Robert Fahey
Robert Joseph Fahey of Rye died peacefully on April 20, after a short illness. He was 81.
He was born in Belmont, Massachusetts on January 31, 1932, the fifth of six children, to Michael Patrick Fahey and Dorothy Sughrue Fahey.
After graduating from Belmont High School, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1953, and Harvard’s Advanced Management Program.
He married Mary Elizabeth Brine in 1957 in Newton, Massachusetts, settling shortly afterwards in Belmont, where they had five children.
Mr. Fahey served two years as an intelligence officer in the U. S. Air Force before beginning his career at Arthur D. Little and Company, working with a diverse group of clients, including Spanish Rail, Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Eastern Airlines, the National Football League Players Union, the Society of Jesuits, Exxon, General Motors Company, and the U.S. Congress. He published two books, “Congress Needs Help” in 1966, a study of Congressional reform originally prepared for television broadcast by David Brinkley and the National Broadcasting Company, and “Computer Science and Management Dynamics” in 1969.
In 1978, he accepted a position with The Penn Central Corporation and moved his family from Belmont to Rye, New York. Later, he worked for Sea-Land Corporation, before becoming President and Chairman of the Board of Stuart-Dean Company.
For a number of years, Bob, as he was known, vacationed on Prouts Neck, Maine, exploring Maine’s coastal cruising areas in his Tartan 30. Shortly after moving to Rye, he joined American Yacht Club, where he continued to engage in his love of sailing with his catboat Magnanimity, becoming familiar with the waters of Long Island Sound.
As a lifelong Roman Catholic, Mr. Fahey devoted a considerable amount of his time to seminary renewal, both at Mundelien College in Chicago, in long-term planning for the ordinary of the archdiocese there, and at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he served as chairman of the board of trustees. He had also been a trustee of the Boston Theological Institute, an ecumenical consortium of schools including St. John’s, Weston Jesuit, Episcopal School of Divinity, the Divinity School of Harvard University, Andover-Newton Theological School, Boston College Department of Theology, and others.
In 1993, Mr. Fahey was inducted into the Knights of Malta. He made several pilgrimages to Lourdes to assist the malades.
He was predeceased by his older sister, Barbara Kelley, and his older brothers, Laurie, Don, and Dick.
He is mourned by his beloved wife of 55 years, Mary Elizabeth Brine Fahey, as well as his children: Michelle Fahey Ganon and her husband Bill of La Jolla, California, Christopher Robert Fahey and his wife Marybeth of Wyckoff, New Jersey, Timothy William Fahey and his wife Eileen of Guilford, Connecticut, Matthew Brine Fahey and his wife Missie of Rye, New York, and Constance Fahey Dingle and her husband Christopher of Toronto, Canada. He is also survived by his sister, Elizabeth Cahill of Belmont, and a dozen grandchildren – Meredith, Carolyn and Robert Benjamin Ganon; Michael and Brendan Fahey; George Fahey; Quinn, Peter, and Harry Fahey; and Cordelia, Conrad, and Charles Dingle.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held at Church of the Resurrection on April 24.
Donations in Mr. Fahey’s memory may be made to the American Diabetes Association (www.donations.diabetes.org).
Naomi Fortune
Naomi Fortune passed away in her sleep on April 24, at The Osborn in Rye, where she had lived the last 12 years. She was 95.
Sis, as she was known, was born in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., on February 17, 1918. She graduated from The Emma Willard School and Connecticut College.
She married Pratt Boice Esser, who went on to become a New York State Assemblyman. They lived in Bronxville and raised their children in Hartsdale. After his death, she married Edmund Buryan and moved to Scarsdale. After Mr. Buryan died, she married Phillip Fortune, who predeceased her, as did her daughter, Carolyn Esser.
A sports lover, Mrs. Fortune belonged to Shenorock Shore Club and the Scarsdale Golf Club. She was also an active member of the Scarsdale Women’s Club, where she enjoyed playing bridge.
Mrs. Fortune is survived by her son, Richard Esser and his wife Julia and their three children, Lauren, Henry, and Megan, as well as her daughter Carolyn’s two children, Christina Wilson and Jennifer Wilson-Loving. She also has two great-grandchildren, Austin and Aleah.
Funeral services were held at The Osborn Chapel on May 1. The Reverend Canon Susan Harris, the Rector of Christ’s Church, officiated.
Memorial donations may be sent to Christ’s Church, Rectory Street, Rye, N.Y. 10580.
Lois Gordon
Lois (Loie) Gordon of Kaycee, Wyoming, passed away April 19 at the Johnson County Health Care Center in Buffalo, Wyoming. She was 89.
Born in New York City on January 13, 1924, to John and Gwendolen Shethar, she grew up in Rye.
