Douglas E. Murphy

Longtime Greenport resident Douglas E. Murphy, formerly of Shelter Island, died Aug. 22 at his home. He was 71.

He was born March 11, 1944, in Bridgeton, N.J., to Dorothy (Schill) and Joseph Murphy. He married Jill Adams in Lynbrook Sept. 9, 1967.

Mr. Murphy received a Bachelor of Science in health care management from Empire State College. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1963 to 1967 and was the owner of Eagles Neck Paddling Company in Orient.

Family members said he enjoyed kayaking, trap and target shooting, collecting, wood carving, drawing and painting and listening to music.

Mr. Murphy is survived by his wife, Jill; his daughters, Erin (Warren) Corazzini of Greenport and Alison Murphy of Cutchogue; his grandsons Warren (Jennifer) Corazzini of Rockville Centre and Jeffery and Douglas Corazzini, both of Greenport; his granddaughters Kim Corazzini (Steven McEnaney) of Rhinbeck, N.Y., and Brighton Tucci of Cutchogue; and his great-grandson, Reed Corazzini.

The family received visitors Aug. 26 at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport. Interment will take place at a future date at Emily F. French Cemetery on Shelter Island.

The family suggests “paying it forward” by doing something nice for someone else in Mr. Murphy’s memory.

Candida Royalle, a feminist erotic filmmaker and pioneer of the sex-positive movement, died from ovarian cancer at home in Mattituck on Sept. 7.

She was 64.

Born in Brooklyn as Candice Marion Vadala, Ms. Royalle starred in pornography until 1984, when she launched Femme Productions with the intention of producing “adult films from a woman’s perspective,” her friend Annie Sprinkle wrote in a public Facebook post.

In doing so, Ms. Royalle helped launch the couples’ erotica market.

“Pornography can reboot a couple’s sex life,” she wrote in a 2012 New York Times piece. “It can give you ideas, or help you get in touch with what turns you on.”

One year after beginning her career behind the camera, Ms. Royalle co-founded one of the first porn star support groups, Club 90, of which she was an active member up until her death, Ms. Sprinkle said.

In 2004, Ms. Royalle wrote “How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do.” She was also an animal rights activist and prolific public speaker, lecturing everywhere from the Smithsonian Institute to the World Congress on Sexology.

A founding member of Feminists for Free Expression, a nonprofit group dedicated to defending women’s rights and freedom of expression, Ms. Royalle received a doctorate in human sexuality from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in 2014.

Ms. Royalle, in a photo taken by Daniel Nicoletta in San Francisco in the mid-’70’s, during a performance at a Salon. (Credit: courtesy, Facebook)

According to Ms. Sprinkle, Ms. Royalle had been suffering from ovarian cancer for the past five years. She had reportedly planned to leave the North Fork this fall in order to be closer to friends.

“Then, just about five days ago, Candice started slipping away quickly and it became evident that [she] was unlikely to recover,” Ms. Sprinkle said.

Ms. Royalle’s three cats will need new homes, Ms. Sprinkle said. Anyone interested in adopting them can email Barbara Carrellas.

ryoung@timesreview.com

Photo Caption: Ms. Royalle, seen here in a 2009 photo, died of ovarian cancer last week. (Credit: courtesy, Facebook)

Elizabeth J. Homan, 87, of Cutchogue died Oct. 26 at Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson.  

Ms. Homan is survived by her husband, James.

The family will receive visitors Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 29, at the funeral home. Interment will take place at Cutchogue Cemetery.

A complete obituary will follow.

Alex Charles Zuhoski of Cutchogue died Oct. 20 at Peconic Bay Medical Center. He was 86 years old. 

Born May 28, 1929, he was the son of Anna and John Zuhoski. He is predeceased by his brother, John, and sister, Helen Orlowski. He is survived by his wife, Shirley Zuhoski, to whom he was married for over 65 years, the one and only true love of his life. Taken from a letter written to Shirley on Sept. 28, 1947, “Whenever you’re in my arms I feel as if I am in heaven.” He is survived by his children, Nancy Sacks of Mattituck, Denise Trifiletti (husband, Frank) of Jamesport, Maria Gaydosik (husband, Michael) of Mattituck and Alexander Zuhoski (wife, Therese) of Riverhead. He is survived by nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Alex was born into a strong and vibrant Polish farming community on Oregon Road in Cutchogue. He was passionate about farming and to the day he passed, he would speak fondly of the friends and memories garnered in those years. He later went on to become the sole caretaker at Kimogener Point, where he worked for 31 years. With kindness and compassion, he brought an unmatchable work ethic and dedication that went beyond his daily duties. Residents were known to refer to him as their second Dad, as he saw a generation grow within their community.

Alex was a man of strong faith. Sunday he never missed an 8 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Ostrabrama, where he always sat in the first pew. His belief and faith was a part of his fabric; his very essence. He was also an active member of the Knights of Columbus for many years.

Alex also felt strongly about serving his community. He joined the Cutchogue Fire Department in April 1948 becoming the 179th member of the department and remained an active member at which time he became an honorary member. His service was a great source of pride for him.

Alex was a kind, gentle and loving man. All who knew him will remember the near perpetual smile on his face and the kind words he would often impart. He was a proud man and had an unrelenting love for his family, faith and country. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

This is a paid notice. 

Warren John Oltmanns

Former longtime Southold resident Warren John Oltmanns passed away peacefully in his sleep Oct.26, 2015, in Richmond, Va. at age 94. 

Warren was born Feb. 28, 1921, in Brooklyn to Ruth Isabel Hodgetts and Herman John Christopher Oltmanns. He spent his childhood in Brooklyn until the family moved to Manhasset, where he spent his teenage years. He graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in business and then received a graduate degree from Harvard Business School.

Warren was a World War II veteran, serving in the Pacific Theatre. He enjoyed family, church, beaches, swimming, all of his dogs, the New York Times and taking long drives in his many cars. He was a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Southold, as well as a treasurer there.

Warren married Beverly Brannin Dec. 27, 1945, in Manhasset. They raised three daughters – Robyn, Wendy, and Kim – in Garden City.

Warren had a lengthy career on Wall Street. He was a municipal bond salesman and bond broker for Charles E. Weigold and Co. He later worked at Merrill Lynch, Franklin National Bank, and European National Bank. In his retirement years, he and Beverly lived for 27 years in Southold.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Beverly Brannin Oltmanns; three daughters, Robyn Turrill ( Bob) of Boulder, Colo.; Wendy Watkins ( Tom) of Richmond, Va. and Kim Maxwell ( Alan) of Charlotte, N.C.; six grandchildren, Scott and Reid (Lawren) Hutchinson; Dana Wiles ( TJ), Tommy Watkins, Paige and Leigh Maxwell and three great-grandchildren. Evans Hutchinson, Jackson Hutchinson and Quinn Wiles.

Interment was private.

This is a paid notice. 

Long time Huntington resident Agnes T. Ingino of Orange City, Fla. and formerly of Greenport passed away peacefully Nov. 8, 2014. 

