Obituaries
Posted: August 26, 2005
Death Notice
Andrew Clark Demyen
Andrew Clark Demyen, of Coles Point, Va., died peacefully at home
among family and friends, August 23, as the result of pancreatic
cancer. He was 59.
Mr. Demyen ran the sailing school at Vineyard Haven Yacht Club.
He shared his love of boating and of life while running charters
out of Martha's Vineyard, Annapolis, Md., and Florida.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 27, at 11 am at
Coles Point United Methodist Church, officiated by Pastor Chris
Andress, followed by a gathering in the church social hall. For
more information, call 508-696-5220. A full obituary will appear
in next week's TImes.
August 25, 2005
Michael B. Mathiesen
Michael Barrie Mathiesen, a former Vineyard resident, died August
1 at his home in Yardley, Pa. Mr. Mathiesen was 52.
A self-taught photographer and graphic artist, Mr. Mathiesen made
significant contributions to the development of interactive television
and TV viewer navigation technology while affiliated with WorldGate
Communications between 1997 and 2002.
Michael Mathiesen and his twin brother were born to George H. and
Catherine (Ryan) Mathiesen in San Francisco, Calif., on April 12,
1953. The twins joined two sisters. Two brothers followed later. When
he was eight, the family moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Mr. Mathiesen spent
his teen years in Bedford Hills, N.Y. where, in 1971, he graduated
from Fox Lane High School.
That same year, the family left New York for Martha’s Vineyard
where his parents founded the first bonded winery in Massachusetts.
Mr. Mathiesen attended Boston University and assisted with the operation
of the family winery while in Massachusetts.
During his years in Boston, Mr. Mathiesen worked in a photography
studio and embraced a life-long avocation in the photographic arts.
It was then that he also met Dana Ainsworth, of Chappaqua, N.Y. They
married in a private ceremony in Chappaqua, on Thanksgiving Day, 1978,
and began their life together on the Vineyard. While on the Vineyard,
they also began to show and breed their much beloved Norwich Terriers.
In the 1980s the couple moved to the Philadelphia area and forged
careers in the broadband telecommunications industry. Mr. Mathiesen
continued to employ his photographic skills and developed an early
interest in digital graphics and photography, which led to his successes
in interactive technology.
Ms. Ainsworth and Mr. Mathiesen joined WorldGate Communications in
1997. The suburban Philadelphia company had pioneered technology to
permit low-cost access to the Internet. At WorldGate, Mr. Mathiesen
jointly invented techniques for collecting and delivering news, weather,
sports, and stock information via interactive television. A related
patent application remains pending for this technology. Another patent
is pending for techniques that permit a consumer to navigate Internet
web pages via a television remote control.
In 2000, Mr. Mathiesen and Ms. Ainsworth purchased an historic home
in Yardley, Pa.
For the past three years, Mr. Mathiesen had dedicated himself to restoration
of the residence and the creation of a formal garden that features
historically appropriate roses, perennials, and evergreens. In this
effort, he again demonstrated a life-long talent for stepping into
a realm with which he had no prior experience, mastering the basics,
and rapidly becoming an expert, whether the subject was carpentry,
roofing, siding, electrical wiring or horticulture.
In 2003, Ms. Ainsworth and Mr. Mathiesen welcomed Ms. Ainsworth’s
sister, Devon, and her children, Hannah and Taylor into their home,
and he added the skills of parent, tutor, and guide to his skill set.
Mr. Mathiesen’s father, George H. Mathiesen, also of the Vineyard,
preceded him in death in June of this year. Michael B. Mathiesen is
survived by his wife, Ms. Ainsworth of Yardley; his mother, Catherine
Mathiesen, of West Tisbury; his sisters Kris and Lynn, brothers Paul,
Tim and Sean and their partners Stewart, Alex, Robin and Delphine;
and nieces and nephews Chance, Wyndham, Hugo, Rosemary, Hannah, and
Taylor.
Donations in his name may be made to the local chapter of the MSPCA,
P.O. Box 2097, Edgartown, MA 02539.
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Dennis J. Rose Jr.
Dennis Joseph Rose Jr. died unexpectedly on August 14 at the Martha’s
Vineyard Hospital. He was born at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital
on February 3, 1974 and was a native Islander of many generations.
He had attended school in Oak Bluffs and Florida.
