers, Ricky Schellinger of Hampton Bays and Morley H. Schellinger of Riverhead, also survive, as do six grandchildren.
Mrs. Quackenbush was cremated. The Very Rev. Denis C. Brunelle of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton conducted a funeral service at the family burial ground, Round Swamp Cemetery on Three Mile Harbor Road. She was buried next to her grandparents.