Ethyl C. Comerford

    Ethyl C. Comerford, formerly of Noyac, a teacher at the Most Holy Trinity School in East Hampton for many years, died on Jan. 8 at the Fairview, a nursing home in Groton, Conn., where she had lived for the past nine months. Ms. Comerford was 92.

    Born on Jan. 14, 1920, in Astoria, Queens, to Joseph Masheck and Rose Cermak, she received a bachelor’s degree from what was formerly known as St. Joseph’s College for Women in Brooklyn. After graduating, she worked first as a secretary at Universal Pictures and later as an executive secretary at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

    On Sept. 8, 1956, she married Peter Comerford in Astoria. The two made a life together in Flushing until his retirement. In 1965, the couple moved to Sag Harbor with their two children, Peter J. and Rosemary. Mrs. Comerford started a second career as an elementary school teacher at Most Holy Trinity School in East Hampton, where she taught for 19 years. Meanwhile, she worked toward a master’s degree in elementary education at Southampton College, focusing on reading.

    Mrs. Comerford was an active member of the Sag Harbor Columbiettes, the Ladies Village Improvement Society in Sag Harbor, and St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church, where she later directed its religious education program after retiring from the classroom in 1985.

    As a writer, she wrote occasional school columns for The East Hampton Star as well as pieces on life in Noyac for The Sag Harbor Express.

    In 2005, she moved into an apartment attached to her daughter’s house in Old Lyme, Conn. Once there, she frequently participated in the morning-prayer group at Christ the King Church, where she became a communicant. Mrs. Comerford also kept busy with cooking, crocheting, swimming, and spending time with friends and family.

    Mrs. Comerford is survived by her son, Peter J. Comerford of Portsmouth, R.I., her daughter, Rosemary Reid, of Old Lyme, and by three granddaughters and a grandson. Her husband of 40 years died before her, as did her brother, Joseph Mashek, and five grandchildren.

    Funeral services were held at Christ the King Church in Connecticut, followed by burial at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Sag Harbor. Donations can be made to the Fairview Nursing Home, a not-for-profit, at 235 Lestertown Road #1, Groton, Conn. 06340.