Miscellaneous Westchester County, New York Obituaries

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Walter Panas senior found dead in woods

A Walter Panas High School senior was found dead Saturday in a hilly area in Cold Spring, the same day his parents reported him missing.

Brian S. Wencak, 17, who resided on Hillcrest Avenue in Cortlandt, last spoke to his mother Friday at about 2 p.m., telling her he was going to his volunteer job at the Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown.

His parents reported him missing to the Cortlandt State Police at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office 

located Wencak’s 1995 Honda off Route 301 in Cold Spring Saturday afternoon.

The State Police then sent a helicopter and spotted Wencak’s body in the woods, a far distance from his vehicle, according to State Police Investigator Jules Renna.

“It appears to be an apparent suicide,” Senior Investigator Bruce Cuccia said.

Renna said alcoholic beverages were found scattered throughout the area where Wencak was found. Toxicology reports pinpointing the exact cause of death will not be available for about a month.

Cuccia explained missing person reports are normally not filed for individuals over 15 but an exception was made for Wencak who had a history of psychiatric problems.

Wencak was born June 15, 1985 in the Bronx to Walter and Lynn Pagani Wencak.

Besides his volunteer work with Guiding Eyes, Wencak was a lifeguard at the Millwood Swim Club and was a member of the Yearbook Committee at Panas.

He also was an avid skier and a movie buff.

Besides his parents, he is survived by one brother, Jason; grandparents, Helen Pagani and Walter and Margaret Wencak; aunts and uncles, Donald P. and Regina Pagani and Rose Ann and Michael Bove; godson, Charlie Pagani; and many cousins.

His grandfather, Donald E. Pagani, died August 27, 1999.

A Funeral Mass will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Shrub Oak. Burial will follow at Assumption Cemetery.

Memorial donations can be sent to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, 611 Granite Spring Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598.
 

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Eunice H. Freid: Putnam Valley resident

Eunice H. Freid, a resident of Putnam Valley, died February 13.

She was 95.

She was born February 2, 1908 in Underhill, Vermont.

She graduated from Mt. Sinai School of Nursing in 1931. She worked at the hospital where she met her future husband, Dr. Marvin G. Freid. They were married for 62 years before he died in 1999.

Mrs. Freid was past president of the Federation of Women’s Club, local and national, chairperson of the Westchester Branch of the American Red Cross, and was an active member of the United Methodist Church at Shrub Oak.

Her favorite activity was traveling, especially to Hawaii.

She is survived by one daughter, Maxine Haigh and her husband, Richard of Putnam Valley; one son, Bus Freid of Hillsborough, New Jersey; four grandchildren, Jennifer Luposello and her husband Carl of Shenorock, Richard Haigh, Jr. and his wife Debbie, of Lincolndale, Kelly Freid of Oregon and Donna Freid of Tennessee; five great- grandchildren, Michael, Nicholas, William, and Olivia (Luposello), and Richard III (Haigh); and four brothers, Edgar, Bernard, William, and Paul. 

Three brothers, Kenneth, Donald and Loomis, died earlier.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Heritage Funeral Home in Putnam Valley.
 

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Fletcher A. Chase: former Buchanan resident
 

Fletcher A. Chase, a former Village of Buchanan resident, died February 15.

He was 88.

He was born April 28, 1914 in Furnace Woods in Cortlandt to Howard and Flora Gaylord Chase. 

He was a graduate of Hendrick Hudson High School and earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from R.P.I. in chemical engineering. While at school he was very active at R.S.E. house. 

Mr. Chase worked for Fleischmann’s in Peekskill, and then the Jel-Sert Corporation in Chicago, Illinois where he worked for many years as a chemical engineer and in sales, retiring in 1979.

As a result, he holds seven patents in the food industry. 

In June 1936, he married Beatrice Chester at the Church of the Divine Love in Montrose. 

He was a former member of the Montrose Fire Department and was a councilman for the Borough of Morris Plains in New Jersey. 

Along with his wife Beatrice of the home address, he is survived by one son, Allen F. Chase of Newton, New Jersey; two daughters, Jessica Chase of Vidalia, Georgia and Beryl Chase of Branchville, New Jersey; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Two sons, Dana C. and Kim W. Chase, predeceased him.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by E.O. Curry Funeral Home in Peekskill.
 
 

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Mary T. Nuzzolo: Cortlandt resident

Mary T. Nuzzolo, a resident of Cortlandt, died February 11 at her home.

She was 75.

She was born July 27, 1927 in Burlington, Vermont to Glenwyn and Marie Ritchie Welch.

She had worked as a receptionist at the Springvale Inn in Croton for 25 years.

