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Miscellaneous Obituaries
Staten Island, NY

First Name:
Last Name:
The Rev. Dr. Annette Hazen
May 5, 1999
The Rev. Dr. Annette Hazen, 69, an Episcopal priest and a retired college professor, formerly of Staten Island, died Monday at her home in Waymart, Pa., of cancer.

Born Margaret Annette Ruark in Pittsburgh, Pa., she was brought as a child to Chapel Hill, N.C., and then to Maryland.

In the early 1960s, she lived in Manhattan, moved to Syracuse in the mid-1960s and to Staten Island in 1967, where she lived in Tottenville and on Grymes Hill. The Rev. Hazen settled in Waymart in 1995.

During the early-1960s, Rev. Hazen worked as a research aide at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, Manhattan. In the mid-1960s, she was an instructor and associate professor at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and later an assistant professor and associate professor at Cazenovia (N.Y.) College.

In 1967, Rev. Hazen became an associate professor of physiology at Wagner College, teaching there until 1995. During this time she also served as an adjunct associate professor at Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., and the College of Staten Island.

In addition to her academic career, she served as a supply priest, chaplain and in various other capacities for All Saints' Episcopal Church, Willowbrook, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Tottenville, and Christ Episcopal Church, New Brighton, as well as several Manhattan churches. A supply priest serves at a variety of churches on a fill-in basis.

The Rev. Hazen received a bachelor's degree in physiology and bacteriology from Goucher College, Md.; a master's degree with distinction in neurophysiology from Vassar College; and a doctorate in medical physiology from Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

She earned a Master of Divinity degree from General Theological Seminary, Manhattan, in 1975, where she won the Bishop of Newark Preaching Prize. The Rev. Hazen was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 1997.

She enjoyed art, flowers and recreational painting.

According to Rev. Hazen's family, her use of the name Hazen was a tribute to her mother, Sarah Grace Hazen.

"She was a lover of classical and church music. She played the cello from the age of 9 and enjoyed this through adulthood," said her sister, Patricia Obert. "For several years she performed as part of the Staten Island Symphony."

"She took great interest in all people she met, and learned and remembered all the details about every one of them," said another sister, Helen van Laer. "Her love of people overflowed to animals."

Mrs. van Laer also said her sister traveled widely throughout Europe, making numerous study trips to Israel, where she became an expert in mosaics.

In addition to her sisters, Patricia and Helen, surviving is another sister, Mary Lee Fennel.

A mass will be held Friday at 1 p.m. in St. John's Episcopal Church, Hamlin, Pa. The Rev. Edward Erb, rector of St. John's Church, will officiate, assisted by the Rev. Leonard Buxton, pastor of Waymart Calvary Methodist Church. Interment will take place in Southern Shores, N.C.

The Rev. Dr. Annette Hazen, a former Wagner college professor and Grymes Hill resident who died Monday, was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1977. This information was incorrectly supplied for her obituary, which appeared yesterday.

Richard Kravitz, 62, was maintenance worker
May 5, 1999
Richard Kravitz, 62, of Mariners Harbor, a retired maintenance worker, died Monday in the Sisters of Charity Medical Center, St. Vincent's Campus. Born in Manhattan, Mr. Kravitz was brought to Travis as a child, and settled in Mariners Harbor in 1974. He was a maintenance worker for the former Virginia Barrel Co., Mariners Harbor, for 30 years, retiring when the facility closed in the early 1980s. Mr. Kravitz served in the Army from 1957-1962. He attended McKee High School. Surviving are his wife, the former Young (Connie) Ja; his mother, Gladys Vuotto; two brothers, Thomas and John; and a sister, Joan Siebold. Arrangements for a private funeral and cremation are being handled by the Meislohn-Silvie Funeral Home, Port Richmond.