She was predeceased by her husband, Michael; and brothers Gabe and Frederick Mazzaferro. Surviving are her children, Michael, William, Barbara and Joseph; her sister Josephine Conklin; her brothers George, James, and Frank Mazzaferro; 10 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

The family will receive visitors Saturday, Jan.10, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home in Riverhead, where a funeral service will take place at 11:30 a.m. Internment will take place the same day at 3:30 p.m. at Melville Cemetery in Melville.

Patrick J. Kilcommons of Southold died at his home, surrounded by his loved ones, after a lengthy illness. He was 77 years old. 

He was born in County Galway, Ireland, Aug. 7, 1938, to Timothy and Nora Kilcommons and served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1961.

On Nov. 16, 1963, he married Philomena (née Mockler) in Astoria, N.Y.

Patrick had been a conductor with the Long Island Rail Road and a member of the United Transportation Union. He was also a communicant at St. Patrick R.C. Church in Southold.

Patrick is survived by his wife, Philomena; three children, Emily (James) Kelly of Warwick, N.Y., Timothy (Maribeth) of Southold and Geraldine (Christopher) Brodarick of Southold; his sister Mary Cheney of Sunnyside, N.Y.; and 12 grandchildren, Patrick, Sean, James, Ryan, Caitlin, Kieran, Daniel, Kathryn, Grace, Conor, Brendan and Emma. He was predeceased by eight siblings Bridget “Bridie” O’Keefe, Catherine “Kitty” Cabra, Cornelius “Connie,” Nora, Michael, Margaret “Peggy” Reilly, Celia “Sadie” McGoldrick, and Eileen.

The family received visitors July 24 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated July 25 at St. Patrick R.C. Church in Southold. Interment, with U.S. Army honors, will follow at St. Patrick R.C. Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to East End Hospice or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

This is a paid notice. 

Jean Cochran, the only woman ever elected as supervisor of Southold Town and the first woman to serve on the Town Board, died on Thursday. She was 85.

Ms. Cochran, who lived in Southold, served as supervisor from 1996 to 2001, but her accomplishments go well beyond that.

She was the recipient of the North Fork Environmental Council Environmental Achievement Award in 1998, Southold Rotary’s Citizen of the Year and Mattituck Chamber of Commerce’s Award of Appreciation in 1999, among others.

“Jean was the first woman in Southold history elected Supervisor and, to date, the only one,” said Southold Supervisor Scott Russell. “When she left town government, she left Southold a better place.”

Prior to winning the supervisor’s race in November 1995, Ms. Cochran was the first woman ever to serve on the Southold Town Board following her election to that position in 1985. She also served one term as a town trustee prior to being elected to the council seat.

Mr. Russell, who was an assessor when Ms. Cochran was supervisor, said he also ran a few campaigns with her.

“She had a sharp mind, a quick wit and always, always pursued goals that she thought were in the best interest of the Town,” he said. “Jean wasn’t afraid of adversity and always stood her ground. That said, she was flexible to different perspectives.”

During the course of her lifetime, she served as president of the Suffolk County Girl Scouts, she was a Southold school PTA president, a chairperson of Ducks Unlimited Peconic Bay Chapter, a member of the Peconic Bay Estuary executive board, a vice president of the New York State Association of Towns and even a past board member and Honorary Life Member of the Suffolk County Women’s Bowling Association.

Bill Moore, who was elected to a council position in 1995, served on the Town Board with Ms. Cochran for four years. They ran together on the Republican line in 1995.

“She and I grew really close in our time on the board together,” he said in an interview Thursday. “I became part of her family. I still have the campaign ads tucked in the files somewhere.”

He said one of the great accomplishments of Ms. Cochran’s tenure as supervisor was the addition of more parks, such as Strawberry Fields in Mattituck, and the park in Peconic that was named after her: “Jean Cochran Park.”

“She was always making sure we added more parkland,” Mr. Moore said.

In an interview with The Suffolk Times in 2011, Ms. Cochran said: “To me, Southold is farmlands and working people. It’s part of rural America.”

Upzoning Route 48 to reduce the building density was another major accomplishment under Ms. Cochran, Mr. Moore said.

Ms. Cochran was married to Carlisle “Pep” Cochran, who was a town police officer, for 62 years prior to his death in 2013, and they had four children. Her son Carlisle “Ty” Cochran is a retired town police chief.

The family will receive friends on Monday from 3 to 8 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home on 51400 Main Road in Southold. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the funeral home’s chapel. Internment will follow at Willow Hill Cemetery in Southold.

Top photo caption: Jean Cochran pictured in 2001. (file photo)

The park in Peconic named in honor of Jean Cochran. (Credit: Nicole Smith)

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Gary Lillis always seemed to be playing pranks on others.

During Tom Taylor’s first year teaching at Greenport High School, for instance, Mr. Lillis convinced him the building’s business office was handing out free turkeys to teachers for Thanksgiving.

“I believed him and I went down to the office,” Mr. Taylor recalled Tuesday. “Once down there, I got nothing. They laughed at me — of course they did.”

It was one of the first memories that came to mind when Mr. Taylor was asked about Mr. Lillis, a Greenport native who died Feb. 3. He was 69.

“He was a true friend of mine and a great, great teacher,” Mr. Taylor said. “He was one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met … He loved to have fun.”

Mr. Lillis taught seventh- and eighth-grade science and health for more than three decades in the Greenport School District. He was also a longtime driver’s education instructor for the Greenport and Southold school districts and coached junior high baseball and softball in both districts, said his daughter, Rebecca.

Although Ms. Lillis never had her father as a coach while growing up, he sat on the sidelines and offered advice two years ago when she began coaching softball in Greenport School, where she also coaches field hockey. Today, she’s coaching girls whose parents were mentored by her dad.

As a teacher, she said, her father made sure to instill important life lessons in his students, like always being kind, genuinely good and patient with others.

“He was a very kind and generous person,” Ms. Lillis said. “I don’t think he ever had a bad word to say about anyone. I never heard him say anything bad about anybody.”

In addition to teaching, her father loved his alma mater, Clemson University — so much so that he owned a second home in South Carolina.

In fact, she said, one family tradition entailed traveling to Clemson for football games. In his later years, as his health declined, Mr. Lillis still made an effort to attend every game.

“That was something that he loved more than anything else, the Clemson Tigers,” Ms. Lillis said. “I said this at the funeral: [The Tigers] won the national champs game this year. It was a gift to the most loyal fan, their win at the national game.”

Mr. Lillis’ oldest son, Gary Jr., lives near Clemson, while his two other children, Daniel and Ms. Lillis, reside on the North Fork. Mr. Lillis is also survived by three — soon to be five — grandchildren.

“I’ll miss his smile and his kindness toward others,” his daughter said. “He was pretty much my best friend, so I’ll miss my best friend. I know his legacy definitely lives on between the three of us. He has lots of grandchildren and he left a legacy with his students, so he’ll always be around us in that aspect. But I think I’ll miss my father’s kind, caring soul the most.”