She is survived by one son, Frank DiTerlizzi of Goochland, Virginia; two daughters, Cathy Smith of Shallotte, North Carolina and Lisa M. Seley of Hopewell Junction; one stepdaughter, Christina Kall of Peekskill; two brothers, John Laurence and Frank Mastranunzio; four sisters, Joyce Haight, Polly Roberts, Marie Peake and Carey Ascalla; six grandchildren, Francie Mathews, Melanie and Tiffany Smith, Charlotte and Harry Seley and Nicole Di Terlizzi; and one great-grandson, Tyler Smith. 

She was predeceased by one stepson, John B. Nuzzolo.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by E.O. Curry Funeral Home in Peekskill.
 

Adeline F. Singer: Cortlandt resident

Adeline F. Singer, a resident of Cortlandt, died February 23 at Hudson Valley Hospital Center. 

She was 86.

She was born in Brooklyn in March of 1916. 

She is survived by one daughter, Holley Herman of Clearwater, Florida; one son, Donald L. Singer Sr. of Cortlandt; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her husband, Jack Herman Singer, and one son, Jack H. Singer.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by E.O. Curry Funeral Home in Peekskill. 
 

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Agnes Anastasia Devlin

Agnes Anastasia Devlin died Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining.

She was 91.

She was born in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan on the 6th of March, 1912, the youngest of four boys and four girls born to Mary Ann Bader and Joseph Devlin. One sister died as an infant and her father died of pneumonia when she was three. Agnes attended St. Catherine’s Elementary School and then graduated from St. Catherine’s Academy in 1929. After graduation she worked as a file clerk at the Globe Insurance Company and this company managed to stay afloat despite the stock market crash that year. Agnes went to night school at the Grace Institute studying business.

Agnes had thought she would become a social worker and at first was not interested in visiting Maryknoll as her priest had suggested. She did visit Maryknoll in October 1932, saw a movie on martyrs in Japan and decided to join Maryknoll, entering in June 1933. She made her first profession in 1936 with Bishop James Edward Walsh celebrating and received the name Sister Gabriel Marie. Her final profession was in Hong Kong in 1939 with Bishop F.X. Ford presiding.

Sister was assigned to Kwelin (presently spelled Guilan) in 1937 but upon arrival by ship in Japan, they discovered war had quietly started between China and Japan. Instead of going to Shanghai, she and other Sisters took a ship to Manila and lived through a raging monsoon storm. Once they arrived in Hong Kong, she felt at home.

She did catechetical work and pastoral visiting in Guilan while the war raged around them and they often had to retreat to caves outside the city due to terrible bombing. In 1944 the Sisters were assigned to Calcutta, India as China was deemed unsafe. Of course, those were the days of pre-independence for India and political activity was at a peak. Agnes worked with pre-school children until January 1946 when the British Royal Air Force flew the Sisters from India to Honk Kong. Agnes could not return to Guilan due to mines in the river so she taught third grade at the Maryknoll Convent School. In May she went to Laipo to the Chinese novitiate where she taught English and religion.

In 1949 she returned home to the Center and was on promotion for a few months. She was supposed to return to Hong Kong but her visa was withdrawn due to the uncertainty caused by the Communist rebels.

From 1950 through 1968, Agnes was known as one of two “Maryknoll Chinese Sisters” in Transfiguration Parish in Manhattan. She loved this work and also spent short periods of time in the Boston Chinatown and in the Midwood section of Brooklyn with Chinese immigrants.

She began tutoring a young African American woman with three small children and attended a workshop for Literacy Volunteers. She began a literacy program in Sing Sing Prison and was involved in that ministry for ten years. She still receives correspondence from some of her old students. Sister Agnes retired from full time work in 1995.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Dorsey Funeral Home in Ossining.
 

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Agnes Frances: Maryknoll sister

Agnes Frances, a Maryknoll sister, died peacefully February 15 at Phelps Memorial Hospital.

She was 91.

She was born April 10, 1911 in Pittston, Pennsylvania to Victoria and Peter Vitcavage, the eighth of nine children, five of whom died in childhood. All are now deceased.

She attended Pittston High School until her 16th birthday when she had to leave work in the silk factory where she worked for three years until December 6, 1930 when she entered Maryknoll and received the name Sister Mariel at reception. She was professed on June 24, 1933.

After finishing high school at the Venard she attended Maryknoll Teachers College from 1935 to 1937 and Manhattanville College from 1937 to 1939, earning her BA in philosophy.

That same year she was assigned to teach at our school in Seattle, Washington, at St. Mary’s in Los Angeles with the Holy Name Sisters, in St. Louis, Missouri, Chinatown, New York and San Joan Capistrano.