Maryann Leonhardt, 57, retired city worker
May 5, 1999
Maryann Leonhardt, 57, a lifelong Concord resident and a retired administrative assistant, died yesterday in Doctors' Hospital. Miss Leonhardt began her 37-year career with the city as a secretary for what is now known as the Division of Real Estate Services. After many years with the inspector general's office of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Miss Leonhardt retired as an administrative assistant with the Division of Personnel in 1996. She was a graduate of New Dorp High School. Miss Leonhardt was a charter member of the Conference House Auxiliary, Tottenville, and gave open-hearth cooking demonstrations about once a month for 17 years at the Conference House. Miss Leonhardt volunteered as a driver with Meals on Wheels for seven years. She was also a life member of the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton and was a member of the Staten Island Botanical Garden located on the grounds of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Livingston. Miss Leonhardt sponsored several children with Children Inc., a Virginia-based agency serving needy children. An animal lover, Miss Leonhardt enjoyed gardening, making crafts and reading. She frequently won contests sponsored by the Advance, including "Word Search" and "The Way It Was." "She really enjoyed helping, people, the environment, animals. She couldn't do enough for everybody," said her sister, Rosemarie Leonhardt. The funeral is tomorrow from the Cassieri Island Funeral Home, Concord, with a mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Sylvester's R.C. Church, also Concord. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.

Margaret Gurkowski, 78, was factory worker
May 5, 1999
Margaret Gurkowski, 78, of Elm Park, a lifelong Staten Islander and a retired soap cake tester, died Monday in the Sisters of Charity Medical Center, St. Vincent's Campus. Born in Mariners Harbor, Ms. Gurkowski moved to Elm Park in the early 1970s. She worked in various divisions at the former Procter & Gamble plant in Port Ivory for 39 years, retiring in 1986 as a cake tester. Ms. Gurkowski attended Port Richmond High School. She enjoyed shopping, traveling and reading. Ms. Gurkowski was a parishioner of St. Adalbert's R.C. Church, Elm Park. The funeral will be tomorrow from the Meislohn-Silvie Funeral Home, Port Richmond, with a mass at 10:45 a.m. in St. Adalbert's Church. Burial will be in St. Peter's Cemetery, West Brighton.

Malcolm Hawkins, 56, National Guard sergeant
May 5, 1999
Malcolm Hawkins Jr., 56, of Elm Park, a security guard and a sergeant in the National Guard, died Sunday in the Brooklyn Veterans Administration Hospital of cancer. Born in Mobile, Ala., he moved to the Sandy Ground section of Rossville in 1948 and also lived in Tompkinsville and New Brighton before settling in Elm Park in 1995. He was a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Manhattan and Staten Island from 1965 to 1967. He was then a security guard for Historic Richmond Town for 10 years. Mr. Hawkins attended McKee High School and the former Staten Island Community College, now known as the College of Staten Island. He also attended police cadet school. He served as a private first class in the Army, stationed in Germany, and also served as a sergeant in the National Guard for 20 years, based in the Manor Road Armory, West Brighton. Mr. Hawkins enjoyed fishing, camping and going on picnics. Surviving are his wife, the former Frankie May Allison; a son, Michael; a daughter, Melanie Beebe; two stepsons, Leroy Johnson and Chris Taylor; two stepdaughters, Shakim Johnson and Monica Taylor; his mother, Katie L. Spellman; his stepfather, Dasie Elay; five brothers, Roy, Demetrica, Donald, Lawrence and Sydney Hawkins; three sisters, Tunglia Hawkins, Dolores H. Rabb and Lula H. Gaines; and eight grandchildren. The funeral will be Friday at 10 a.m. in the Scamardella Funeral Home, West Brighton. The Rev. Eli D. Smith, pastor of Shiloh A.M.E. Zion Church, West Brighton, will officiate. Cremation will be in the Rosehill Crematory, Linden, N.J.

Madeline Dahlstrom, 95, retired secretary
May 5, 1999
Madeline May Dahlstrom, 95, of Stapleton, a longtime Staten Island resident and a retired secretary, died April 27 in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze. Born Madeline Lawrence in Eastern Point, Conn., she grew up in Manhattan and moved to New Dorp in 1936 and to Oakwood in 1943. She settled in Stapleton in 1969. Mrs. Dahlstrom was a secretary with the Richmond County Gas Co., now Brooklyn Union, for two decades, retiring in 1970. Mrs. Dahlstrom enjoyed reading and traveling, and had visited Hawaii, England, Ireland and Italy. "She was a very astute, learned woman, who always looked on the positive side of things," said her son, Raymond. "She always looked on the good side of people and had a lot of good friends." In addition to her son, Raymond, Mrs. Dahlstrom is survived by another son, Kenneth; 14 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. The Virginia Funeral Home, Stapleton, handled the arrangements, which included cremation.