Photo caption: Gary Lillis, a longtime science and health teacher, died Feb. 3. (Credit: Courtesy photo)

nsmith@timesreview.com

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Kofi Annan, former United Nations secretary-general, co-recipient of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize and one-time Greenport resident, died in Switzerland Saturday at the age of 80.

Mr. Annan was born in Ghana and served two terms as secretary-general, from December 1996 to January 2007.

Before being named to that position, the diplomat, who spent much of his life working for the U.N., lived on Bay Avenue in Greenport in a house he purchased in 1987 and sold to comedy writer Tom Leopold in early 1996. The real estate agent on that sale was former Greenport mayor Dave Kapell.

In a 2013 column, former Suffolk Times publisher Troy Gustavson recalled that Mr. Annan called Mr. Leopold to ask how he liked the house. Mr. Leopold thought he was being pranked by a friend and “almost blurted out something most unfortunate. But he hesitated just long enough to realize that it really was the secretary-general of the United Nations calling to see how he was doing.”

Local residents recall that Mr. Annan didn’t draw attention to himself.

Mary Foster Morgan of Orient said she met Mr. Annan when she rented the Bay Avenue house.

“He was a reserved, calm man and, as some of his friends have pointed out, he also had a playful streak, which came across as tremendous kindness,” she wrote in an email. “In his summer house there was a room he called the Ghana Room, with artwork from Ghana, low tables and very low chairs. I would sometimes go in and sit on one of those low seats, and compare how different daily life must be in Ghana.”

Dorothy “Tod” Berks of Orient said Mr. Annan and his wife “lived quietly in Greenport.”

“We would just see them walking around,” she said. “They were a nice couple.”

Ms. Berks’ husband, sculptor Robert Berks, was commissioned in 1997 to do a bronze portrait sculpture of Mr. Annan for the United Nations International School.

Mr. Berks, who died in 2011, created hundreds of bronze portrait sculptures, including John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln.

The bronze portrait of Mr. Annan still resides at the United Nations, Ms. Berks said.

In October 2001, the United Nations and Mr. Annan were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Kofi Annan has devoted almost his entire working life to the U.N.,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee wrote at the time. “As Secretary-General, he has been pre-eminent in bringing new life to the organization. While clearly underlining the U.N.’s traditional responsibility for peace and security, he has also emphasized its obligations with regard to human rights.”

Photo caption: Kofi Annan (right) at the dedication of a sculpture depicting him at the United Nations International School in November 1997. The bronze bust was sculpted by the late Robert Berks of Orient (left). Robert Howard, a friend and benefactor of the UNIS, shakes Mr. Annan’s hand. (Credit: Robert Berks Studio Courtesy photo)

tgannon@timesreview.com

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Longtime Southold resident Harold Schwerdt, a two-time Purple Heart recipient during World War II, was laid to rest Monday at Calverton National Cemetery.

Mr. Schwerdt, who served in the U.S. Air Force and had been recognized as the oldest prisoner of war by New York State, died Jan. 9 at East End Hospice Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quogue. He was 98.

A funeral service was held Monday at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Mattituck. The funeral procession then continued to the American Legion in Southold for a military honors ceremony. He had been a commander at the American Legion.

Mr. Schwerdt was a gunner on a B-17 that was shot down over Cassel, Germany, in 1943 and he was a POW for two years. He attained the rank of technical sergeant.

Photos by Kate Nalepinski

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Art Tillman, the former Southold Town Democratic chairman who was involved in many other efforts in a town he loved, died on Monday. He was 79.

“He was one of the most generous people I’ve ever known,” said Dan Ross, a Mattituck attorney and former Southold Town councilman.

“He opened up his home, he helped people get around the community and he contributed to help organizations.”

Mr. Tillman’s charity wasn’t just “helping someone across the street,” Mr Ross said. “He would help people for a 10-year period. If they needed a place to live, he would let them stay in his house. I’m the president of San Simeon and he gave generously to that organization.”

Mr. Ross said Mr. Tillman often helped people without drawing a lot of attention to it.

“He was the classic Good Samaritan,” Mr. Ross said.

“He was a very passionate man,” said Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski. “He had such a big heart and he was very compassionate. He was always trying to help somebody, and beyond his official capacity as party chair.”

Mr. Tillman was a retired history teacher who taught in the North Babylon district.

Two of his students were Steve Bellone, currently the Suffolk County executive, and Richard Schaeffer, currently the county Democratic leader and Babylon Town supervisor, Mr. Ross said.

Mr. Tillman served in the U.S. Army and was a member of the Mattituck American Legion’s Raymond Cleaves Post 861 for 22 years, according to Ron Breuer, the unit’s first vice commander and adjutant.

Mr. Tillman was the post’s chaplain for the past two years and he was a key part in the effort to revive the American Legion post when its membership was low and it appeared it might close, Mr. Breuer said.

“He’s the one who helped bring the post back together,” Mr. Breuer said. “He was also very active with the events we had, such as visiting the seniors in San Simeon.”

Mr. Ross said Mr. Tillman also was active in the Mattituck Lions Club’s Leo Club, which comprises Mattituck High School students.

“If I could backtrack for 30 years and think of all the projects he got involved in … they were numerous,” Mr. Ross said.

“I am in complete shock,” said Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell, a Republican, upon learning of Mr. Tillman’s death. “Art was one of my closest friends. I knew him long before I got involved in politics. Always a gentleman and always someone who had a deep commitment to the people of the community. I am very upset by his passing. The town will never be the same without him.”

“It’s just a tragic loss for Southold Democrats and the whole community,” said Kathryn Casey Quigley, who succeeded Mr. Tillman as Southold Democratic chair in January 2018.

Ms. Tillman held the position for five years.

“He was beloved by so many and was the most kindhearted, gentle soul,” she said. “He was great during the transition. He took me in right away and was eager to have my involvement and he was so supportive … He always loved to strategize. He was always thinking.”

Mr. Tillman’s family will receive friends on Thursday, May 9, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck.

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 10, at 10 a.m. at Advent Lutheran Church on Legion Avenue in Mattituck, officiated by the Rev. George Summers.

Interment will follow at New Bethany Cemetery across the street from the church.

The Mattituck American Legion will have a service for Mr. Tillman on Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at DeGriest-Grattan Funeral Home.

Caption: Southold Democratic chairman Art Tillman gives an impassioned speech after a sweeping defeat in 2011. (Credit: file photo)

tgannon@timesreview.com

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As he stared down his inevitable demise, Joseph Townsend Jr. approached his fate with an unwavering fortitude. In the first few years after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Mr. Townsend traveled as often as he could, relishing time on the water in his 24-foot Mako motorboat.

Even if he couldn’t pull an anchor anymore, he could still navigate his way around a boat.

As time passed and the disease slowly took its hold on the once world-class athlete, Mr. Townsend found the positives in each moment. His friends and family became more important than ever. Close friends Mary Foster and Tom Morgan would organize gourmet dinners on Friday nights at a local yacht club. And when Mr. Townsend’s diet was limited to liquids, they cooked a special lobster bisque just for him.