In 1956 she was assigned to Hawaii where she taught at Maryknoll High School for the next 21 years, teaching history, English, social studies, world geography and year book at various times. In 1977, she came back to the Center to be closer to her family members having serious illnesses. During this time she worked in the International Shop and library and in 1983 began in the nursing home helping in social services, mail and a variety of other jobs.

In 1987, she retired and in 1994 due to increasing health problems, moved to Skilled Nursing due to increasing need for assistance. She thoroughly enjoyed her celebration 70 years in Maryknoll.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Dorsey Funeral Home in Ossining.
 
 

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Carol M. Beckles: resident of Ossining

Carol M. Beckles resident of Ossining formerly of the Bronx died on Saturday, February 22, 2003 at Cedar Manor Nursing Home. 

She was born in St. John Parish, Barbados on April 8, 1917 and was the daughter of Joseph Emmanuel and Mary Frances York Beckles. 

She was 85.

She is survived by her nephew Joseph York Beckles of Poughkeepsie.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Doresy Funeral Home in Ossining.
 
 

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Annie “Josie” Reilly: Verplanck resident

Annie “Josie” Reilly, a resident of Verplanck for 50 years, died February 22 at Cortlandt Nursing Home.

She was 96.

She was the widow of Michael J. Reilly, whom she married at St. Joseph’s Church in Bronxville in 1930, and who died in 1972. 

She was born in Dromore West, County Silgo, Ireland on March 7, 1907. She came to the United States in 1925.

Mrs. Reilly and her husband were the proprietors of “Reilly’s 44,” a pub in Yonkers. She was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Yonkers and also of the Verplanck Senior Citizens.

Her family said she enjoyed life along the Hudson River.

She is survived by one son, James (Katie) Reilly of Montrose; one daughter, Mary Ellen (John) Vargo of Verplanck; daughter-in-law Loretta (George) Oppitz of Beacon; seven grandchildren, John, James and Christopher (Monique) Vargo and Joanne Feinstein, Loretta (Soo) Reilly Chan, and Matthew (Liz) Reilly; five great- grandchildren, Jenna Reilly, Ryan, Ethan and Dylan Reilly Chan, and Gwenevere Vargo; and many nieces and nephews. 

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by one son, Michael, in 1968 and two brothers, Matthew and John Quinn.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Edward F. Carter Funeral Home in Montrose.
 

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Elissa M. Simmons: Somers resident

Elissa M. Simmons, a resident of Somers, died February 19.

She was 79.

She was born August 25, 1923 to Alfred and Greta Hecht Mayer in Hanover, Germany (she came to the United States in 1936).

On December 30, 1971, she married Dr. John Simmons in Ossining.

She worked for her husband as a Medical Technician. She was a member of the Putnam Hospital Center Auxiliary in Carmel, Northern Star Quiltors Association of Northern Westchester and NYS Society of Ethical Culture.

She is survived by her husband, two children, David Logan and Tina Kaim; four stepchildren, Margaret Stofsky, Mark Simmons, Tim Simmons and Wende Owen; one sister, Edith Gerver; 12 grandchildren; and three great- grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Adams-Cordovan Funeral Home in Carmel.
 
 

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Harold A. Anagnost: former Montrose resident
 

Harold A. Anagnost, Fire Commissioner of the Cortlandt Engine Company in Montrose, died February 20 at home in the Greenbriar II section of Brick, New Jersey.

He was 83.

He was the Credit Manager for Allied Sinal Corporation in Roslyn, Virginia for 35 years before retiring in 1982.

He was born in the Bronx and lived in Montrose most of his life before moving to Brick in 1982.

He served in World War II in the Army- European Theater of Operations; Battle of the Bulge; 239th Signal Operations Company.

He is survived by his wife Alice Jaedicke Anagnost; one daughter, Janice Anagnost and son-in-law Richard Topper of New York City; and two nephews, William and Richard Anagnost.
 

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Howard Russell Secor: Shrub Oak resident 
Howard Russell Secor, a long time Shrub Oak resident, died February 22 at Somers Manor Nursing Home.

He was 80.

He was born October 9, 1922 in Peekskill to Howard A. and Henrietta E. (nee: Heady) Secor. 

He worked for Bell Atlantic in Buchanan as a wireman for 38 years before retiring in 1983. 

Mr. Secor served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

On September 20, 1947, he married Inez L. Artus at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Mohegan Lake.

He was a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Mohegan, the VFW Post in Yorktown and enjoyed bowling, wood crafting and loved spending time at his house in the Adirondacks. 

