Shelter Island Reporter obituatry: Julia Sturges O’Connor

Julia Sturges O’Connor, 90, of Bronxville, New York and Shelter Island died peacefully in hospice care at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville on April 12, 2016.

Predeceased by her husband of nearly 65 years, Robert Hartley O’Connor, Julie, as she was also known, is survived by her sister Cary S. Burns of Rye, New York; her former sister-in-law, Joan S. Russo of Canaan, Connecticut and Shelter Island; children Sandra D. O’Connor (Edwin Hydeman) of New York and Shelter Island, Russell H. O’Connor of Cody, Wyoming, and Linda Casertano (Drew) of Millbrook, New York and Weekapaug, Rhode Island; and grandsons Alexander Casertano (Renee) of Larkspur, California, Tyler Casertano (Annie) and their son McCauley Casertano of Washington, D.C., and William Casertano of New York. Her brother Perry MacKay Sturges Jr. predeceased her.

A daughter of avid sailors, Perry MacKay Sturges and Julia Green Sturges, who met on the Island, Julie grew up in Princeton, New Jersey.

She attended Miss Fine’s School and Milton Academy and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1948. She met Bob on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend of their fathers. They were married in 1950. While raising their children in Newington, Connecticut, in Loudonville, New York and on Shelter Island, Julie volunteered for countless organizations. An avid needleworker, gardener, tennis and paddle tennis player, golf was her passion.

A resident of Bronxville for 41 years, Julie was a member of the Bronxville Field Club and Christ Church, Bronxville, where she served on the altar guild for 40 years. A summer resident of the Island since 1961, she was a member of Gardiner’s Bay Country Club, where she was a staunch supporter of women’s golf for over 40 years. She made her fourth of four life-time holes in one at age 75 in a Gardiner’s Bay Country Club Pro-Am tournament that her team won.

She was also a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on the Island and the Garden Club of Shelter Island, of which her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Thomas D. Green, was a founding member. She was a former member of the Shelter Island Yacht Club.

Julie spent childhood summers at the Sturges home on Nostrand Parkway, which had been in her family since 1903. Her maternal grandparents, Thomas D. and Julia D. Green, also had a summer home on the Island — on Divinity Hill. She and Bob and their children visited family on the Island throughout the 1950s. Julie became the new owner of the Sturges home in 1960.

They joined the Shelter Island Yacht Club and rebuilt the Sturges clay tennis court, which would be the scene of hours of friendly, competitive mixed doubles, men’s doubles, ladies doubles and family tennis through the years. Julie crewed for Bob in their Wood Pussy and in their Lightning in the Yacht Club’s one design series and in his Princess class 27 foot sloop.

Last summer Julie’s beloved Island was just the place for her to continue her recovery from abdominal surgery. She played golf with her devoted friend Connie Fischer, among others, attended Bucks games, Perlman Music Program performances, Garden Club meetings and St. Mary’s services and visited with family and friends on her front porch with its views of Southold Bay.

The funeral will be held at Christ Church, Bronxville, on Saturday, April 30, at 1 p.m. with a reception immediately following the service. A private interment will take place this summer in St. Joseph’s Memorial Garden at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to New York-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital, Development Dept., 55 Palmer Avenue PH4, Bronxville, NY 10708; Christ Church, 17 Sagamore Road, Bronxville, NY 10708; or St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, P.O. 1660, Shelter Island, NY 11964.