Upon graduation from high school he was captain of a shrimp boat
in Florida for eight years. He returned to the Vineyard in 2003
and worked at the Tisbury School.
Dennis is survived by his wife Melanie, his son Dennis Joseph Rose,
III, his parents Dennis Sr. and Patricia. He also leaves his brothers
Anthony and Joseph and his sister Tracy and her husband Brian Gromoshak.
He is also survived by his grandmother Mrs. Betty (Sylvia) Rose
of Oak Bluffs, his mother-in-law Sue Skelton and Terry McGonigle
of Sanford, Maine, his father-in-law Joseph and his wife Patricia
Pietruszewski of Florida. Dennis is also survived by numerous aunts,
uncles, cousins, nephews, and many, many, many, friends.
Dennis enjoyed his family most of all. He was a loving, forgiving,
kind-hearted person who loved and appreciated his family and friends;
in turn, he was loved by all who knew him. He enjoyed fishing, especially
with his son Dennis. He loved cooking, his guitar, music, and spending
time with his family and his numerous friends. We all love and miss
you, DenDen.
Services were held at Chapman, Cole and Gleason on August 18, with
burial at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Oak Bluffs on August 19 attended
by his extended family members from Arizona, Connecticut, Florida,
Maine, Massachusetts and New York, in addition to his family and
friends from across the Vineyard.
Donations in his memory may be sent to the Little DenDen Fund, at
Martha’s Vineyard Cooperative Bank, 40 Main Street, Vineyard
Haven, MA 02568.
Helen L. Johnson
Helen Louise Johnson of Woodside Village in Oak Bluffs died August
15 at her home. She was the wife of Gordon Johnson who predeceased
her. They were married for 25 years.
Helen was born in Boston on February 4, 1940, the daughter of Charles
B. McKay and Beatrice A. McKenzie. She was educated throughout the
Boston school system. After marrying Gordon they moved to San Bernardino,
Calif., where Gordon was a cook for a nursing home and Helen was
a caregiver, sharing herself and her time to assist the residents.
Upon returning back east they settled on Martha’s Vineyard
where she lived on Cromwell Lane in Vineyard Haven. She became employed
at the Tisbury Inn in housekeeping services. Helen lived at Woodside
Village for the past three years.
Helen enjoyed reading, walking, and communicating with her family.
She was an active member of the First Baptist Church in Vineyard
Haven.
She is survived by her son, William Adler of Roslindale; her sister,
Marjorie Ann McKay of N. Ft. Myers, Fla., and her brother, Charles
G. McKay of Vineyard Haven.
Her funeral service was held in the Chapman, Cole & Gleason
Funeral Home, Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, Oak Bluffs officiated
by the Rev. Dr. Roger Spinney on August 18 and burial was in Oak
Grove Cemetery, Pacific Avenue, Oak Bluffs. Donations may be made
in her memory to the First Baptist Church Restoration Fund, P.O.
Box 2787, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. Visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com
for online guest book and information.
Madeline K. Bunting
Madeline Keegan Bunting, 95, died on July 30 at Windemere Nursing
and Rehabilitation Center. She was predeceased by her husband Samuel
H. Bunting, Jr.
Born in Trenton, N.J., August 12, 1909, she was the daughter of
Ellen (Carey) Keegan and George Washington Keegan. Mrs. Bunting
attended public schools in Trenton and was graduated from the Trenton
Normal School, now named the College of New Jersey, in 1928, qualified
to teach elementary school.
She was married to Samuel Bunting in 1930 and the couple lived in
Hightstown, where Mr. Bunting was a Master at the Peddie School.
Later they moved to Plainfield and then to Mountainside, N.J. During
this later period Mrs. Bunting taught for a number of years in the
fourth grade in the Evergreen School in Plainfield. She was also
active in the Monday Afternoon Club where she served many years
on the board and was chairman of the art department and the painting
group at various times.
In 1992, the Buntings moved to Thirwood Place, a retirement community
in South Yarmouth. In 2003, several years after Mr. Bunting’s
death, Mrs. Bunting moved to Martha’s Vineyard to be closer
to her daughter and other members of her family.
The Buntings loved to travel and they circumnavigated the world
three times on board the cruise ship Sagafjord. They took many other
cruises as well as many land trips.