He is survived by his wife, Inez L. Secor and one son, Russell R. Secor, both of Shrub Oak; and one daughter and son-in-law, Sandra and Ronald Carpaneto and three grandsons, Brian, Jeffrey and Eric Carpaneto, all of Somers. 

He was predeceased by one brother, William E. Secor. 

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by E.O. Curry Funeral Home in Peekskill.
 

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Joan O’Neill: Cortlandt resident 
Joan Elizabeth O’Neill, a resident of Cortlandt, died February 23 at the Field Home-Holy Comforter Nursing Home.

She was 69.

She was born October 2, 1933 in New York City to Peter and Elizabeth O’Reilly Flanagan. 

She worked for Macy’s for several years before retiring in 2000. 

She was a member of St. Columbanus Church in Cortlandt.

She is survived by one daughter, Sheila Ann Molle of Wappingers Falls; three sons, Brian O’Neill of Keansburg, New Jersey, Glenn O’Neill of Cortlandt and Michael O’Neill of Putnam Valley; two sisters, Elizabeth McCave of Long Beach, New York and Agnes Donaghy of Walkill; two brothers, Peter Flanagan of New York City and Jim Waite of Fairlawn, New Jersey; and four grandchildren, Devon, Thomas and Nicholas O’Neill and Anthony Molle. 

She was predeceased by her husband, Arthur B. O’Neill, who died November 25, 1981, and two brothers, Neil Flanagan and George Waite.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by E.O. Curry Funeral Home in Peekskill.
 

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Lucy A. Lupinetti: Ossining resident
Lucy A. Lupinetti, a longtime resident of Ossining, died February 24.

She was 84.

She was born September 29, 1918 and was raised in Montrose.

Mrs. Lupinetti is survived by two sons, Dorino and Stanley; two daughters, Louise Brimon and Joanne Nestor; one sister, Ida Vincent; 14 grandchildren; and 22 great- grandchildren.

Her husband, John, predeceased her on October 4, 1994.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Dorsey Funeral Home in Ossining.
 

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Marie Pauline Esther Touchette

Marie Pauline Esther Touchette died on Monday, February 17, 2003 at the Maryknoll Sister Center in Ossining, New York.

She was born on August 20, 1908, in Boston, Massachusetts. She lived there, in the Diocese on North Cambridge, until she entered Maryknoll on October 15, 1927. She re-entered Maryknoll two years later on October 11, 1929. She made her First Profession in 1932 at Maryknoll, NY, and her Final Vows in 1938, also at Maryknoo. Her religious name is Sister Esther Marie, which she kept as her name.

She studied for one year at Nye Business College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Her first assignment away from Maryknoll, New York was in 1943 to Los Angeles. She taught school at San Juan Capistrano from 1944 to 1947. In 1947, she began teaching at San Juan Bautista and remained until 1949. From 1949 to 1954, Sister Esther was assigned as a music and typing teacher in Quezon City, Philippines. In 1976, Sister Esther returned to the U.S. and was assigned to Monrovia. From 1976 to 1992 she was semi-retired and did some secretarial work while at Monrovia. She was also a member of the Regional Board. She retired in 1993 and remained at Monrovia. She returned to the Center in New York in May, 1996, and was assigned to Assisted Living in December, 1997.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Dorsey Funeral Home in Ossining.
 

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Ralph Brophy: Ossining resident

Ralph Brophy, a resident of Ossining, died February 21 in Florida.

He was 61.

Also known as “Mickey” in his youth, he was born August 22, 1941 in Ossining to Arthur and Lillian Brophy.

He was raised and educated in Ossining, graduating from Ossining High School in 1959. He earned an Associate’s Degree in Business from Pace University.

A butcher by trade, Mr. Brophy worked in grocery stores, meat centers and supermarkets from the age of seven until his retirement in early 2002.

In the 1970’s, he managed and owned Arcadian Meats in Ossining. From 1980 to 1983, he operated The Village Market in Croton. In 1984, he opened the Southside Market on Spring Street in Ossining, which he co-owned until selling the business in 1995. He then worked for Food Emporium until his retirement last year.

Mr. Brophy was very active in the community, coaching youth sports and participating in scouting activities throughout the 1970’s and ‘80’s. He was a member of the Elks Lodge, Holla Hose and the Loyal Order of Moose. The Brophy’s are longtime members of St. Augustine’s Parish and he chaired the Ossining High School 30-year Reunion Committee in 1989.

Mr. Brophy is survived by his loving wife, Diane; four sons, Arthur (Sue), Joel (Laurie), Michael (Tracy) and Ralph (Christy); one sister, Sharon; and five adoring grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements and services were handled by Dorsey Funeral Home in Ossining.


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