Welcome Back: In Memoriam

Irene McCann
Irene McCann, 92, of Longboat Key, and formerly of Barrington, R.I., and Attleboro, Mass., died April 10. She was a 25-year volunteer and former treasurer of the Longboat Library, where she was known for her calligraphy.

Claire Louise ‘Imee’ Henkle
Claire Louise “Imee” Henkle, 86, of Longboat Key and Baltimore, died April 23. She was a member of Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian, The Newcomers Club of Sarasota, Meals on Wheels Soup Kitchen and the Encore Group.

Adolf ‘Ed’ Shapiro
Adolf “Ed” Shapiro, 93, of Plymouth Harbour and formerly of Longboat Key, died April 28. He earned the Bronze Star in World War II and went on to become an advertising executive with Isotoner, a women’s glove company. He was a founding member of Temple Beth Israel and wrote the community newsletter for The Islander Club and, later, Plymouth Harbour, along with the Sarasota-Manatee Chapter of the United Nations Association newsletter.

Morton Goodman
Morton Goodman, 85, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key and Rockville Centre, N.Y., died May 3.
Mr. Goodman moved to Longboat Key in 1976 and opened the Bagel Inn, in Sarasota. He later became a health-insurance agent. He was a former president of the Longboat Key Democratic Club.

Blanche Miller
Blanche Miller, 95, of Longboat Key and Fairfield, Conn., died May 6. She was an avid golfer and bridge player.

Virginia Marie Kirby
Virginia Marie Kirby, 91, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and formerly of Longboat Key, died May 7.

Helene Reynolds
Helene Reynolds, 83, of Longboat Key, died May 8. For 27 years she was a secretary for District Court Judge Warren Herrigal, in Flemington, N.J. She volunteered at Mote Marine Laboratory, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and the Woman’s Exchange Inc. and was a member of Longboat Island Chapel. She regularly attended events at Spanish Main Yacht Club, where she was known as the “Energizer
Bunny.”

John DiMattina
John DiMattina, 100, of Longboat Key, died May 9. He worked as a stockbroker and moved to Longboat Key in the early 1970s, after his company set up an office in Sarasota. He was an original owner at Beach Harbor Club and a member of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church.

Miriam Greenberg
Miriam Greenberg, 97, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key and Roslyn Heights, N.Y., died May 9. She was a member of Temple Beth Israel.

John Schuler
John Schuler, 82, of Longboat Key and formerly of St. Louis, died May 12.

Edward Consove
Edward Consove, 96, of Longboat Key, died May 14. He worked in his family’s businesses before founding Standard Supply, a wholesale supply company. He was a founding member of Temple Beth Israel and sang in its chorus. Mr. Consove was a voracious reader and an avid golf, bridge and tennis player.

Francis Lee Hick
Francis Lee Hick, 71, of Bradenton, and formerly of Vandergrift and Latrobe, Pa., died May 20. After moving to Bradenton in 1988, he and his wife, Roni, opened and operated Key Cleaners and Linen Service on Longboat Key. Upon his retirement after 18 years, Mr. Hick passed on his family business to his daughter, Dana. He was a member of the Sahib Shrine of Sarasota and the Moose Lodge of Anna Maria.

Mary Rooney
Mary Rooney, 89, of Longboat Key, died May 22.

Benjamin Immerman
Benjamin Immerman, 85, of Longboat Key and Great Barrington, Mass., died May 27. He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, flying dozens of missions over Germany as a bombardier in the B-17 “Flying Fortress.” He practiced obstetrics and gynecology for nearly 40 years in Forest Hills, N.Y.

Betty Danto
Betty Danto, 87, of Longboat Key and Bloomfield Hills, Mich., died May 31. She was a faithful supporter of the Sarasota Ballet, Florida West Coast Symphony, New College and “Dance — The Next Generation.” She and her husband, Marvin, helped to establish the Engineering Development Center at the Wayne State University College of Engineering, in Detroit, with a $3 million gift. The Dantos contributed $2 million to the construction of the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.