Louis Mandano, 70, owned fruit shop
May 5, 1999
Louis P. Mandano, 70, of Graniteville, a retired fruit shop owner, died yesterday at home. Born in Manhattan, he moved to Brooklyn in 1952 before settling in Graniteville in 1989. He shared ownership of Caruso's Fruit Exchange in Manhattan with his brothers for 50 years, retiring in 1994. Mr. Mandano enjoyed listening to music, especially that of Frank Sinatra. He was a parishioner of Our Lady of Pity R.C. Church, Bulls Head. Surviving are his wife, the former Sadie Ruggiero; three sons, Dominick, Neil and Michael; three sisters, Anna Tesoriere, Barbara Caruso and Cecelia Lopopolo; and five grandchildren. The funeral will be Friday from the Cassieri Island Funeral Home, Concord, with a mass at 9:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Pity Church. Burial will be in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.

Dr. Joseph French, 70, pediatric neurologist, professor
May 5, 1999
Dr. Joseph Henry French, 70, of West Orange, N.J., a pediatric neurologist, medical professor, researcher and former Staten Islander, died Thursday in St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, N.J. Born in Toledo, Ohio, he lived in St. George from about 1980 to 1992. He lived briefly in Nashville, Tenn., before settling in West Orange about five years ago. He also maintained a home in Oak Bluffs, Mass. Dr. French was known primarily for his pioneering research into the causes and effects of Menkes' disease, a chromosomal disorder linked to the absorption of copper. He also did groundbreaking work regarding the effect of lead in children, according to his son, John M. French. Dr. French published his research extensively in international medical journals and served on the board of many professional associations. He was co-editor of the International Reviews of Child Neurology. He served as the vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Interfaith Medical Center/ Meharry Medical College, Brooklyn, from 1988 to 1992. In 1992, he was presented with the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award by the hospital's residents and fellows. In addition, Dr. French received numerous honors and awards for his research and written work. From 1980 to 1986, Dr. French was deputy director for clinical services at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Willowbrook. From 1962 to 1979, Dr. French worked in the pediatric neurology department at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Bronx, rising from assistant professor to professor. He served as assistant dean of minority admissions from 1970 to 1979 and the co-director of the pediatric neurology fellowship training program at the hospital from 1964 to 1969 and director of the program from 1977 to 1979. Dr. French was the director of pediatric neurology at New York's Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center from 1964 to 1979. He was also director of the department of pediatrics at Norwalk (Conn.) Hospital from 1979 to 1980. He was affiliated with a host of other hospitals in the region, including the Sisters of Charity Medical Center, St. Vincent's Campus; Morrisania City Hospital, the Bronx; Jewish Memorial Hospital, Manhattan; Bronx Municipal Hospital Center; and Kings County Hospital Center. Dr. French served as a professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn from 1980 to 1992. He also held appointments as a visiting professor in Denmark; Lexington, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; Detroit, Mich.; and Rockefeller University, Manhattan, during his career. A 1950 Phi Beta Kappa graduate in physiologic chemistry from Ohio State University, Dr. French received a medical degree cum laude in 1954, and was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honors society. He completed his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital in 1955 and served as a pediatric resident at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, from 1955 to 1958. Dr. French was a pediatric and research fellow in neurologic medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine, Baltimore, from 1958 until 1962. His life also included social activism. He treated the ill and injured who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along the road to Selma, Ala., and traveled to South Africa after the dismantling of apartheid to train physicians and health care workers. He was a member of the Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest African-American fraternity. "He encouraged this generation to do the best they could for the next in his work and in his life," said his son John. "He was dedicated to helping children." Dr. French was a member of the National Institutes of Health's Consensus Development Program, which analyzes controversial issues in medicine and evaluates scientific investigations of state-of-the-art biomedical technology and clinical treatment. In addition to his son, John, he is survived by another son, Joseph M.; two daughters, Lenore K. and Lisa K. French; a brother, Dr. David M. French; and three grandchildren. A memorial service was held yesterday in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Livingston, N.J. Martin's Home for Service, Inc., Montclair, N.J., handled the arrangements.

