Shelter Island Reporter obituary: Bliss Morehead-Zisser
Bliss Morehead-Zisser (nee Rehm), passed away peacefully at her home with her family on July 20, 2020 after battling illness. She was 80 years old.
Born in 1940 in Deal, N.J., Bliss attended Asbury Park High School before going on to earn a BA in English at Barnard College in New York City.
After college she landed a job writing at Mademoiselle magazine before gravitating to advertising and working for Young & Rubicam, where she met her first husband, Gould Morehead, with whom she had two children.
Towards the end of that marriage, Bliss went to work for the advertising firm Beaumont-Bennett, where she met Mike Zisser, who would become her second husband in 1981.
A year before they married, then fiancé Mike coaxed her onto a ferry to Shelter Island, where like so many — after a little adjusting — the two were hooked.
After years of part time status, Bliss and Mike sold their stakes in the advertising business and retired to live at their Shelter Island home full time in the early 1990s.
The two dabbled in what was then an emerging craft beer market, creating the Old Peconic Brewing Company and its Hampton Ale.
But ultimately, Bliss decided to pursue her interest in the arts, earning an MFA in poetry at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and writing and publishing work in various literary journals.
Bliss was active in promoting literacy on Shelter Island, volunteering with the 2Rs4Fun and founding the Shelter Island Poetry Project.
Bliss is predeceased by her sister Catherine Trimingham of Hamilton, Bermuda and first husband Gould Morehead of Sea Bright, N. J. She is survived by her loving partner and husband of 31 years Mike Zisser of Shelter Island; daughter Joanna Morehead of San Diego, Calif; son Nicholas Morehead of Shelter Island; and grandchildren Cayman Clark Morehead and Larkin Bliss Morehead of Shelter Island.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, 124 Daniels Hole Rd, East Hampton, N.Y. 11937.
No immediate plans for services have been made at this time.
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