“That made Joe smile,” said his wife, Nancy Lee Baxter.

Mr. Townsend’s friend Joe Mitrani would take him golfing at Island’s End in Greenport. Mr. Mitrani would hit a ball for himself and then one for his friend, who watched from the golf cart, and eventually from his wheelchair. They joked that the better shots always seemed to be during Mr. Mitrani’s turn.

Mr. Townsend reflected on his fate in a 2018 interview with The Suffolk Times, saying: “In a sense, I’m just aging quite fast.”

Mr. Townsend died early last Thursday morning at his home, nearly four and a half years after his diagnosis with ALS. He was 74. He had recently suffered pneumonia, a common complication of ALS, his family said.

To this day, Mr. Townsend remains the youngest mayor in the history of Greenport Village, having assumed its leadership at age 28. His role in local politics spanned numerous positions as he helped transform the village from a run-down area in the early 1970s into a vibrant community that would become the popular tourist destination it is today.

“It’s no exaggeration to say everything you see in Greenport today wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Joe,” said longtime friend David Kapell, who also served as mayor for 13 years. “He was a dreamer at a time when Greenport needed a dream.”

Mr. Townsend would later serve Southold Town as a councilman and longtime member of the Planning Board. He was a staunch promoter of preservation, and his work as a board member of Peconic Land Trust resulted in a number of notable accomplishments.

“Part of his mission was to not only have the town grow, but to protect the rural feeling, the beauty and history,” his wife said. “He worked very hard at that. It didn’t always make him electable, but it’s who you would want in politics because he always saw both sides.”

In December 2017, the Land Trust unveiled a plaque in his honor at Orient Point’s Edwards Farm, at the head of a trail that will lead to a nature observation platform overlooking Hallocks Bay, Orient Beach State Park and beyond.

He was an environmentalist, businessman, athlete, historian, traveler and family man.

“He had a deep affection for this community, this town and really appreciated its natural beauty and wanted to protect that,” said his daughter, Baxter Townsend.

Mr. Kapell said what made Mr. Townsend stand out was his ability to listen to any idea, no matter where it came from, that could improve the then-isolated village.

“Joe opened the door to the outside world,” he said.

Joe Townsend Jr. shakes the hand of Trustee Samuel Katz, who ran against him in 1977 for mayor. Mr. Townsend won 407 to 235 in his re-election. (Credit: Scott Harris/Suffolk Times archive)

Born July 1, 1945, in New York City to Joseph Townsend Sr. and Jane Dorman, Mr. Townsend was raised in Greenport. He lived his earliest years in a house on the property of Townsend Manor Inn, the hotel and restaurant his parents owned before they sold the business and moved into a house down the street. His father had graduated from Yale in 1930, but entered the workforce during the Depression and, finding limited opportunities in New York City, ventured east to Greenport. Mr. Townsend Sr.’s mother had bought and started the business and he helped her run the inn while beginning to raise a family.

Mr. Townsend started at Greenport schools before attending The Gunnery, a private boarding school in Connecticut. It was there he became more focused on athletics, competing in football, wrestling and rowing. He attended Boston University and, at a friend’s encouragement, decided to a try out for the school’s rowing team as a freshman. Boston University had a strong program, and still maintains men’s and women’s rowing to this day. In a 2018 interview, Mr. Townsend described how most of the students at the tryout had no rowing experience, but had the advantage of height. When the coach found out he had competed in high school, he got the chance right away to show what he could do. He stood about 6 feet tall, which was shorter than most of his competitors. But he still excelled, and his freshmen team went on to become one of the best in the country.

Mr. Townsend would wind up training with Dick Curtis, who also attended Boston University, and the two formed a duo that narrowly missed qualifying for the 1972 Olympics in Munich. They finished second in the fours event and third in pairs at the qualifier. They had a strong chance to qualify for the 1980 Moscow games, but President Jimmy Carter called for a U.S. boycott.

Mr. Curtis said they met in 1965 and began rowing together a year later, forming a lifelong friendship.

“It was an amazing relationship that probably wouldn’t have existed outside of rowing,” Mr. Curtis said. “He’s more like a brother than he is a friend.”

The podcast below with Mr. Townsend was published in 2018

He remembered Mr. Townsend for his toughness and competitiveness as an athlete and as someone who pushed him to achieve.

“Joe was able to push himself beyond what other people could,” he said. “You saw that in the last few months as well in a different way.”

It was Mr. Townsend who encouraged Mr. Curtis to train with him for the 1972 Olympics. Mr. Curtis said he thought it was crazy at first and assumed after a few weeks Mr. Townsend would move on to train with a more qualified partner.

A few weeks into training, the two began to click.

“I came to know that what you thought was impossible may not be,” Mr. Curtis said. “That’s a pretty big lesson in life.”

One of their top accomplishments was qualifying for the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. At the Pan-Am trials, they finished second in the pair-without-coxswain event and were named alternates to the U.S. team.

Mr. Townsend, front, and Dick Curtis pictured in 1979 as they trained for the Pan-American Games. (file photo)

In 1977, the duo were profiled in The New York Times as they prepared to compete in the Henley Regatta outside London against some of the world’s best rowers. They were both 32, older than most rowers, but were still considered the best pair on the East Coast, the Times noted.

As they trained for the 1980 Olympics, only one U.S. team had beaten them in their pairs event, an unusual competition where each rower has one oar. But that duo opted not to compete in that event at the qualifiers, making Mr. Townsend and Mr. Curtis the favorites. Mr. Townsend remained active in rowing and tennis well into his 60s. He was also a fixture at the former annual Bob Wall Tennis Tournament.

One of his accomplishments as mayor was promoting music in the village by helping to organize music festivals. That wound up leading him to his wife.

Mr. Townsend was walking down Central Avenue with his bicycle and his dog, Fred, a black Lab, when he noticed his future bride sitting on a porch playing guitar. He asked if she wanted to see his guitar collection. He was blown away by the original music he heard her perform.

“I was very impressed with Joe, so we started dating,” she said, while admitting that the guitar collection was not all that impressive.

Mr. Townsend pictured in 1987. (Courtesy photo)

They attended one of the festivals in the village where they got to know each other more. He was 30 when they met, and they wouldn’t marry for another 15 years. They then had their daughter, who is now 29.

Baxter recalled how her father would take her clamming and boating and passed along his love for the outdoors. When she wanted to play football, he encouraged her to go for it.

“I also think he gave me a real sense of this place as a community and a town,” she said, noting that he would share stories of her grandfather’s and great-grandmother’s time.

One of his early accomplishments in transforming the village was establishing a Cultural Resource Center to promote arts and music in the building currently occupied by The South Street Gallery.

“He just wanted to create a place for people to gather and he understood that when you have art in a community, it helps elevate everything,” his wife said.

On top of all his work in athletics and politics, Mr. Townsend also worked at the insurance company his father had started. He was 26 when he came back to Greenport and began working at Townsend Insurance, where he eventually became a partner and took over the business. He continued working up until a few years after he was diagnosed with ALS.