Colleen Stafford, 37, was executive secretary
May 5, 1999
Colleen Stafford, 37, of Alameda, Calif., a native Staten Islander and an executive secretary, died April 20 at home. Born in Stapleton, Ms. Stafford also lived in Elm Park and Dallas, Texas, before settling in Alameda in 1988. She worked as an executive secretary for several firms, including Price Waterhouse, in Dallas and Alameda. A sports enthusiast, Ms. Stafford enjoyed skydiving, sailing and skiing. She also enjoyed working as a volunteer for various organizations. Surviving are her mother, Connie Stafford; a brother, Brian; and two sisters, Gail Stafford-Sullivan and Karen Stafford-Rouillard. Arrangements for a private funeral and cremation were handled by the Neptune Society of Santa Rosa, Calif.

Anne McGinley, 95, was government worker
May 5, 1999
Anne R. McGinley, 95, of Toms River, N.J., a native Staten Islander and a retired government worker, died Monday in Community Medical Center, Toms River. Born in Stapleton, Miss McGinley moved to Toms River in 1982. She was a graduate of St. Peter's Girls High School. Miss McGinley worked for 36 years for the Internal Revenue Service in Brooklyn, retiring as a supervisor in 1962. She enjoyed reading and travel. A former parishioner of Immaculate Conception R.C. Church, Stapleton, Miss McGinley attended St. Maximilian Kolbe R.C. Church, Toms River. "Family life was very important to her," said her niece, Clare Ann Goold, who lived with Miss McGinley. She is survived by her sister, Virginia Lawless. The funeral will be Friday from the Harmon Home for Funerals, West Brighton, with a mass at 11 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church. Burial will be in St. Peter's Cemetery, West Brighton.

Thomas Holmes, 67, was a cook and baker
May 6, 1999
Thomas Lee Holmes Sr., 67, of New Brighton, a retired cook and baker, died Tuesday in the Golden Gate Health Care Center, Meiers Corners. Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Holmes also lived in Manhattan before moving to Mariners Harbor in 1957. He also lived in West Brighton for two years before moving to New Brighton in 1998. Mr. Holmes worked as a cook and baker in Bird S. Coler Memorial Hospital, Manhattan; Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home; and Gouverneur Hospital, Manhattan, retiring in 1991. He was a graduate of the Food Trade School, Manhattan. Mr. Holmes served in the Army during the Korean War. He enjoyed reading and was a parishioner of Summerfield United Methodist Church, Mariners Harbor. Surviving are his wife, the former Georgia Burrell; four sons, Eric, Clayton, David and James; four daughters, Jacqueleen Douglas, Cheryl Holmes, Brenda Howerton and Violet Cabrera; a sister, Gwendolyn Joseph; 17 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. The funeral will be Monday at 10 a.m. in the Savannah Chapels, Elm Park. Burial will follow in Calverton National Cemetery, Farmingdale, L.I.

Terence Benbow, 69, attorney, law school dean fought for Island causes
May 6, 1999
Former Todt Hill resident Terence H. Benbow, 69, an attorney whose environmental, civic and cultural accomplishments on Staten Island spanned three decades, died Tuesday at his home in Fairfield, Conn. The cause was an apparent heart attack, his family said. Mr. Benbow ardently fought with others to save the 3,000-acre Greenbelt from bulldozers that were scheduled to make way for a portion of the Richmond Parkway during the mid-1960s. He was also active in preserving Snug Harbor as it was about to be sold to developers during the mid-1970s.

