Obituaries from Newsday

Eugenie "Genie" Van Drooge Kissinger, of Huntington Bay, began her public service more than four decades ago cooking and making sandwiches for United Way participants.

Clyde Snow, a forensic anthropologist who worked on cases ranging from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to mass graves in Argentina, has died. He was 86.

Francis Purcell, the affable former Nassau County executive who, for more than a decade, was the face of the county's Republican Party, died of natural causes Sunday in Florida. He was 95.

Jerry Vale, a crooner of the 1950s and '60s who remained beloved among fans for his swelling renditions of romantic ballads, many of them Italian in language but universal in theme, died May 18 at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 83.

Arthur Gelb, a veteran editor whose news sense, arts sensibility and journalistic vigor sculpted The New York Times for decades, has died. He was 90.

Sam Greenlee, a onetime Foreign Service officer whose 1969 novel and a subsequent film, both called "The Spook Who Sat by the Door," became underground sensations during the black nationalist movement, died Monday at his home in Chicago. He was 83.

Former Nassau County Executive Francis Purcell, who died Sunday in Florida at the age of 95, was remembered at a funeral Mass in Malverne Thursday as a plain-spoken public servant, a skilled athlete, a dedicated World War II Army veteran and a devoted husband and father.

Jerry Shore, who co-founded Park Electrochemical Corp. and developed a second career as a sculptor, died Monday, the Melville company announced. He was 88.

A procession of 80 cars and two buses -- something not seen in a Chinatown funeral since the 1994 death of tong boss Benny Ong -- took Sister Ping, one of the city's most notorious human smugglers, to her grave in upstate New York yesterday.

David Bening, a former superintendent of Long Island's historic Sagtikos Manor who excelled at pranks, landscaping and making all manner of friends, died on March 11. He was 61.

Joe Aitcheson Jr., who became one of America's most heralded and successful steeplechase riders, a record he liked to say was matched only by the number of broken bones and lacerations he sustained, died Saturday at a hospice in Westminster, Maryland. He was 85.

Gerald Edelman, a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in 1972 who later joined the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and wrote books and numerous articles about the brain, the nervous system and consciousness that amazed and sometimes annoyed his scientific colleagues, has died. He was 84.

Barbara Huberman was working as a nurse in the late 1970s at a maternity home in Charlotte, North Carolina when she was asked to assist with the delivery of a 10-year-old girl's baby.

Retired radio DJ Dave Herman, one of the most evocative voices on New York airwaves in the early days of FM's ascendancy, died Thursday morning while in federal custody in New Jersey on pedophile charges to which he pleaded not guilty. He was 78 years old.

Annie Mae Vance, one of the earliest Nassau County sheriff woman correction officers, died May 21 at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside.

Oscar Dystel, a leader of the paperbacks market who transformed Bantam Books into a prolific powerhouse that released bestselling editions of "The Catcher in the Rye," "Jaws," "Ragtime" and many others, died Wednesday at age 101.

Ricky Grigg, a former top-ranked big-wave surfer and oceanographer whose work confirmed one of Charles Darwin's theories about the origin of tropical islands, has died. He was 77.

Theodore S. Grant, a Long Island minister who opened the doors of his church to the homeless and started a soup kitchen for the hungry, has died. He was 86.

Dr. Paul E. Kalish, a respected pathologist and former medical director of laboratories at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Systems, has died of skin cancer. He was 83.

LOS ANGELES -- David Weiss was a world-renowned oboist who spent 30 years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. But that's not what got him featured appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and "Prairie Home Companion."

Henry Kissinger sister-in-law Eugenie 'Genie' Van Drooge Kissinger, 81, led LI United Way, dies

Clyde Snow, forensic anthropologist, dies at 86

Francis Purcell, former Nassau County executive, dead at 95

Crooner Jerry Vale dies at 83

Arthur Gelb, former New York Times managing editor, has died

Novelist Sam Greenlee, wrote 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door,' dies

Francis Purcell, ex-Nassau County exec, remembered at funeral

Jerry Shore, co-founder of Park Electrochemical, dies

Notorious smuggler Sister Ping mourned in Chinatown

David Bening, former Sagtikos Manor superintendent, dies

Steeplechase rider Joe Aitcheson Jr. dies

Gerald Edelman, Nobel Prize winner in 1972, dies

Barbara Huberman, pioneer of programs to prevent teen pregnancy, dies

Dave Herman, 78, former radio DJ charged as a pedophile, dies in federal custody

Annie Mae Vance, Nassau correction officer, dies at 72

Oscar Dystel, paperbacks pioneer, dies at 101

Ricky Grigg, big-wave surfer and oceanographer, dies at 77

Long Island minister Theodore S. Grant dies

Dr. Paul E. Kalish dead at 83; ex-director of labs at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System

David Weiss, oboist who mastered musical saw, dies at 67