Surviving Mrs. Bunting are her daughter, Bonnie Bunting Meras of
East Chop; two granddaughters, Leslie Hurd Tully and Michele (Chele)
Reekie of West Tisbury; and six great-grandchildren, Kenneth Badger
Hurd IV, Samuel Bunting Hurd, Colin Ross Hurd, Madeline Keegan Tully,
Jennifer Ross Reekie, and Sarah Elizabeth Reekie, all of West Tisbury.
A graveside service was held at the Bunting family plot on August
4 at the Ewing Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ewing, N.J.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Vineyard Nursing Association,
P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.
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Molly Flender
Mary Griswold Flender, an elementary school teacher who founded
a company that created curriculum guides for children’s literature,
died on Saturday, August 20, of cancer at her home in Cambridge.
She was 69.
Mrs. Flender, known as Molly, grew up in New Haven, Conn., and summered
throughout her life on Martha’s Vineyard. She and her husband,
John O. Flender, retired to their home in Chilmark in 2000. On the
Island, she became a dedicated advocate for affordable housing as
well as children’s literacy.
In retirement, Mrs. Flender first drew on her work as an elementary
school educator and worked as a volunteer with Vineyard and Cape
Cod schools helping children learn to read. After working as a volunteer
coordinator for the America Reads program, she founded and ran Read
MV, an intergenerational volunteer program for Island public schools.
The program now has about 20 tutors and reaches 50 to 60 children
each year. Mrs. Flender had been the director of the Intergenerational
Literacy Program of the Cambridge School Volunteers for several
years before she moved to the Vineyard.
Recently, Mrs. Flender was a driving force for the creation of affordable
housing in Chilmark through the expansion of the Resident Homesite
Program and the town’s Middle Line Road affordable housing
development. In June, she saw more than four years of work on the
Middle Line Road development come to fruition when the town voted
to proceed with Chilmark’s first affordable housing units.
At that town meeting, her efforts were acknowledged with a standing
ovation from the overflow crowd.
As a child in New Haven, she attended the Foote School. Secondary
school followed at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. She graduated
from Smith College in 1957 and earned a Master’s degree in
children’s literature from Simmons College.
In 1968, after living in New York, she and her children moved to
Cambridge, where she met John Flender. They were married in 1971.
Mrs. Flender taught for 17 years at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols
School in Cambridge. She taught second grade and fifth grade, and
then became the Lower School librarian. She found the library especially
rewarding because she worked with children from many grades and
was able to open the world of literature to them.
She left BB&N in 1986 and co-founded, with Sonia Landes, Bookwise,
Inc., a Cambridge-based company that wrote and published more than
40 curriculum guides to children’s books ranging from “Peter
Rabbit” to “Charlotte’s Web.”
Life on the Vineyard was especially important to her, from childhood
with her parents, siblings, and cousins, to later in life with her
children and grandchildren. She excelled on the tennis court, agonized
over her gardening skills, and felt at home at the beach with her
family. She was always ready for a game of hide-and-seek or cards
with her children or grandchildren, who called her “Gabby.”
She was readily identifiable on the tennis court, in the yard, or
on the beach by her laughter, playfulness, and good cheer.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Flender is survived by two daughters,
Morgan Baker Brelis of Cambridge and Trina Baker of Sudbury; two
sons, Jamie Baker of McLean, Va. and Will Flender of South Royalton,
Vt.; two sisters, Sally Leahy of Chestnut Hill and Susanna Kaleck
of Hamden, Conn.; a brother, Whit Griswold of West Tisbury; and
four grandchildren, Maggie, Ellie, Jamie and Grant.
A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at 2 pm, Friday,
Sept. 16, at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall in West
Tisbury. Burial in Chilmark will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her
memory to the Island Affordable Housing Fund at P.O. Box 4769, Vineyard
Haven, MA 02568.
Barbara Ivacek
Barbara Ivacek died on August 23 in Vancouver, B.C. She is survived
by, among others, her sister Anne Evasick of West Tisbury.
A full obituary will appear in a future edition of The Times.
Lorraine M. Johnson
Lorraine M. “Tootie” Johnson of Mt. Aldworth Road in
Vineyard Haven died August 22 at Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston. She was 79. A graveside service will be held on Friday,
August 26 in Oak Grove Cemetery, State Road, Vineyard Haven at 2
pm.
Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole & Gleason
Funeral Home, Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, Oak Bluffs. Visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com
for online guest book and information.
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