Obituaries

Gail J. Murphy of Montauk, who worked for John Ecker Inc., a Montauk insurance brokerage from the time she was in high school until her final illness, died at home on Sunday. She was 55 and had had breast cancer for about four years.

Alison Jane Aird, an accomplished pianist and English and drama teacher who was in remission for 10 years from a malignant brain tumor, died on Friday night at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue.

Budd Levinson, a philanthropist who had been an entrepreneur in the textiles business, Navy veteran, and inveterate fisherman, died at his home in Springs on Dec. 20. He was 101.

Cathy Anne Tobin, who lived on Navy Road in Montauk for the past eight years, died of complications of diabetes on Feb. 1 at Southampton Hospital.

Donald M. Halsey, who had been the East Hampton Village clerk and treasurer from 1966 until his retirement in 1982, died on Jan. 30 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton.

Kathleen Hutton, a runway model in London in the 1950s who later worked as a professional chef and property manager and also had a knitting store in Bridgehampton, died at home in East Hampton on Feb. 1 of lymphoma.

Melissa Morgan, who had sustained a broken hip and other injuries in a fall in 2013 and been in failing health since October, died last Thursday at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton.

Phyllis C. Byrne of East Hampton, who together with her late husband, Patrick, owned and ran the Huntting Lane Rest Home until 2006, died on Jan. 21 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton, where she had been for several months.

Robert Gerson Schwartz of New York City, East Hampton, and Longboat Key, Fla., died of a heart attack in Longboat Key last Thursday, his 93rd birthday.

Word has reached The Star that Walter C. Loris, a retired East Hampton Town police officer and Amagansett resident, died on Sunday.

Clara Hamilton, who had been the secretary of the Amagansett Presbyterian Church for 30 years before she retired about 10 years ago, died on Jan. 18 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton, where she had been for six months.

Earl C. Rishel of Water Mill, a gifted musician and trumpeter who taught at Southampton High School for almost 20 years, died at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing on Sunday.

Eugene Lyle Stoler of East Hampton and New York City died at home in the city on Saturday.

Funeral services for Donald M. Halsey of Fithian Lane, East Hampton, will be held at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church tomorrow.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for Mary Hawke, 89, of Southampton, who died on Jan. 20. Funeral services were held on Jan. 23 at the Southampton Presbyterian Church, followed by private burial in Flemington, N.J.

A full obituary will appear in a future issue.

Harvey M. Spear, an attorney who served with the United States Marine Corps during World War II, died on Jan. 22 at his home in Manhattan.

James C. Welsch Jr. of East Hampton and Huntington died at Huntington Hospital on Jan. 20 after a brief illness.

John Easevoli of Key Largo, Fla., and Amagansett died on Jan. 24 at Southampton Hospital of complications of a heart attack he had had several months earlier.

Joseph D. Policano of East Hampton, a retired public relations executive, was well known to regular readers of The East Hampton Star for his near-weekly letters to the editor over many years.

Michael C. Hennessy, 80, a resident of North Haven from 1974 to 1988 who had since moved to Dingle in Ireland’s County Kerry, died at home there on Sunday after a two-year illness.

Monty Silver, a talent agent whose clients were among the stars of stage and screen, died at his home in Springs on Jan. 19 of bladder cancer. He was 83 and had been ill for 13 months. His family said he had been treasured for his warmth and sharp sense of humor.

Roger Dale Myrick died on Jan. 21 at Southampton Hospital of complications of a stroke. He was 71 and had been planning to go back to work as chef in March at Cappelletti, a restaurant on Noyac Road in Sag Harbor.

Susanna Irma Jacob, a tailor, ceramic artist, friend to animals, and involved parishioner at St. Therese de Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, died at Southampton Hospital on Sunday of pneumonia.

Visiting hours for Victoria M. Carillo of Surfside Drive in Montauk and Key West will be at Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on Friday.

Visiting hours for Clara Hamilton of Amagansett, who died on Jan. 18 at the age of 85, will be at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m. Her funeral will be held there on Saturday at 11 a.m., with burial following at Oak Grove Cemetery in Amagansett. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

George Ward Jr., a former Sag Harbor police officer and 29-year Fire Department volunteer, died at his home in the village on Jan. 8 at the age of 75.

Howard E. Lester Jr., a decorated retired Air Force master sergeant who grew up in East Hampton, died in Portsmouth, N.H., on Saturday. He was 75.

Marie Grace Steidle of Springs, a homemaker and longtime volunteer for a number of worthy causes, died in her sleep at home on Jan. 15 at the age of 93.

Mrs. Steidle was described by her family as energetic and sociable. She dedicated herself to community service, volunteering with the American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, and the Southampton Hospital Thrift Shop, among others. A lifelong pursuit of learning led her to take classes in real estate, quilting, yoga, rug-braiding, oil painting, and cooking.

Despite his young age, Matthew Lester, who was a senior at East Hampton High School, felt a great civic duty, not only to his community, but to the whole world, his parents said.

Robert D. Hildreth, who won a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star as a soldier in Germany during World War II, died at home on Tuesday morning.