Obituary: Juanita Figueroa

Juanita Figueroa passed away on Jan. 22, 2012. She was a longtime resident of Manhasset and has been a volunteer at St Mary’ s Church for the past 40 years and currently she was the manager of the bookstore at St. Mary’s as well the coordinator of the Family Mass.

She was the loving mother of Adam Figueroa, Jr. and Dianna L. Figueroa Russo; cherished grandmother of Olivia C. Figueroa, Danielle L. Russo and Camille M. Figueroa. She is also survived by Adam Figueroa Sr.

Obituary: Doris C. Ostrom

Mrs. Doris Chester Ostrom, age 74, passed away on Thursday morning, Jan. 12, 2012 at her home on Amelia Island, Florida. She was born May 13, 1937.

Born in Manhasset, she was the younger of two children born to the late Alan and Rae Wurtz Chester. Doris grew up in Manhasset and spent summers as a child at the family’s summer home in South Hampton. She was a graduate of Manhasset High School, Class of 1955, and attended Endicott College in Beverly, MA from which she graduated with a degree in retail merchandising. Doris began her buying career with various independent buying offices in New York City before joining the R.H. Macy Company as a corporate buyer.

Obituary: Glenn H. Brink

Glenn H. Brink, 94, a pioneer of commercial air transportation and an avid sailor, died peacefully Christmas morning 2011, at his daughter’s home in Southbury, CT. Prior to moving to Southbury, he lived for more than 50 years in Manhasset, NY. He was a sweet and loving husband, father and friend; and a gentleman, always. Born in Buffalo, OK, April 8, 1917, to Hazel Blanche Brownrigg and Earl Barrett Brink, he lived a full and accomplished life. A 1939 graduate of the University of Michigan College of (Aeronautical) Engineering, where he was president of The Flying Club and treasurer of the National Intercollegiate Flying Club, he spent the next 38 years at American Airlines. He was director of aircraft development/flight engineering, chief test pilot and the youngest commercial airline captain in the country at the age of 25, earning the “Million Miler Award” at age 33. He retired in 1977 and continued work as an aviation consultant.

During the 1940s, under contract to General Electric, he flew its then experimental plane through a series of tests which developed the cabin pressurization system that was put in the B-29 Superfortress bombers and that are now used in all modern planes. In a related test conducted in a Douglas B-23, he simulated a drop of 8,000 feet in four seconds, or a pressure change of 22.72 miles per minute, at 25,000 feet over New York. In 1943, when conducting tests at La Guardia Field, NY, the weather conditions were too warm; he immediately flew the four-engine C-54 to the Arctic Circle, returning a week later with successful test results. In 1948, he earned American Airlines’ highest award, the “Award of Merit” for “astute application of engineering analysis in establishing promptly the cause of two Douglass DC-6 fires.” Consulting for Curtiss-Wright, he was instrumental in the development and design of the modern day flight simulator.

Obituary: Arthur J. Schultheiss

Arthur J. Schultheiss, of Winthrop, passed away on Dec. 27, 2011. Beloved husband of Helen A. (Wythas) LaPorte-Schultheiss and the late Dorothy M. (Craven) Schultheiss. Devoted father of Arthur H. Schultheiss of Doylestown, PA, George E. Schultheiss and his wife Linda of East Douglass, MA, Patricia M. Pattison and her husband Keith of Fort Worth, TX, Elizabeth J. Schultheiss of Saratoga Springs, NY, and Dorothy M “Dolly” Stadelmann and her husband Paul of Cincinatti, OH. Stepfather of Thomas W. LaPorte and his wife Eileen of San Jose, CA, and Theresa A. McNelis and her husband Dermot of Saugus. Adored grandfather of Christine, Stephanie, Julianne, Arthur “AJ”, Laurel, Marlee, Keith, Daniel, Katie, Ellie, Luke, Olivia, and Caroline. Dear brother of the late George Schultheiss. Visiting hours were held at the Fairchild Sons Funeral Chapel, 1570 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY, on Thursday, Dec. 29. A Funeral Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church, 1300 Northern Blvd, Manhasset, NY, on Friday, Dec. 30, at 11:15 a.m. Interment was in Holy Rood Cemetery. Arthur served in the U.S. Marine Corps. For more information, go to www.fairchildsons.com. 