Loie, as she was called, was a competitive athlete throughout her life. She played tennis in the National Clay Court Championships against Althea Gibson and served as a winning crewmember in several successful North American sailing championships. She also rode in top-level horse shows, including Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After graduating from Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, she felt called to duty, and, in 1944, enlisted in the United States Navy Waves. After training, she was stationed at the Sand Point Naval Air Station in Washington. She received her honorable discharge from the Waves in 1946 and proudly carried her discharge card for years.
She worked for the fledgling United Nations until her 1948 marriage to Spencer M. Smith and subsequent move to Oregon. Several moves later, and with her two children, she was back on the East Coast, where she was active in the Episcopal Church, Junior League, and Rye Historical Society.
In 1998, she married Crawford (Crow) Gordon and resided ever since at the Gordon Ranch near Kaycee, where she grew to love the life, the land, and, particularly the people.
She leaves behind a legacy of love, respect, and an active life lived with dignity.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her son, Spencer Smith and his wife Pamela of Seattle, her daughter, Pam Jackson of Tucson, three grandsons, and her husband’s children and their families.
A funeral service was held April 26 in Kaycee. Mrs. Gordon will be buried in the Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye.
Donations in Mrs. Gordon’s memory may be made to the Hoof Prints of the Past Museum or the Kaycee Library.
Denis Woodfield
Denis Buchanan Woodfield of Princeton, New Jersey, died on April 17, due to pancreatic cancer. He was 79.
Born in New York City in 1933, he grew up in Vermont and Maine, and spent his formative years in Switzerland, where he attended The College de Vevey. He graduated from Harvard University, class of 1954, at the age of 20.
He deferred his acceptance to Lincoln College, Oxford University, to serve in the U.S. military, attending the Army Language School in Monterey, California, to learn Russian. Upon completion, he was sent to the 513th Military Intelligence in Germany, where he worked as Chief U.S. Army Interpreter, Armed Forces Central Europe for three years, frequently being a simultaneous translator at NATO meetings. Returning to civilian life, Mr. Woodfield took up his position at Oxford University, attaining his Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English bibliography.
Married in London, England, in 1963, he and his wife Rosemary (Humphries) moved to Rye. At the time, Mr. Woodfield worked for Chase Manhattan Bank. Three years later, he went to work for General Electric, followed by six years with Pan American World Airways as Director of Cash and Banking.
While in Rye, the Woodfields were members of American Yacht Club.
Moving to New Jersey, Mr. Woodfield joined Johnson & Johnson, where he spent the next 20 years in various financial functions, including as Assistant Treasurer for Cash and Banking. Following his retirement, at age 60, he became executive director of the Puerto Rican Industries and Services Association in New York City.
Throughout his life, he kept up his academic interests. He published four books, and for many years was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the British Schools and Universities Foundation. One of his proudest accomplishments was being elected an Honorary Fellow of Lincoln College, in 2012. He was a member of the Harvard Club, and many patriotic societies, including the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of New Jersey, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Mayflower Society, and the Hereditary Order of Descendants of Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution.
In addition to his wife of 50 years, Rosemary, Mr. Woodfield leaves behind their three children, Katherine Woodfield Hermes, Nicholas Wyckoff Woodfield, and Elizabeth Dudley Woodfield (Carlucci), and seven grandchildren. He was the older brother of the late Anthony Wyckoff Woodfield, and is survived by his sister, Rosamond (Roz) Larr, and his stepfather, Irving Charles Herrmann, both of Rye.
Donations in Mr. Woodfield’s memory may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Gino Zambano
Gino M. Zambano, of Rye, passed away on April 16. He was 89.
Born on May 9, 1923 in New York City, to Amadeo and Ludovina Pellarin Zambano, he was raised in the Bronx.
During World War II, he served in the Pacific. He was a member of Local 780 and was employed for 40 years as a masonry foreman for Corbetta Construction Company, where he worked on many large projects, among the most notable: Pan Am hanger at JFK, Dulles International Airport, Union Carbide in Danbury, and the North River Treatment Plant in Manhattan.
Mr. Zambano was a member of the Famee Furlane Club of North America in New York City. He enjoyed gardening, fishing, cars, biking, skating, and running, and had a great love for animals. Most of all, he cherished spending time with his grandchildren. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend.
He is survived by his wife Elsa (nee Fabbro) of 62 years; and three daughters: Laura Greechan, Norma Salese, and Gina Tompkins. He was predeceased by two sisters, Ida DiPol and Elsie Fabbro, and his son-in-law Thomas K. Salese. He was a devoted grandfather to Marisa, Jessica, David, Dana, Elizabeth, Robert, and Catherine, and father-in-law to Hugh Greechan and Robert Tompkins.
The family will receive friends at Graham Funeral Home on April 21 from 3-7 p.m. A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated April 22 at the Church of the Resurrection at 10 a.m. Internment to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
