Shelter Island Reporter obituaries: Duo, Hall, Madden, Schneider
Patricia Duo
Patricia (Dunne) Duo, a long-time resident of Shelter Island, died on June 16, 2016. She was 90.
Pat was born and raised in New York City and worked for Allegheny Airlines at LaGuardia Airport for nine years. She retired on Shelter Island with her husband and son.
Pat is survived by her son, John (Jack) Duo; her nieces Gale Elrod of Cleveland, Georgia, Laura Travis of Washington, DC, Jody Davison of Buford, Georgia; and a nephew, Jamie Davison of Conyers, Georgia.
She was predeceased by her husband, J. Edward Duo, and sister, Joan (Dunne) Davison.
A memorial service was held on June 19, 2016 at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.
After retiring from Allegheny Airlines, Pat volunteered for 22 years at Eastern Long Island Hospital (ELIH). She was instrumental in establishing and maintaining the hospital gift shop. She was the recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Award in 2004 to honor her outstanding volunteerism and her steadfast commitment to her community hospital.
In addition, she received the ELIH Auxiliary Lifetime of Service Award in 2006 from then New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle. At that time she held the record in volunteer hours of over 12,000 hours.
Donald R. Hall
Donald R. Hall recently of Cape Coral, Florida, but a longtime resident of Shelter Island, passed away on June 10, 2016.
Born January 21, 1927 in Brooklyn, Donald was the son of Winfred and Nellie G. Hall. He graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in 1944. After graduation he talked his parents into letting him enlist in the Navy and served with great pride on the USS Chevalier as a radar man third class.
During his time in the Navy, Donald received the American Theatre Medal, Victory Medal and the Asiatic Pacific Medal 1 star. He continued a lifelong connection with his navy buddies, traveling all over the United States attending Chevalier reunions for many years.
After the Navy, he began a 38-year career at UNICEF, starting as a stock boy and working his way up to chief of budget for the organization. After he retired in 1982, he continued with UNICEF on a consulting basis for another 10 years.
In May of 1983, Donald married Audrey Brown. Donald shared his love of boating and fishing with Audrey and her parents. In October of 1983 they traveled down the Intracoastal Waterway to Fort Myers, Florida on his 28-foot powerboat. They left the boat in Florida, due to consulting work which took the couple to Rome, where they met the Pope. The Halls then purchased a condo in Fort Myers, spending half their time on Shelter Island and half in Florida.
In 2013 they sold their house on the Island and moved full-time to Cape Coral, Florida.
Donald is survived by Audrey; three step children, Susan Dickerson (David) of Waterford, Connecticut, Robert P. Brown (Kathleen) of Salem, New Hampshire, Edward R. Brown (Cheryl) of Shelter Island; a brother, Kenneth Hall (Frances) of Levittown; seven grandchildren; eight great grandchildren and eight nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and two brothers, James and Charles.
On Saturday, June 25, a Mass was be celebrated at Our Lady of the Isle Church with the burial following.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the UNICEF Children’s Fund, 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038, or American Legion Post 281 of Shelter Island, 281 School Street, Shelter Island, NY 11964.
Mai Madden
Mai Madden passed away peacefully at home in Yonkers on June 10. She was 100 years old.
She was born Mary T. Lally on Christmas Day, 1915, in the family apartment at 48th Street and Broadway in New York City and grew up in that neighborhood, where her parish priest was Father Francis P. Duffy, famous as the chaplain of the “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment during World War I.
Mai married Edward P. “Ted” Madden on June 10, 1939 and first came to Shelter Island on their honeymoon. They stayed at Oxford Hall for their first visit and returned many times, later staying at Mrs. Gerapy’s rooming house in the Heights. They made many great friends and were encouraged to rent the house next door by Heights residents and close friends, Helene and Joe Mack. They purchased this house in 1946 and settled in a neighborhood where every single neighbor was a cherished friend.
Mai and Ted’s favorite stories involved impromptu parties at May Nevel’s, dancing to Stanley Surozenski’s accordion, sing-songs that might include the harmony singing of the Bauman twins and the sound of Benny Spataza’s saxophone drifting through the barbershop windows on summer afternoons.
In the early 1960s, Mai lost her vision to cataracts for a couple of years and she truly discovered what a special place the Island is. Ted could work in New York while Mai would come to the Island for the summer, knowing that Emil Johnson and Connie McGahey would keep the heat and water working, Doctor Curry would keep all healthy, the Dawsons would deliver groceries and their neighbors stood ready to help in any way possible. Surgery eventually restored her vision. Her appreciation for the special people of the Island never dimmed. It was not possible to have better neighbors.
Mai and Ted had three children, 10 grandchildren and so far, 24 great grandchildren. Louis Cicero has cut five generations of Madden family hair. Mr. Wroble taught two generations how to swim and his granddaughter taught a third. If you ask any of the family where the family homestead is, they would say, “Shelter Island”.
Although Mai celebrated her 100th birthday in her winter home in Yonkers, we know she will delight in being remembered by the children and grandchildren of her many friends on Shelter Island.
Alice Louise Schneider
Alice Louise Schneider, of Southampton and Shelter Island, died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 7, 2016 after a brief illness. She was 87.
Born in Astoria, Queens, on September 1, 1928, she was the sixth of seven children of Frederick Schneider and the former Elsa Kruger. Her parents were descendants of the founding families of Lindenhurst.
Alice attended P.S. 70 in Astoria until 1937, when her family moved to Jamaica Estates, and then graduated from Jamaica High and Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.
Alice enjoyed a career of over 30 years working for Standard Oil (later Exxon) as an administrator in its Manhattan headquarters, first in shareholder relations, then in the law department and in public affairs.
An enthusiastic world traveler, she became the first woman to be sent on foreign assignment for the firm when she helped to relocate the Esso East division to Hong Kong.
In 1983 she opted for early retirement and moved with three of her siblings to the East End, changing to a lifestyle with more emphasis on the outdoors. She enjoyed biking, walking, golf and canoeing, and tried to swim as many days as possible from late May until early October.
An avid volunteer and community activist, Alice was a member of the Women’s Republican Club and the Southampton Study Club. She volunteered for the American Cancer Society, assisted in the founding of the Southampton Artists Association, and served on the board of the Combined Veterans Organizations, helping to raise funds for the Fourth of July parade.
As Crescent Beach became more thronged with visitors each year, Alice and her brother Hank worked to ensure that residents would have 24/7 parking spaces. Ms. Schneider attended the Hamptons United Methodist Church in Southampton and was a trustee of the Union Chapel in the Grove on the Island.
In addition to her community activities, she was the main caregiver for four of her siblings in their final years.
Alice was preceded in death by three brothers, Fred, Hank and Ralph; and three sisters, Helen, Mildred, and Ruth. She is survived by three nieces, Jean Curcuru and husband Anthony, and Janet Young and husband Tony Hilliard, and Diane Young, all of Massachusetts; a great-nephew, Gregory Moses and his children Savanna and Tariq; a great-niece, Stephanie Blanchard, husband Joe, and daughter Adelina, all of Massachusetts; and several cousins.
Memorial donations may be made to Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Road, Southampton, NY 11968.