Geraldine ‘Gerry’ Shields
Geraldine “Gerry” Shields, 81, of Longboat Key, died June 8. She was a Foreign Service spouse and homemaker. While on Foreign Service assignments with her husband and four children in Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Panama, she taught English as a second language. Mrs. Shields was a resident of Spanish Main Yacht Club, where she organized the community’s annual St. Patrick’s Day party.

Benjamin Gilfix
Benjamin Gilfix, 71, of Longboat Key, died June 11. He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and became president of G&S Paper Co., before retiring in 1994. He enjoyed painting, crossword puzzles, music and chess.

Ethel ‘Terry’ Teal Crutchfield
Ethel “Terry” Teal Crutchfield, 87, of Longboat Key, died June 14. She served as one of Virginia’s first woman radio announcers and also earned her pilot’s license so that she could fly support planes for the military. After the war, she earned a master’s certificate in occupational therapy from Columbia University, in New York City, and subsequently worked with World War II veterans in Richmond, Va.

Marguerite ‘Peggy’ Antonello
Marguerite “Peggy” Antonello, 80, of Longboat Key and Western Springs, Ill., died June 22.

Jill Green
Jill Green, 76, of State College, Pa., and formerly of Longboat Key, died June 22. She worked as merchandise manager of apparel for Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Frederick Atkins Inc. Mrs. Green moved to Longboat Key in 1988 with her husband, Al, who served as a Longboat Key town commissioner. She was a member of the Longboat Key Club and enjoyed playing bridge.

Donald James Roosa
Donald James Roosa, 80, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key and Lansing, Mich., died June 27. He worked in real-estate and land development in Michigan. He was a volunteer at Sarasota Music Archive for many years.

William Douglas ‘Billy’ Johnson
William Douglas “Billy” Johnson, 86, of Longboat Key, died July 2. He graduated from Sarasota High School in 1942 and served four years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was deployed to Pearl Harbor and the Philippines twice. Mr. Johnson retired from Florida Power and Light after 35 years, working there from 1949 to 1985. He was one of the original founders of the Sarasota Sailing Squadron and was named an honorary lifetime member of the organization as well as a lifetime member of the Bradenton Yacht Club.

William ‘Bill’ Gowan
William “Bill” Gowan, 76, of Longboat Key and Curtis, Mich., died July 7. He served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, earning the rank of captain, and was an original member of the Mach Busters Club. Mr. Gowan worked for Lifetouch for 33 years and became senior vice president of acquisitions. He enjoyed spending time with his family, reading, the outdoors, boating, hunting and fishing.

Carleton Merrill Stewart Jr.
Carleton Merrill Stewart Jr., of Longboat Key, died July 9. He served as a U.S. Army captain and was military governor of Nagoya, Japan, during World War II. In 1947, he joined Citibank. He worked in posts both in the United States and internationally, serving as senior officer of Citibank London, director of Grindlay’s Bank Ltd. and director of Banque International Pour L’Afrique Occidentale, Paris. Mr. Stewart served as mayor of Longboat Key from 1987 to 1988 and was also a member of the Sarasota County Planning Commission.

Lawrence Grant
Lawrence Grant, 69, of Tampa and formerly of Longboat Key, died July 11. He practiced as an attorney in Paoli, Pa. He moved to Longboat Key in 1990, and in 2001, he moved to Tampa to help raise his grandchildren.

Herbert ‘Tuffy’ Meyfarth
Herbert “Tuffy” Meyfarth, 98, of Longboat Key and Freedom Village, in Bradenton, and formerly of Pepper Pike, Ohio, died July 19. In high school and college, he was known as “Tuffy” for his football skills, and in 1983, he was inducted into the Case Western Reserve Athletic Hall of Fame. Mr. Meyfarth had a 37-year career with Republic Steel Corp. in supervisory and management positions. He was a ranked singles and doubles tennis player in the more-than-70 age bracket, playing in tournaments in Florida.

