Obituaries

A funeral for Judy A. Favata of East Hampton will be held at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Amagansett next Thursday at 4:30 p.m., with a reception at the family home to follow. Ms. Favata, who was 70, died on Friday. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

“Youth is full of sport” is written above Bob Vishno’s photo in the Branford (Conn.) High School yearbook of 1949, a fitting saying for one who would go on to coach golf, basketball, and baseball at Sag Harbor’s Pierson High School for a generation, a 31-year tenure that he and his late wife, Lillian, who also was a Sag Harbor teacher, set forth upon in 1956. 

Eugene Richard Samuelson, a founder of the Wednesday Group of plein-air painters here, died of complications of diabetes at home in Amagansett on Feb. 15. He was 85.

“A passionate gardener, baker, sailor, animal lover and advocate,” Nancy S. Cardoso “filled her life with reminders of the things she loved — nature, art, and speaking the truth,” according to those who knew her. She died on Feb. 27 at home in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Robert Emmett Ginna Jr., a reporter, editor, filmmaker, and teacher, died at home in Sag Harbor on March 3 at the age of 99. Twenty-five years earlier, when he was 74, he strapped on a 38-pound rucksack and set off to walk the length of Ireland. The journey became a book, “The Irish Way: A Walk Through Ireland’s Past and Present.” Illustrated with his own sketches, it was just one chapter in a lifetime of adventuring in words and images, working in art museums, magazine and book publishing, television, and film.

Donald D. Wells Jr. of East Hampton, who ran his own company, Action Irrigation, for 30 years, died at home on Feb. 15. He was 77.

Helga Koegl Coppola, who began summering in Montauk in the 1970s and moved there full time in the 1980s, died of respiratory complications on Feb. 6 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She was 88.

James Leo (Buddy) Burke, a lifelong Montauker who owned and operated Burke’s 24-hour Oil Burner Service, died in his sleep on Feb. 5 at the age of 95.

Aida Ester Chitarroni of Springs, a staff member at Gurney’s Inn and Resort in Montauk for many years, died on Friday in Stamford, Conn. She was 74.

Gerald Schneider, an accountant known as Jerry, died of a heart attack in New York City on Feb. 8. He was 70 and had lived in Springs since 1985.

Janet Jones Schwitter, who for 50 years had a house in Amagansett and once ran an antiques store in the hamlet, died in New York City on Jan. 30. She was 92.

Michael Z. Jody of East Hampton, a psychoanalyst and couples counselor, died on Feb. 19 in the care of East End Hospice of Westhampton Beach. He was 68 and had been ill with cancer for six weeks.

Stephanie J. O’Connell, who had taught at the Most Holy Trinity School in East Hampton, died on Feb. 21 in Roslyn. She was 81. A funeral Mass will be said on Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity.

Bev Baker, a Navy veteran and a 1975 graduate of East Hampton High School, died on Jan. 27 at Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Ill. Most recently of Carthage, Ill., she was 67.

A service for Gerald Schneider of Springs will be held on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Mr. Schneider, who was 70, died of a heart attack on Feb. 8 in New York City.

Judith D. King, a Montauker who worked at Gosman’s Restaurant for over 30 years, died on Feb. 4 at the age of 80.

C. Leonard Gordon, a corporate lawyer turned medical entrepreneur who with his wife spent weekends and summers in East Hampton for almost 60 years, died in Miami on Feb. 9. He was 95.

David Allyn Webb, a general contractor who worked on projects ranging from Norman Jaffe’s Gates of the Grove to the Ross School, died on Feb. 6 at Peconic Landing. He was 87.

Audrey Raebeck, an educator with a specialty in early childhood reading and a founder of the Group the East End, died on Jan. 31. She was 93.

Jessica Fitzpatrick, an educational consultant who focused on family literacy, died at home in Calverton on Feb. 6. Formerly of East Hampton, she was 77.

Ray Hartjen, the driving force behind the creation of the Hartjen-Richardson Community Boat Shop in Amagansett, died at home in Springs on Jan. 31. He was 93.

Vernice Mae Fordham North of Noyac, whose family goes back 11 generations on the South Fork, died on Feb. 5 at the age of 98.

Carolyn Celeste Cerchiai “devoted her life to her family,” they wrote. “Carolyn’s warmth touched everyone who knew her.” Mrs. Cerchiai died at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Jan. 22. She was 80 and had a respiratory illness.

Paid Notice: Howard E. Faulkner of Riverhead, NY, formerly of Northport, and East Hampton, peacefully passed away on February 1, 2025. He leaves behind a legacy of faith, love and dedication which touched many people throughout his remarkable life.

Eleanor Osborne Ratsep, the president of the East Hampton Library Board in the 1990s, died on Jan. 17 at the age of 93. A funeral service will be held at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church on Friday at 11 a.m.

Visiting hours for Carolyn Cerchiai of East Hampton will be held Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Ms. Cerchiai, who was 80, died on Jan. 22.

Visiting hours for James Emmett Mabry of East Hampton will take place on Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton, with a “home-going” service to follow at 1. Mr. Mabry died on Jan. 22 at the age of 75.

Harry E. Heller of Springs, who had careers in aviation engineering, advertising, and public opinion research, died on Dec. 29 in Philadelphia. He was 90.

Leroy Kayser of East Hampton, a former systems analyst for Federated Department Stores, died on Jan. 19 at the age of 99.

Patricia Smith, a speech pathologist and chairwoman of the committee on special education at the Bridgehampton School, died on Sunday at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She was 74.