In Memoriam 2018

Longboat Key lost many of its beloved residents and visitors during the summer. Below, we’ve compiled a list in their honor.

Ann Taff Anderson

Ann Taff Anderson, 82, died July 30. In September 1958 she took a position with the YMCA-YWCA in Lakewood, Ohio. In 1959, Ann married Ralph “Andy” Anderson and resided in Upper Arlington, Ohio ever since. She remained close friends with her longtime tennis friends at The Resort at Longboat Key Club.

Ann Judge ‘Nancy’ Ardoline

Ann “Nancy” Judge Ardoline, 85, of Bethlehem, Pa., and Longboat Key, died July 26. For 40 years, she served as vice president, vice chair and secretary of the board of directors for KidsPeace. 

Harry J. Ardoline

Harry J. Ardoline, 85, of Longboat Key and Bethlehem, Pa., died June 28. Harry was director of purchasing and production at Rodale Press Inc. for 25 years. He began his career in the advertisement department of Vanity Fair Corp.

Bobby Joe Bailey

Bobby Joe Bailey, 71, of Holmes Beach, died July 20. He was a Navy veteran and began his public service career in 1971 at the Bradenton Police Department until 1976. In 1999, he retired as a lieutenant of the Longboat Key Police.

George W. Barber

George W. Barber, 76, of Longboat Key, died July 26. In 1981, he left his career at Cyanamid and served as a consultant to Schmid Laboratories and Cook Bates Co., which were both owned by London Rubber Co. In 1990, the company changed its name and moved to Sarasota. Mr. Barber and his family followed by moving to Osprey, Bird Key, then Longboat Key.

Jeanne Kievit Baum

Jeanne Kievit Baum, 95, of Sarasota, died on Aug. 9. In 1986, she moved to Longboat Key from Lake Forest, Ill., and in 2007, she and her husband moved to Plymouth Harbor. Until her death, she had been a member of First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota.

Robert J. ‘Bob’ Berns

Robert J. “Bob” Berns, 93, of Longboat Key and formerly Massachusetts, died July 15. Mr. Berns served in the Navy during WWII. He was a squash and tennis player and active member of Temple Beth Israel. He was a Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster chairman who was active with the emergency management of Sarasota County Government as a volunteer.

Marjorie Boulware

Marjorie Mapes Brett Boulware, 101, of Sarasota, died on July 7. While in the Sarasota area, she was a volunteer at Sarasota Memorial Hospital for 28 years and belonged to Bird Key Yacht Club. Following the death of her husband, Roger, she married Bill Boulware. They spent time in Kansas City and Longboat Key. In 2000, they moved to Plymouth Harbor.

Lawrence Aloysius Breen Jr.

Lawrence “Larry” Breen Jr. 80, of Winter Park and Longboat Key, died June 16. Larry was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 9, 1938. Mr. Breen attended Rollins College on a rowing scholarship. When he graduated in 1959, he worked as a commercial insurance underwriter and founded his own agency in 1963.

Dr. Thomas Cail

Thomas Cail, 81, of Sarasota, died June 26. In December 1978, Cail relocated to Sarasota and opened a dental practice. Dr. Cail enjoyed tennis.

John Clark

John Clark died June 6.

Mr. Clark served in the U.S. Army in Korea, and with two others started an orphanage for Korean children. Following his return from Korea, he began his career with Wilson-Jones Co. in Chicago and later became the vice president of American Brands in New York. 

George Camille Cosbar

George Camille Cosbar, 90, of Fort Myers and formerly of Longboat Key and Larchmont, N.Y., passed away on Sept. 19. Mr. Cosbar was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. He came to the United States in 1950 and graduated from Illinois College. He worked at IBM until his retirement in 1992. 

Ethel ‘Sandy’ Day

Ethel “Sandy” Day, 89, formerly of Longboat Key and Minneapolis, Minn., passed away July 24 at her home in Bloomington, Minn. Sandy was a former member of Christ Church of Longboat Key, and she was active in tennis and golf at Longboat Key Club.

Ilse Delman

Ilse “Lolo” Delman, 91, died June 27. Mrs. Delman was a Holocaust survivor.

For the last 12 years of her life, she lived on Longboat Key. She was a talented artist and was knowledgeable about art, music and cooking.

David L. Ferguson Sr.

David L. Ferguson Sr., 95, died Sept. 18. He served in the Army 

during WWII. He was an avid cellist. When he retired to Longboat Key, he played with the Florida West Coast Symphony for 25 years.

Richard Leland Fleming

Richard “Dick” Fleming, 89, of Sarasota and formerly of  Columbus, Ind., died July 4. In his free time, Mr. Fleming was involved in many activities, including serving as president at Beachplace and Harbour Oaks condominium association.

William Kim Foster

William Kim Foster, 69, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Longboat Key, died Aug. 15. Mr. Foster earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. For 34 years, he had a career with FMC Corp. In 2012, he retired as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Julianne Friday Tuttle

Julianne “Jana” Friday Tuttle, 94, died June 28. Mrs. Tuttle and her husband lived on Longboat Key and in Sarasota for more than two decades. In the 1980s, they were active in the establishment of independent community living residences for special needs adults.