Helen Warner
Helen Warner, 78, of Longboat Key, died July 25. She was a nurse and received her training at McLean Hospital, in Belmont, Mass.

John Brucker Jr.
John Brucker Jr., 84, of Longboat Key and Orchard Park, N.Y., died July 28. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and earned a Purple Heart. For 36 years, Mr. Brucker was a principal in Wilson, Klaes, Brucker and Worden, a mechanical-electrical engineering company.

He was an avid sailor, skier and bridge player. He spent winters at Seaplace.

James Sumpter
James Sumpter, 92, of Longboat Key and Kettering, Ohio, died July 30. He served during World War II, commanding the First Battalion, 261st Infantry, 65th Division, and earned multiple decorations, including the Legion of Merit award. Mr. Sumpter retired as a safety engineer from U.S. Steel Corp. He was a member of the Church of the Redeemer, in Sarasota, the Rotary Club, the Longboat Key Golf Club and Bird Key Yacht Club. He was a resident of Seaplace for more than 30 years.

Mark ‘Mike’ Dreyer
Mark “Mike” Dreyer, 68, of Longboat Key and Canton, Ohio, died Aug. 8. He was chief executive officer of Canton Financial Floor Plans Inc. and Mark G. Dreyer Realty. He was a winter resident of Bayport Beach & Tennis Club.

Milton ‘Mickey’ Weintraub
Milton “Mickey” Weintraub, 91, of Mount Lebanon, Pa., and Longboat Key, died Aug. 13. Mr. Weintraub played in the major league in the 1940s and owned the Wytheville Statesmen within the Blue Ridge League part of the AA minor league from 1946 to 1949. Throughout his 25-year career with Prudential Life Insurance, first in New York and, then, in Pittsburgh, where he managed the Mickey Weintraub Agency, he told and wrote baseball stories about the days he played minor league baseball, in San Diego, Trenton, N.J., then for the Washington Senators and, finally, the New York Giants.

Robert ‘Bob’ Hoffman
Robert “Bob” Hoffman, of Sarasota and formerly of Chicago, died Aug. 15. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and began his business career by participating in the Chicago Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange. He moved to Sarasota in the early 1970s and served as president of the board of Longboat Island Chapel, president of the Lido Shores Association and on the board of directors of Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. Mr. Hoffman and his business partner, Jack Shire, developed some of the first condominiums on Longboat and its surrounding keys, including St. Armands Towers, The Islander Club, Sea Gate Club and Islands West. Later, he developed manufactured housing communities in southwest Florida.

Suresh Kumar Verma
Suresh Kumar Verma, 85, of Longboat Key, died Aug. 19. Born in Nagpur, India, Mr. Verma came to the United States in 1945 to study electrical engineering. He married his wife, Diana, in 1948, and went on to build a consulting engineering firm based in Joliet, Ill.

Jerry Hasson
Jerry Hasson, 82, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key and Bloomsburg, Pa., died Friday, Aug. 21. He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, in Germany and Switzerland. He returned to Berwick and became a designer and manager for Milco Industries before moving to Bloomsburg and becoming vice president and co-owner of the company. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends, golfing, dancing and big-band music.

Arlene Bornstein
Arlene Bornstein, 75, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key and Newton Center, Mass., died Aug. 23.

Gertrude ‘Gert’ Willens
Gertrude “Gert” Willens, 96, of Longboat Key, died Sept. 8.

John Sandefur
John Sandefur, 78, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key, died Sept. 17. He worked as a developer and builder in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. He moved to Longboat Key in 1981 and to Sarasota in 2000.
Mr. Sandefur served as president of four condo associations, a member of the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Foundation board, a trustee of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and chairman of the traffic-control group, Mobility Now. The Association of Fundraising Professionals named Mr. Sandefur the outstanding philanthropist of 2008. He was also recognized by the Salvation Army and Circus Sarasota for his support of those organizations.