Mr. Townsend was predeceased by his parents and sister Jane and is survived by his sisters Phebe Banta and Susan Johnson. Funeral arrangements were handled by Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport, where a chapel service was held Wednesday morning, Sept. 4. Burial followed at Sterling Cemetery.

Among the frequent visitors in recent years, as Mr. Townsend’s health declined, was his rowing partner, Mr. Curtis, who now lives in Connecticut. During the years they trained together, Mr. Curtis kept detailed journals. He wrote about one hitch-hiking adventure he went on and the characters he met along the way. So when he visited Mr. Townsend in recent months, he would bring some of the journals and read aloud to him at his bedside.

At the end of the 2018 interview, Mr. Townsend was asked to reflect on the famous quote by Lou Gehrig, who said he considered himself the luckiest man in the world as he spoke in front of a packed Yankee Stadium.

Mr. Townsend laughed and said he wouldn’t go that far. But he had lived an amazing life, he said.

“To be able to live here, to be able to help preserve the environment and the culture of their community, to be able to compete in the highest levels on a sport, to be able to travel the world, to have a wonderful family, that’s pretty good.”

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect the print edition of the Sept. 5 paper.

Photo caption: Mr. Townsend pictured in December 2017 with Peconic Land Trust President John Halsey (right) and senior advisor Tim Caufield. (Courtesy photo)

REPORTING BY GRANT PARPAN AND TROY GUSTAVSON

joew@timesreview.com

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Last month, Southold Town lost a community trailblazer, social activist and lifelong volunteer: Merle Levine.

Ms. Levine, 95, died Thursday, Sept. 12, at Peconic Landing.

She was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in November 1923 to Selma Lichtenstein and Dalton Plockie, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, according to an obituary from the family.

She is survived by five children, Deborah, Jeffrey, David, Steven and Robert; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

The Greenport resident served as president of Community Action Southold Town and was instrumental in the formation of the group in 1965 with Ben Burns of Greenport.

“CAST started primarily from a group of women who were interested in supporting migrant workers,” Mr. Burns said. “She was a lovely person, always involved.”

She worked tirelessly to support women, minorities and impoverished people, said her son Jeffrey. Her advocacy coincided with her participation in Southold’s Anti-Bias Task Force, he said.

In 2016, the task force presented Ms. Levine with the Helen Wright Prince Community Award, acknowledging her ongoing efforts in activism.

“[Her] impact is immeasurable,” Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said in an email Tuesday. “She was a crusader of dignity and improved quality of life for all. She was determined to make a difference and was a willing partner to all who would join her in her mission.”

Ms. Levine was also an educator. She served as head of the social studies department at Wheatley High School in Nassau County, her daughter, Deborah Laurel, said. Starting at age 50, she also served as principal of Northport High School for 10 years. Mr. Levine said he believed his mother was the only woman at the time to take on that administrative role.

He said she  was a “community-minded, socially minded activist” from his earliest memory. When he was in high school, he recalled, her desk was crowded with papers on racial injustice and letters to local politicians.

“She was writing letters to the editor. She wrote letters to The New York Times nearly every day,” he said. “She was just an endless crusader for justice and equality.”

Ms. Levine also served as president of North Fork Reform Synagogue in Cutchogue and was involved with Congregation Tifereth Israel in Greenport, Ms. Laurel said.

Around age 70, Ms. Levine retired to East Marion, near Dam Pond, with her husband, Seymour, who died in 2010.  Even after retiring, she remained active in the community, said Marjorie Day of Greenport.

Ms. Day and Ms. Levine grew close when the Levines moved to Peconic Landing about 10 years ago. When Ms. Day brought African American poetry readings to the retirement community, Ms. Levine offered her books from notable poets like Maya Angelou.

“She was a wonderful, considerate lady,” Ms. Day said. “I do wish I had gotten to know her more.”

In 2005, Ms. Levine was named The Suffolk Times’ Civic Person of the Year for helping CAST transition to a new location and keep programs intact with minimal funding.

“She was always diplomatic and never believed change would happen simply with confrontation. However, that diplomacy shouldn’t obscure how determined she was and how strong she stood,” Mr. Russell said.

A memorial to honor Ms. Levine will be held Sunday, Oct. 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Peconic Landing Community Center.

knalepinski@timesreview.com

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Earl Fultz, who, with the help of his late wife, Gloria Elmaleh Fultz, brought the taste of Morocco to the North Fork and beyond, died Sept. 18. He was 95.

In his late 80s, Mr. Fultz founded cHarissa, a company marketing a milder version of the Moroccan spice harissa, in honor of his wife. cHarissa is today sold to chefs and fans across the country and has become a favorite of the New York Yankees’ head chef and is available at Yankee Stadium. It also won the Specialty Food Association SOFI award for best “cooking, dipping or finishing sauce” at the Summer Fancy Food Show in 2015, among other accolades.

“It’s rare to find somebody who had such single-minded obsession about something as he did about cHarissa,” said Mr. Fultz’s son, Oliver, who is a medical writer living in Chicago. “He said he’d wake up happy everyday because of the challenge and the excitement he felt developing this. How many of us ever feel that kind of excitement in life?”

Mr. Fultz lived at Peconic Landing in Greenport.

Jeri Woodhouse, his healthcare proxy and power of attorney, said she was a friend and business partner to Mr. Fultz for many years. She said she was stunned that Mr. Fultz died.

“I thought he’d live forever,” she said. “I got a call from the doctor who had treated him the week before and she asked, ‘could I come right away?’ ”

By the time Ms. Woodhouse arrived, Mr. Fultz was in a coma and a few days later, he had passed. He had been admitted to the hospital for an infection, she said.

Ms. Woodhouse, who now oversees cHarissa, helped create the so-called ‘spice of life’ and turn it into a marketable product — something she often does for private individuals and companies.

“Earl is the first person that I ever continued to work with,” she said, “because I was fascinated by him and his determination.”

Ms. Woodhouse described Mr. Fultz as “a man with great intellect and amazing energy.”

Randee Daddona of Southold, who filmed a six-minute Emmy award-winning short on Mr. Fultz in 2015, spoke similarly of his character, saying that he had the greatest sense of humor, loved his wife dearly and made it his mission “to pay it forward.” She was introduced to Mr. Fultz through Ms. Woodhouse and said she was taken aback by the news.

“I think he strived for winning — but it was more like, ‘I want my wife’s name there,’ ” Ms. Daddona said. “‘I want everyone to know what she created, worldwide.’ ”

The women said Mr. Fultz was charming; a social butterfly, but that he could be a spitfire when he needed to.

“He was so in love with [Gloria],” longtime neighbor Rita Hagerman said.

Earl and Gloria Fultz pictured in 2013. (Credit: Carrie Miller/file)

Ms. Hagerman works with Academy Printing Services, Inc. and helped Mr. Fultz create promotional materials and signage for The Earl and Gloria Elmaleh Fultz Fund he created to prevent diabetes in youth and promote healthy living. The Hagermans had been friends with Mr. Fultz and his wife for over 30 years.

