Sandra Steinlauf
Sandra Steinlauf, a former Montauk columnist for The East Hampton Star, died on May 27 in Boca Raton, Fla., at the age of 73. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three and a half years ago.
After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1962, she married Bernard Steinlauf, and the couple moved to Montauk, where, for 15 years, they owned the Takamatzia Motel. Ms. Steinlauf was president of the Montauk PTA, where she implemented a screening program for amblyopia, commonly called lazy eye.
A talented musician and singer, she played piano and guitar at student assemblies at the Montauk School. As a member of the Sweet Adelines, she performed at Guild Hall and other venues.
“A beautiful and loving spirit has left this world,” her daughter, Susan Pascal, wrote in an email. “There will never be anyone on earth again like my mom, and life will never be the same without her. She touched so many lives and was beloved by everyone she met. She bravely fought her illness and remained positive and strong right up until the end. She was an inspiration to all who knew her.”
Ms. Steinlauf, a former member of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, was born in Brooklyn on March 2, 1941, to Mark Klayman and the former Lucille Hammer. She attended the High School of Music and Art as a voice major, and graduated from Brooklyn College, where she majored in education and minored in music.
After leaving Montauk the Steinlaufs divided their time between Boca Raton, Fla., and Hemlock Farms, a community association in Lords Valley, Pa., where she was an assistant director of the Fellowship Choir and a member of the Wayne Choralaires and the Pike County Chorale. She was a board member of the Sisterhood of the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms and performed at various Sisterhood functions. She and her husband, who survives, were spending summers in Lords Valley and winters in Deerfield Beach, Fla., at the time of her death.
In addition to her husband and daughter, who lives in Agoura Hills, Calif., she is survived by two sons, Dr. Adam Steinlauf of New York City and Gil Steinlauf of Washington, D.C. She also leaves a brother, Jeffrey Klayman of Los Angeles, and six grandchildren.
A memorial service was held at the Star of David Memorial Chapel in Farmingdale, followed by burial at Mount Ararat Cemetery, Farmingdale. A second service, a musical tribute, will be held on July 20 at 3 p.m. at the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms. It will include performances by the Fellowship Choir, the Wayne Choralaires, the Pike County Chorus, and the Deanery Choir.