Terence Benbow
"It's a tremendous loss to all of his friends, to the environmental community and to those who want to leave a better world after us," said environmentalist Richard Buegler, president of the Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, which Mr. Benbow served as counsel.
"I have never known a more active or effective community organizer," said Bulls Head attorney and retired state Family Court Judge Holt Meyer. "Without his efforts, these important spaces would probably not have been saved for us." Meyer was former Mayor John Lindsay's developmental director on Staten Island when Mr. Benbow began fighting for the landmark preservation of Snug Harbor.
"He was a man of strong convictions and an outstanding community activist," said Borough President Guy V. Molinari. "We differed politically and philosophically, but I always had a great deal of respect for him."
"I had great admiration for his tenacity and determination" to accomplish what needed to be done for Staten Island," said Assemblywoman Elizabeth Connelly. Assemblyman Eric Vitaliano called Mr. Benbow one of "the finest lawyers ever to practice from Staten Island."
"He was a very intelligent, independent individual and had a very outgoing personality," recalled Councilman Jerome X. O'Donovan.
"Terry's legal wisdom helped those of us in the front lines with him hold off the Richmond Parkway and prevent it from destroying that marvelous resource on top of the ridge," said former Shore Acres resident John Mitchell, environmental editor with the National Geographic.
"Back in the '60s, a lot of people didn't believe in the Staten Island Greenbelt, but he was a key player in making people aware" of its importance, Mitchell told the Advance.
Born in Wyandotte, Mich., Mr. Benbow moved to Clifton in 1956, to Todt Hill in 1961 and to Fairfield in 1986.
"It will be difficult to move on, but I will retain the strong feeling I have for Staten Island and the friends I have here," Mr. Benbow told the Advance as he was about to embark on his then-new academic law career.
Mr. Benbow was dean emeritus and professor of law at Quinnipiac College School of Law, Hamden, Conn., since 1993, and served for a year and a half prior to that as a dean and professor of law at the Bridgeport School of Law at Quinnipiac. He was a dean and professor of law at the University of Bridgeport School of Law from 1986 to 1992.
When the law school at Bridgeport was in danger of losing its accreditation, "Terry Benbow was the man who took on politicians, educators and businessmen to ensure the successful transition of the law school to Quinnipiac," said John Lahey, president of Quinnipiac College. "Dean Benbow was a brilliant lawyer and litigator," he said, adding that a bronze bust honoring Mr. Benbow and his achievements stands at the school.
Mr. Benbow was a partner with the Manhattan law firm of Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts from 1956 to 1986, specializing in antitrust litigation.
Mr. Benbow graduated from the Yale University School of Law, New Haven, Conn., in 1956. A Fulbright scholar, he studied in Belgium from 1951 to 1953 at the University of Brussels and University of Louvain, International Law. He received a bachelor's degree with honors in politics, ethics and Russian history from the University of Michigan.
In the 30 years prior to his move to Fairfield, Mr. Benbow was a tireless fighter for numerous Staten Island and citywide causes. He served as chairman and member of the New York Landmarks Conservancy; past president and chairman of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences; past president of the Staten Island Citizens Planning Committee; the Parks Council; the Citizens Union; and the Public Education Association.
A New York co-chairman of the Gateway Citizens Committee, he lobbied federal officials to include South Beach, Midland Beach and Fort Wadsworth in the Gateway National Recreation Area, in which he continued to maintain membership even after his move to Fairfield.
"It's a great, great loss," said former Livingston resident Robert Hagenhofer of Flemington, N.J., who worked with Mr. Benbow on the Greenbelt and Snug Harbor preservation issues. "We fought big battles together trying to create orderly development" after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was built.
"He was a man of boundless energy, extremely talented, very bright," said retired Judge Royal S. Radin.
"Terry was an incredibly effective and forceful leader," said environmentalist George O. Pratt.
"He helped formulate the concept of the Greenbelt Stewardship Council, which continues to this day," added his wife, Ellen O'Flaherty Pratt.
In 1984, Mr. Benbow was a candidate for Congress in the Democratic primary. He also co-chaired the Staten Island effort for the presidential election of John F. Kennedy.
Robert Gigante, chairman of the Democratic County Committee, said, "I remember him as a staunch activist and environmentalist who very much participated in the hot-button issues on Staten Island."
Mr. Benbow was a past president and member of the Unitarian Church, New Brighton.
"My father represented a rare combination of tenacity, intelligence, compassion and community spirit that benefited not only Staten Island, but every endeavor he undertook throughout his life," said his son, Christopher.
In addition to his son, Christopher, Mr. Benbow is survived by his wife of 47 years, the former Gloria G. Moore, a 1975 Advance Woman of Achievement; another son, Jonathan P.; a daughter, Shawn Elizabeth Benbow; and a brother, Alan.
Arrangements for a memorial service at Quinnipiac College School of Law are pending. Mr. Benbow has willed his body to the Yale Medical School. The Shaughnessey Funeral Home, Fairfield, is handling the arrangements.


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