“He was not a man who showed emotions, really,” Ms. Hagerman said. “He was a fighter … but you saw his caring.”

When Ms. Elmaleh Fultz fell ill, she urged her husband to take the product to market because “she knew she was dying and [that] he was so in love with her that he couldn’t see life without her,” Ms. Daddona said.

Oliver Fultz said his father and stepmother, Ms. Elmaleh Fultz, entertained friends a great deal and that during that time, Ms. Elmaleh Fultz developed cHarissa “to blend sort of traditional Middle Eastern flavors and tastes with American tastes.” He said for his father to have met Ms. Elmaleh Fultz and for everything to have played out the way it made for a unique set of circumstances.

“She was very ill with Emphysema and she wanted him to have something to do once she passed because she knew he’d be really bored,” Ms. Woodhouse said. “He wasn’t like an ordinary man who could watch TV or go play cards with the men.”

Ms. Elmaleh Fultz died in 2013, but her husband kept her memory alive by way of cHarissa. The company not only established a foothold in Greenport, where the couple lived, but nationwide.

“He loved it, he believed in it, he talked to people and he began to develop a real following,” Ms. Woodhouse said. “By the time we were making the product, [Gloria] was pretty much bedridden, but every time [Earl] would come home from the market, he would give her the money and she would count it.”

Ms. Daddona said she thinks cHarissa kept Mr. Fultz alive after his wife’s death. He was said to always be brimming with ideas, but never deviating from who he was or what his wife created. He inspired a wet and dry version of the spice, which is made with chili peppers, cumin and cayenne pepper, as well as a mild and hot version – though his wife’s original recipe was never altered. Even when his eyesight started going and his mobility impaired, Ms. Woodhouse said, he had an idea-a-minute.

“He just kept going and going and going, really, until he couldn’t do it anymore … When he wanted to do something, nothing would stand in his way.”

The entrepreneur, who would have turned 96 in two months, had an accomplished early life, too, having served as a speech writer and partner in a production company, according to the two women.

Ms. Woodhouse said she hopes to continue Mr. Fultz’s legacy.

Photo caption: Earl Fultz of cHarissa, first place winner of the SOFI award, proudly holds award won in the category for cooking, dipping or finishing sauce at the Summer Fancy Food Show in 2015. (Credit: Randee Daddona)

mkhan@timesreview.com

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To many of the English as a New Language students at Mattituck High School, Melvin Dominguez Torres was a good friend. A native of El Salvador, Melvin followed two of his older brothers to the United States four years ago and joined several cousins who lived in the area.

Shortly after the news spread that Melvin, 21, had died following a single-car accident in Cutchogue Jan. 6, Sister Margaret Smyth of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate received a call from the school district asking if she would come meet with students.

“The kids had gotten together and they were really devastated,” she said.

On Jan. 10, she joined a large group of students in the high school auditorium where they talked about how to celebrate someone’s life. Melvin’s parents, Julia, 52, and Francisco, 55, were both in El Salvador, so they came up with the idea for students to write letters of condolence.

Melvin’s body was flown back to El Salvador Friday and inside his coffin were all the letters from current students and teachers who knew him.

“When the parents receive his body, they’re also going to be receiving that connection back here from people who are sending them letters of condolence and support,” she said. “I thought that was pretty good.”

Sister Margaret assisted Melvin’s brother José Henry Dominguez with organizing a funeral service at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck last Monday. She presided over the service, which saw a big turnout of friends and family who mourned Melvin. Lucia Restaurant in Mattituck invited the mourners to enjoy coffee and snacks after the service.

“It was a special moment,” José said in Spanish, as translated through an interpreter. “It was great to see all Melvin’s friends and family coming together. At the same time it was sad, because he was someone who had so much to offer.”

Melvin lived with José and their older brother Amilcar Dominguez Torres, who was in El Salvador at the time of the accident. The brothers come from a big family of nine siblings raised in Ilobasco, a town 30 miles northeast of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. The siblings range from 32 to 9.

Melvin came to the U.S. with hopes of earning enough money to eventually build a home of his own back in El Salvador, his brother said. He dreamed of taking his parents places they had never been.

He worked six days a week at Michelangelo Pizzeria in Mattituck and enjoyed his job, his brother said. The brothers looked out for one another.

“At the moment I feel sad, but more than anything alone,” said José, who added that he plans to donate Melvin’s belongings.

José remembered his brother as a talented soccer player and friendly person who would greet anyone with a smile and hello. They were men of faith who attended church in Greenport and Riverhead.

Sister Margaret said she knew Melvin from the times she ate pizza at Michelangelo. 

“I’d see him around work all the time, so we knew each other that way,” she said.

On the night of the crash, Melvin had recently completed his shift at work and stopped at his cousin’s house in Mattituck for about 30 minutes. He was tired, but looking forward to getting up early the next morning. His cousin was going to accompany him to get a passport so he could begin the process of obtaining a valid driver’s license under the recent Green Light legislation.

That night, when Melvin hadn’t arrived home promptly, José called and began to message him. His last message was at 11:42 p.m. He wrote asking Melvin to “please pick up. I’m worried for you.”

Around midnight, he received a call from a friend saying Melvin had been in an accident. He called his family in El Salvador to let them know what had happened.

When he arrived at the scene of the accident, a police officer gave him Melvin’s wallet.

His worst fears were confirmed.

Melvin would have turned 22 on Jan. 24. His brother, who turned 27 Friday, said Melvin was looking forward to celebrating.

“He had a life ahead of him and then suddenly it’s gone,” José said.

Translations by Helen Cruz

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As each new generation of Greenport football players suited up in Porter purple, Tony Volinski Jr. and some his former teammates would sit together in their usual spot in the bleachers at the field named in memory of their former coach, Dorrie Jackson.

The game unfolding in front of them had evolved in ways unlike anything they could have imagined. During their youth in the early 1950s, the start of Greenport football’s golden era, players wore helmets with no face masks.

Tony’s love of the game never wavered. Sixty years after his playing days at Greenport as a running back ended, Tony watched his grandson Jack play at defensive back and receiver for the Porters.

“He loved being there, that what his thing,” said Darryl Volinski, Tony’s son. “Sitting up with his friends that actually he played with, watching their grandchildren play. … It was amazing they had their little group up in the bleachers.”

Whether at the football games or through his five decades with the Greenport Fire Department, Tony spent his life dedicated to the community he loved, and most importantly, to his family.

“He was such a generous man,” Darryl said. “He gave us so much great advice to us boys growing up and he loved us unconditionally. I can’t tell you how much he was always there. You could always go to Dad and he would fix it.”

On March 25, Tony, known by his family as Pop-Pop, became one of the latest victims of the coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the globe and left a devastating impact on New York and in Southold Town. About three weeks after first becoming ill, Tony died at Stony Brook University Hospital, the first confirmed death connected to COVID-19 in Southold Town outside of the members living at Peconic Landing where the virus has claimed seven lives. He was 85.