Jeanne Trimble Wilson Garrison

Jeanne Trimble Garrison, 90, died in July. Mrs. Garrison was a self-taught cloisonné enamelist. She drew the Tropic-Ana girl that was on the Tropicana juice carton for years. She was active in Art Center Manatee and taught enameling at the Longboat Key Center for the Arts for 36 years.

Mary B. Gates

Mary B. Gates, 90, died July 15. She was the owner of Mary of Westchester, which specialized in estate sales. Mrs. Gates often skied at Sugarloaf in Maine, spent her summers at Lake Winnipesaukee and wintered on Longboat Key.

Charles S. Gehrie

Charles S. Gehrie, 95, of Sarasota, died June 13. He emigrated with his parents from Poland to Cuba and then the U.S. in 1926. He was the vice president of Kidde & Co. and has more than 100 patents in his name. In 2012, Mr. Gehrie and his wife, Jeanette, moved to Plymouth Harbor.

Elaine Gilbert

Eleanor E. Gilbert, 95, of Fort Wayne, Ind., died Sept. 22. Mrs. Gilbert played piano and was involved in local music and drama clubs. She danced, golfed and played in various bridge clubs. She and her husband, Jack, traveled the U.S. and spent time living on Longboat Key. Following Jack’s death, she lived in Madison, Ohio, and Longboat Key with her late companion, William J. Wehr Jr.

Edna A. Grant

Edna A. Grant, 73, of Newport, R.I., and Longboat Key died June 27. She was a certified tax preparer for H&R Block. Mrs. Grant loved traveling and entertaining her friends.

Helen Halloran

Helen ‘Nan’ Halloran, 92, of Longboat Key and formerly Middletown and Long Valley, N.J., died Aug. 15. After a relocation to Long Valley, N.J., she moved to Longboat Key. Mrs. Halloran enjoyed family time, home-cooked meals, books, puzzles, cards, gardening and her dogs.

Robert S. Hambrecht

Robert S. Hambrecht, 88, of Sarasota, died July 7.

After a 37-year career with Carrier Corp., he retired to Bradenton and worked at Walmart for four years. Mr. Hambrecht was a volunteer at All Faiths Food Bank and was a member of All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church.

Doris Howard

Doris Howard, 89, of Tewksbury, N.J., died Aug. 1. Early in her career, she worked for NBC, ABC and was an art buyer. She helped her husband launch Don Howard Personne in 1959. Mrs. Howard spent half the year on Longboat Key.

Anthony J. Iesulauro

Anthony “Tony” J. Iesulauro, 71, died Sept. 22. For 35 years, he worked for AT&T Bell Laboratories. He retired in 2001, but worked for Chemical Abstracts Service for 10 years. He wintered on Longboat Key.

Patricia Foster Kelley

Patricia Foster Kelley, of Longboat Key, died Aug. 2. She was a member of Longboat Island Chapel and volunteered at the Lords’ Warehouse and Longboat Key Library.

Sara Ellen Krinsk

Sara Ellen Krinsk, 91, died June 4. Mrs. Krinski and her husband, Keith, traveled often to Longboat Key before building a permanent home in Bay Isles. She was a master chef, having studied at Cordon Bleu School in New York. She sang in the choir at Temple Beth Israel.

Delbert Mason Lothes

Delbert Mason Lothes, 85, died Sept. 27. Mr. Lothes opened his own business, Del Opticians. He was a member of All Angels by the Sea Episcopal.

Ronald Luchessi

Ronald Luchessi, 64, of Longboat Key, died July 12. He was a professor at Wittenburg University for 29 years. He was a faculty adviser to the business and economics honors society, Tau Pi Phi.

Joan MacKellar

Joan MacKellar, 94, of Ontario, died July 22. Mrs. MacKellar was an assistant hostess of Welcome Wagon Canada Ltd. Ultimately, she became president and CEO of the company. During retirement, she and her husband, Doug, frequented Longboat Key.

John McMahon

John “Jack” McMahon, 85, of Sarasota, died Aug. 30. Mr. McMahon served in the Army for three years. On Longboat Key, he was an active member of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church. He steered the church’s financial committee for 10 years.

Nicholas ‘Nick’ Myrhorod

Nicholas Leonid Myrhorod, 79, of Toronto, died Aug. 14. Mr. Myrhorod spent five months of the year in Longboat Key. He was a member The Longboat Key Rotary Club and the Sarasota Power Squadron. 

Madeline Naval

Madeline Naval died July 4. She had a career in education for 40 years. In 2004, she retired and devoted herself to the arts.

Judith O’Brien

Judith Ann O’Brien, 76, of Roseland, N.J. died Aug. 12. Mrs. O’Brien was a registered nurse and loved spending time with her family on Longboat Key and in Bermuda.

Saul Putterman

Saul Putterman, 94, of Sarasota, formerly of Selinsgrove, Pa., died Aug. 29. He was an Army intelligence officer during WWII.