Obituary: Mary Dickinson

Mary Dickinson, 86, of Greenwich, CT, resided in Manhasset for over 30 years in both South Strathmore and Strathmore Vanderbilt has died.

She was born in Leitrim, Ireland. After arriving in New York she worked as a nurse in the maternity ward of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village. She was the devoted wife of the late William Dickinson, and the dedicated mother to Anne (Cohen), Katherine (Simmons), Sheila (Gallagher), and Caroline (Craft). She was the adored nana to Alaina, Michael, Liam, Owen, Kara, Erin, Kelly, and Katie.

Obituary: Carmel A. Barry

Carmel A. Barry of Port Washington died November 6, 2011 at the age of 91. She and her husband Thomas (also deceased) lived in Manhasset with their family from 1956 until 1998.

Born in New York in 1919, she graduated from Saint Savior High School and received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Hunter College in New York City. She was employed by the Mutual of New York and managed their actuarial department. She was a parishioner of Saint Mary’s Church in Manhasset and later of the Church of Saint Peter of Alcantara in Port Washington where she was a lector and Ministry of Consolation Volunteer. Carmel was an active member of The American Association of University Women, the Plandome Women’s Club and the Flower Hill Women’s Club. The Barrys were longtime members of North Hempstead Country Club.

Obituary: Shirlee Powers Holweger

Mrs. Shirlee Powers Holweger, 88, beloved wife of the late Joseph H. Holweger of Manhasset, formerly of Orange, CT, passed away on Nov. 6, 2011. Daughter of the late James and Theresa Birmingham Powers she was born on March 29, 1923 in Durham, CT. Shirlee worked for many years as a clerk for the New Haven Railroad.

Obituary: Peter James Kenny

Peter James Kenny died Oct. 3, 2011, from complications after cardiac arrest. He was the loving husband of Patricia and adoring father of James (Colleen), Patricia Anne Reilly (Timothy), Christine Goettelmann (George) and Kevin (JoAnne). Peter was the proud grandfather to Brigid, Caitlyn, Casey, Sean, Ryann, Megan, Brendan, Brian, Tatum, Kelly, Patrick, Tommy, Teddy and Lilly and the oldest brother of Gerard, Michael, Marianne and the late Bernard.

Obituary: Hanna Marie Hastedt

Mrs. Hanna Marie Hastedt, 87, a resident of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community, Harrisonburg, VA, died Sunday morning, Aug. 28, 2011, at Oak Lea Nursing Home.

A daughter of the late Otto and Johanne Mohrmann Steffens, she was born on Jan. 23, 1924, in Germany. Mrs. Hastedt was a homemaker. On Jan. 23, 1949, she married William Hastedt, former owner of Manhasset Delicatessen, who preceded her in death. She is survived by a son, Glenn P. Hastedt and his wife, Catherine, of Harrisonburg; VA, one daughter, Doreen R. Vaughan and her husband, Mike, of Columbus, Ohio; and two grandchildren, Sarah A. Hastedt of Washington, D. C., and Matthew G. Hastedt and his wife, Kelly, of Charlotte, N.C.

Obituary: Thomas A. Tranfaglia

Thomas A. Tranfaglia, of Manhasset, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011, at the age of 82. He leaves behind his wife Marie of 52 years, children Thomas, Jr. (Barbara) of Garden City and Teresa of Manhasset, and three grandchildren, Thomas III, Kelly and William. Both children lived up to his dream for them. They graduated from college and work in financial services in Manhattan.

Tom was born in 1929 in the Bronx, the son of Italian immigrants. Tom had two great passions as a young boy growing up: love of country and love of the fire department. He lived across the street from the firehouse in the Bronx and would run to the firehouse whenever the alarm sounded. Tom also had another great interest growing up-Long Island. He spent his summers with his aunt and uncle in Oyster Bay because he loved the outdoors. His parents would come to visit him on weekends during the summer.