“It’s been very difficult,” Darryl said, adding that due to restrictions at the hospital, family members were unable to visit him. There can be no formal services to mourn together.

Darryl said his father had faced heart issues for many years and had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia about a month earlier. He was getting over that when he became ill with COVID-19. Darryl said it was unclear exactly how his father contracted the virus. At least 728 people in New York have died from complications linked to COVID-19 through Saturday afternoon, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Those numbers are expected to continue to rise.

Darryl said his father was transported from his home to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital by Greenport Rescue Squad and was quarantined right away based on his symptoms. He was tested there for COVID-19 and then transferred to Stony Brook.

“In that meantime I was exposed to my father, so I quarantined for 14 days by the Health Department,” Darryl said, adding that he never developed symptoms.

In the beginning, Tony was having difficulties breathing, and his condition gradually worsened.

While there was no visitation at the hospital, Darryl said staff at Stony Brook held a phone so his mother, Jeanette, could speak to her husband from her Greenport home, even when the ventilator prevented him from responding.

Darryl said the staff at Stony Brook considered allowing him to enter the room with personal protective equipment to see his dad when the prognosis grew more grim. However, after a doctor spoke to his mother, they agreed it wasn’t a risk worth taking. He would have been required to quarantine again after that.

“My mother said that she didn’t want me to go through that and I know my father wouldn’t want me to go through that,” he said. “It’s just difficult not seeing your dad before he passes. It’s very hard on all of us.”

Tony is survived by two more sons, Tony and Russell; seven grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Born Feb. 9, 1935 in Orient to Antone Volinski Sr. and Jennie (Garboski), Tony was raised in Greenport alongside his sister Jean. After graduating Greenport High School in 1955, he joined the Air Force where he spent 14 years as a mechanic working on diesel engines. His military career took him to Alaska and England. He married Jeannette in Norwich, England in 1958.

The couple and their three boys eventually settled back in Greenport. Darryl was 1 at the time, he said.

In the 1980s, Tony worked as a foreman at the Oyster Factory alongside his wife, who packaged the oysters. When the factory closed in the 1990s, Tony then worked on Plum Island as a boiler operator.

Darryl said his family has received an outpouring of support since his father died. 

“He had so many friends throughout the community,” he said. “He touched so many people.”

Darryl works at Peconic Landing as director of environmental services. He said his co-workers have been very supportive during the past few weeks as he took time away from his job to attend to his family.

“The outpouring from them for my family right now is amazing even with what they have going on right now,” he said.

Tony had recently reached his 50-year anniversary as a firefighter. He remained active in the fire department, even after his days on the front line passed. He was part of the ‘morning coffee club,’ where members would meet at 10 a.m., set up a few chairs and enjoy coffee together. He’d help clean trucks; anything he could do to help. At the Washington’s Day parade, he’d be opening clams for the festivities.

The fire department planned to hold a celebration to commemorate his golden anniversary when the weather got nicer. 

On Tuesday, the fire department will honor his memory with a small procession past the Third Street firehouse en route to Calverton National Cemetery where he will be laid to rest. On the way, the procession will travel past the Middleton Road home where he raised a family and where his wife of 62 years will say her final goodbye.

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George Mullen Jr. grew up in Cutchogue, in a house on Depot Lane built by his father, George, a plumber. His maternal grandparents, the Kaelins, lived an easy half-mile walk north on Depot Lane.

Young George went to kindergarten through eighth grade next door to the family home, in the two-story red-brick building that is now the administrative offices for the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District. One of his first jobs was working as the janitor for the Sacred Heart Catholic school, just west of the elementary school in Cutchogue and next door to Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. 

Later, he was hired to be the sexton in the church, a job he began in the 1970s and from which he retired in the early 2000s. His workplace was so close to the family home that he could walk back and forth to his jobs if he wanted to. Never married, he lived with his parents, then when his father died with his mother, Rosemary, who died when George was 51 years old.

“George’s responsibilities included opening the church doors before Mass, closing them after Mass, cleaning up and helping keep everything going,” said his sister, Rosemary Brennan. “He knew everyone in the parish, knew everyone’s names, loved talking to them, loved talking about history. He was very well liked. He had a big heart.”

Mr. Mullen, 82, died April 8 in Stony Brook University Hospital from the devastating effects of COVID-19. There are, as of this writing, 653 COVID-19 deaths in Suffolk County. Each of the dead has a story to tell, a life lived, a biography that perhaps only family members know anything about and the world outside that small circle will never know.

By all accounts, Mr. Mullen was a small-town man. He may have left Cutchogue after he graduated from Southold High School, but friends say he returned within weeks. This was home; he could not pull himself away and wouldn’t until nearly the end of his life. Many residents of Cutchogue, particularly those who knew him in the parish church, would see him walking around, or at the post office, or walking by the fire house in the years when he lived at Peconic Retreat, a kind of adult group home on New Suffolk Road in Cutchogue.

His life largely unsung accept by the family members he leaves behind, his name won’t be in any history books of Cutchogue or Southold Town. But Mr. Mullen represents another name, another life lost in the mounting death toll of a horrific virus that has swept in and claimed lives and forever changed the way people live.

In keeping with the social distancing rules that now delineate our lives, a small group of family and friends gathered Tuesday morning in Sacred Heart Cemetery on Depot Lane to say goodbye to him. Virginia McCaffrey, who also grew up on Depot Lane and who attended the little elementary school where George’s mother was the third and fourth grade teacher, walked over from her house to the cemetery to pay her respects.

Father Peter Allen, who was the long-time priest in Sacred Heart and for whom Mr. Mullen worked, conducted a prayer service. Monday was a heavy storm day; Tuesday morning the sun was bright and warm as everyone gathered.

“I knew George well,” said Father Allen, who is now retired and living in Nassau County. “He was a good hearted, simple man who always did what was asked of him. When I came to the parish in 1990 I knew him as the sacristan, which is the formal name for that job. 

“He would do anything for anybody. He was always kind. He was a lovely man.”

Virginia McCaffrey

“He was hired by Father [John] Henry before I got there,” Father Allen added. “He retired, maybe, around 2003 or so, sometime around then. He opened the church, cleaned it, did the technical work. A sacristan is someone who cares for the church – that was George’s job.

Mr. Mullen knew Sacred Heart was started before the turn of the 20th century by Irish farm workers, who, through hard work, bought farms from owners they had once worked for. Some of the founding Irish family names, like Haggerty, are memorialized inside the church on beautiful stained glass windows. The church is now shuttered, a “for sale” sign decorating the curb in front of it, a reminder than even the historic and the sacred can be marketed. 

He knew the oft-repeated story that, when the Polish people came to Cutchogue after the turn of the century to work on farms, they had to stand in the back of Sacred Heart during Sunday Mass. This was the Irish church, their church. By the 1920s, the Poles – by then farmers and landowners themselves – built their own church, Our Lady of Ostrabrama on Depot Lane.