Warren Roberts

Warren Roberts died May 8, on his 85th birthday. Perhaps best known locally as an avid beach walker each morning, Roberts led a distinguished career as a professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, before retiring to Longboat Key. Roberts began his teaching career in 1963. He was a professor there until his retirement in 2013. In 1984, Roberts was promoted as one of the first distinguished teaching professors, one of the highest ranks given at SUNY.

After his retirement, Roberts didn’t slow down, despite a bike crash in 2013 and a stroke in 2016. Roberts was the author of six books and was working on another about the history of Vienna and its music. He started each day with a walk on the beach and became a fixture for fellow beach walkers.

Elaine Kopatz Rose

Elaine Kopatz Rose of Newport Beach, Calif., and formerly Longboat Key, died Sept. 21. She had a career with IBM.

Lee Rothenberg

Lee Rothenberg, 92, a former mayor, died July 27. He served on the Planning & Zoning Board from 1993 to 2004, when he was appointed to the Town Commission. Residents voted him onto the commission two more times until he was defeated in 2009, the year he served as mayor. The Cornell graduate served two years in the Navy during World War II. In 1979, he moved to Chicago to take a job with a then-bankrupt company, International Honeycomb Corp. Within a couple of months, Rothenberg was named president, general manager and chief executive officer of the company, leading the paper-packaging company out of bankruptcy by improving efficiencies and developing new equipment.

John F. Rutledge

John Rutledge of Longboat Key and Arlington, Va., died Sept. 17. He enjoyed golf and spent his career as a lawyer.

Diana Schmiedicke

Diana Schmiedicke, 73, of West Lafayette, Ind., died Aug. 9. Before retiring, Mrs. Schmiedicke worked as a bookkeeper at Berry’s Camera Shop. Mrs. Schmiedicke and her husband traveled to Longboat Key.

Sharlee M. Segal

Sharlee Segal, 91, of Needham, Mass., died July 1. She was an administrative assistant to a Harvard professor. She spent 22 winters on Longboat Key.

Natalie Rose Smith

Natalie Smith, 96, of Bradenton, died Aug. 4. Mrs. Smith and her late husband, Gordon, were frequent travelers and ventured around Alaska and Mexico in their RV. They retired to Longboat Key in 1980. They spent their final years in Freedom Village.

Mort Siegler

Mort Siegler, 95, died June 11. In 2000, he and his wife, Carol, were recognized with the American Jewish Committee’s Human Relations Award. In 2009, they were honored again with AJC’s Legacy of Leadership Award.

Siegler and Carol were honorary vice presidents of AJC’s national board of governors. Carol Siegler still holds the title. 

Madelyn Joan Strickland

Madelyn Joan Strickland, of Asheville, N.C., died June 14. She was a graduate of Stephens College and Duke University and received her master’s degree from the University of North Carolina. She made her winter home first in Everglades City, then in Longboat Key. She was a lifelong Democrat, an avid gardener and a supporter of many causes, among which were hospice, orphanages, clean air organizations, Manna Food Drive and Meals for Wheels.

Jacqueline Tucker

Jacqueline Tucker, 79, died Aug. 18. She was a teacher for the Pittsburgh Public Schools and became the first teacher for Community Day School, where she later became principal and head of school. When she retired, she moved to Longboat Key with her husband, Robert.

Bruce Tymeson Sr.

Bruce Tymeson Sr., 79, died June 24. He served in New Jersey law enforcement and later moved to Anna Maria Island where he continued his law enforcement career. Then, he continued his career on Longboat Key. Eventually, he moved back to Anna Maria as the chief of police. After, he served as manager of Crowder Bros. Hardware and True Value.

Harvey Vengroff

Harvey Vengroff died Oct. 11, after a brief illness. He was 77 years old.

Vengroff’s business career began with a commercial debt collection firm that was born in the 1960. He then moved into real estate, with a large portfolio of apartments and commercial real estate properties in the Sarasota-Manatee region, including several industrial buildings. The bigger focus in the last five years was affordable housing apartments, both for his employees and others in the community amid life difficulties. That effort, through a entity now named One Stop Housing, has rehabbed and brought some 1,800 apartment units to market in the Sarasota-Bradenton region.

Bernice Evelyn Shonka Vohoska

Bernice Evelyn Shonka Vohoska, 90, of Longboat Key, died Sept. 7. She obtained her real estate license and assisted her husband by handling the books for Vohoska Management. She was a 10-year resident of Longboat Key.

John S. ‘Jack’ Weber

John S. “Jack” Weber, 89, of Holmes Beach, died June 25. He received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army serving in the Korean campaign, earning the Combat Infantry Badge Commendation. A member of St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church, he sang in the choir. He was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Dreyfus Weber.

Ziona Kaplan Weber

Ziona Kaplan-Weber, 91, died July 26. Mrs. Kaplan-Weber worked at Catholic Family Services and in the foster care department for Village of Children. She spent time in both Longboat Key and Westerly, R.I.

Carl Ziegler

Carl Ziggy Ziegler, 91, of Hudson, Mass., died Sept. 7. Mr. Ziegler was a sergeant in the Army during WWII and received the Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal. He worked at Lapoint Tool & Die Co. before working as a carpenter independently. He and his wife, Jackie, spent time vacationing on Longboat Key.