Charles Clark
Charles Clark, 90, of Logansport, Ind., and formerly of Longboat Key and Sarasota, died Sept. 19.

Arthur ‘Art’ Ferrante
Arthur “Art” Ferrante, of Longboat Key, died Sept. 19. He and his friend, Lou Teicher, were the legendary piano duo Ferrante & Teicher who sold more than 90 million copies of more than 150 albums and recorded hit themes for movies, such as “Exodus,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Apartment,” along with “Tonight” from “West Side Story.” They performed as a duo for more than 40 years, performing more than 5,200 concerts.

Robert ‘Bob’ Oste
Robert “Bob” Oste, 60, died Sept. 19. He was a live-aboard sailor for many years in Longboat Key, Sarasota and Bradenton Beach. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard, in New England, before moving to Florida. He had a passion for classic food and wine and worked at local dining establishments, including The Bridgetender Inn and Dockside Bar, Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub, Turtle’s on Holmes Beach, The Mutiny Inn, The Chart House on Longboat Key and O’Leary’s Tiki Bar & Grill at Marina Jack.

Ruth Henry Tiller
Ruth Henry Tiller, 98, of Longboat Key, died Sept. 20. She moved in 1980 to Longboat Key from Swainsboro, Ga., and settled in the Village behind the home of her daughter, Anna Tiller. Longtime residents may remember her riding her bicycle or walking her daughter’s golden retriever, Daisy, along neighborhood streets.

Judith Ann Castle
Judith Ann Castle, 65, of Longboat Key, died Oct. 2.

Ellis Klingeman
Ellis Klingeman, 77, of Longboat Key and Morristown, N.J., died Oct. 12. He served as lieutenant in the Army Reserve. He worked for Dillon, Read & Co. and became a partner and senior vice president. He also served as chairman of Dillon Read Real Estate Inc. He founded Corporate Finance and Investments, through which he served as an investment adviser to large personal trusts.

Christine Bowman
Christine Bowman, 51, of Longboat Key and formerly of Crown Point, Ind., died Oct. 13. Ms. Bowman was owner/operator of Helping Hands Staffing Services for 21 years. She was a member of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church. She battled breast cancer for four-and-a-half years.

Edward James ‘Jim’ Schneiders
Edward James “Jim” Schneiders, 72, of Longboat Key, died Oct. 14. He spent winters on Longboat Key since 1999 and moved there permanently in 2002. He was a past flotilla commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and a member of the Longboat Key Club.

Claudia Fuller
Claudia Fuller, 79, of Longboat Key, died Oct. 21. She served on the Longboat Key Code Enforcement Board, as chairwoman of the Longboat Key Garden Club’s Butterfly Garden, secretary of the Public Interest Committee and president of the Republican Club of Longboat Key. In 2005, Fuller wrote a play, “We Love Longboat Key (Can’t We All Just Get Along?)” performed with a cast of 90 to celebrate the town’s 50th anniversary. In February, she was honored as the 2008 Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key Citizen of the Year.

Maj. Gen. James ‘Jim’ Patterson
Maj. Gen. James “Jim” Patterson, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key, died Oct. 21. His Army career earned him more than 30 awards for valor and meritorious service, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military honor. He served for 10 years on the Longboat Key Town Commission, including terms as mayor and vice mayor. He was a founder of Solutions to Avoid Red Tide (START).

Albert Strasser
Albert Strasser, 85, of Longboat Key, died Oct. 23.

Ilse ‘Ille’ Weyl Aff
Ilse “Ille” Weyl Aff, 86, of Longboat Key, died Oct. 27. She earned a degree in art and fashion design from the University of Frankfurt and was known for creating elegant couture designs.

John ‘Jack’ Egan
John “Jack” Egan, 80, of Longboat Key, died Oct. 27. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and worked for Warren Petroleum Co., in Tulsa, Okla., and Louisville, Ky., before buying Foster’s Gas Inc., in Leitchfield, Ky. He was a member of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic
Church.