“At some point he went to that adult home across from the fire department,” Father Allen said. “He was never in the best of health. He could not live on his own. I didn’t give a eulogy at the cemetery. I said his soul was in the hands of God.”

Ms. Brennan said her brother left Cutchogue about three years ago. He went to different adult homes in Suffolk County, before exhibiting COVID-19 systems, which eventually brought him to Stony Brook.

“He was in the hospital a week or a week and a half,” she said. “I was going over to see him and they stopped people coming in because he tested positive…. I last saw him in late February or early March. They had him on oxygen. They thought he would stabilize. For a while he was holding his own.”

Ms. McCaffrey said, “I knew George when I was a kid. I knew him better when he worked at the church, as I ran the education program at Sacred Heart. He was very quiet. He was never in a hurry to do anything. But he got it done.

“He would do anything for anybody,” she added. “He was always kind. He was a lovely man.”

Peggy Kaelin, who also attended the Tuesday service, said when she and her husband Fred married in 1971 in Sacred Heart, it was George who came through at the 11th hour with a second car that was needed for the wedding. As Ms. Kaelin and her husband raised their family, they made sure to invite George to their home for Thanksgiving, knowing he was alone.

“He was a great storyteller,” she said. “He saved us on the day of our wedding – and I will always remember that.”

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Steve Brickman of Jamesport, a retired FDNY firefighter who spent nearly two weeks at ground zero following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, died Sunday of illness attributed to 9/11, according to the FDNY. He was 57.

In 2013, Mr. Brickman was diagnosed with Stage 4 head and neck cancer and Stage 4 lung cancer. Doctors attributed the diseases to the toxins he inhaled at ground zero.

He is survived by his wife Colleen and two sons, Steven and Quinn.

Born June 30, 1962, Mr. Brickman grew up in Flushing, Queens and was drawn to firefighting at a young age. At 23, he officially became a member of the FDNY, joining Engine Company 58/Ladder Company 26 in a busy section of East Harlem.

In 2016, on the 15th anniversary of 9/11, Mr. Brickman spoke to The Suffolk Times about his experiences as a firefighter and the illness he was fighting. He described the dangers of the job, and the injuries that led to his early retirement prior to 9/11.

In 1990, a ceiling collapsed on Mr. Brickman and embers from the fire caused third-degree burns on his left knee. He missed 8 1/2 months of work. In 1999, he became trapped in an apartment while fighting a fire and ran low on oxygen. He was rescued through a window after firefighters cleared branches to make room. He suffered additional burns, one of which required a skin graft on top of a previous skin graft, a rare procedure at the time that ultimately led to his retirement after only 15 years.

Mr. Brickman was living in Sag Harbor on Sept. 11 when the world changed. He had no obligation to drive into Manhattan and join his fellow firefighters with Engine 58.

There were 343 FDNY firefighters to die in the 9/11 attack. More than 200 firefighters have since died due to illnesses linked to 9/11.

”Steve was an amazing man, an incredible friend, an awesome firefighter and the perfect husband,” a tribute on the 9/11 Responders Remembered Park Facebook page read. “Steve fought his 9/11 illness like a warrior and this man who always volunteered to help others is now pain free.”

About a dozen friends and neighbors held a brief candlelight vigil outside the Brickmans’ Jamesport cottage Tuesday evening, as a way to show support to his family during these times of social distancing.

See also: Jamesport man battles 9/11-related cancer

How to help

Mary Kalich of Mattituck has organized a grocery shopper to shop for the Brinkman family and to give them a budget for food as a gift. Anyone wishing to contribute can contact Ms. Kalich.

“He was a wonderful man who I got to know through the North Fork Community Theatre and Mattituck Yacht Club as we raised our boys together,” Ms. Kalich posted on Facebook.

To contribute, email Ms. Kalich with your name and how much you would like to contribute. Send PayPal to marymotto@yahoo.com or Venmo (Mary Kalich) or a check to 605 Saltaire Way, Mattituck N.Y., 11952.

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William D’Ambrosia spent nearly all of his 34 years as a court officer in the big courthouse on Griffing Avenue in Riverhead. His work with dozens of judges defined his career as a professional. Beyond his job, he was the kind of man who when called upon showed up.

In the days following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. D’Ambrosia – Billy to his many friends – organized a van and took five of his fellow court officers from Griffing Avenue all the way to ground zero to help in what they hoped would be a rescue, not a recovery mission.

“I was at Columbia University that day,” said Mr. D’Ambrosia’s wife, Denise. “Billy felt compelled to help, to save people. He went there on Sept. 12 and 13, then the following week and several days after that, and then on Oct. 4. He drove those other officers to the scene each time.”

On May 4, Mr. D’Ambrosia, 64, died of a complication called sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body. Since he was first diagnosed with the disease in 2004, doctors told him and his wife that the disease was directly linked to the dust he breathed those days at ground zero.

As it turned out, in what amounts to the continuing toll of that horrific day in 2001, all six of the court officers who drove together in the van have died. “None of them are still living,” Ms. D’Ambrosia said. “It’s an amazing fact – all six have died.

“Billy felt very strongly about helping,” she added. “It was his hope that this would be a rescue mission – that he could save lives. But sadly it turned out to be something else.”

Mr. D’Ambrosia was 25 and Denise 18 when they married. He grew up in Centereach and Shoreham; she grew up in Wading River. He joined the court system when he was 24; Denise embarked on a career of higher education and taught nursing and medical ethics in Suffolk County Community College and Stony Brook University.

They spent most of their married lives in Ridge, where they raised three daughters, Kristen, 35, Dana, 32, and Victoria, 30. He began feeling sick in 2004 and was diagnosed with the disease. Soon it became more and more difficult to work, and he had to retire in 2009. His wife later retired from her job to take care of him.

Toward the end of his life, the disease found its way into his lungs, his liver, spleen and lymph nodes. “In the beginning, I was telling him, ‘Sweetheart, your color is different, you don’t feel well, you have shortness of breath.’ ”

On Tuesday, Ms. D’Ambrosia organized a drive-by wake at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. Under state guidelines, wakes cannot be attended by more than 10 people. Owner Karen Heppner helped Ms. D’Ambrosia organize the next best thing — a drive-by past the funeral home. Posters filled with photographs of Mr. D’Ambrosia and his family filled a portico at the funeral home. It was like everyone was inside — except they were in their cars.

“This was our first wake like this,” said Ms. Heppner. “The rules say nothing inside unless it’s a small group of just immediate family. That was not possible with Mr. D’Ambrosia.”

As proof of his many friendships, Ms. Heppner said 100 cars — some filled with two or more people — paid their respects by driving by the photographs and waving to Ms. D’Ambrosia. “It’s the best we can do under these circumstances,” Ms. Heppner said.

After driving home to Ridge and doing her best to collect her emotions, Ms. D’Ambrosia was asked, “How do you want Billy to be remembered?”

Her voice broke. A moment passed as she found her voice again. “How do I want him to be remembered? As a humble, strong, courageous and loving hero.”

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