The New York Times - USA (2020-11-15)

28 N THE NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARIESSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020

David Easton, an architect and
interior designer who created
English-style palaces for an
American aristocracy, died on Oct.
29 at his home in Tulsa, Okla. He
was 83.
James Steinmeyer, his husband
and only immediate survivor, said
the cause was complications of de-
mentia.
In 1981, Mr. Easton was already
an established architect and deco-
rator when Alistair Stair, a princi-
pal of Stair & Company, an an-
tiques dealer, suggested to Patri-
cia Kluge, who had just married
John Kluge, the much older bil-
lionaire head of MetroMedia, that
Mr. Easton was the man to design
the estate the couple wanted to
build in Charlottesville, Va.
Mr. Easton and Ms. Kluge met

at the Carlyle hotel in Manhattan,
and, as was his habit, he used a
cocktail napkin to sketch his de-
sign for a 45-room brick manor
that the Kluges would name Albe-
marle House.
There were formal English gar-
dens, five lakes carved into the es-
tate’s 6,000 acres, a carriage
house and stables, a grotto, a heli-
copter landing pad, an 850-acre
game preserve and a chapel, for
which Mr. Easton designed the
vestments of the clergy who
would preside there, as well as the
crypt below. (Mr. Easton re-
searched just what was required
to store embalmed bodies.) The
house itself was more than 23,000
square feet, and Mr. Easton filled
it with European and English an-
tiques.
Even for its time, at the height
of the go-go Reagan years, Albe-
marle House was considered over
the top.
“Albemarle House really threw
down the gauntlet during the roar-
ing ’80s,” said Stephen Drucker,

former editor in chief of House Beautiful and Town & Country magazines. Gossip columnists fell all over themselves describing the excesses of the Kluges, like a private disco, a golf course and liver- ied footmen. The Kluges certainly weren’t the only high-wattage clients in Mr. Easton’s portfolio. He designed an apartment in the Pierre hotel in Manhattan for Phyllis and Sumner Redstone, the media mo- gul who died in August. For Paula Zahn, the former CNN anchor, he built a contemporary house in As- pen, Colo. And for Herbert Black, the Canadian businessman who exposed the Sotheby’s and Christie’s price-fixing scandal in 2000, he created a Georgian-style house in Montreal. Yet Mr. Easton, who had a deep knowledge of and abiding love for Regency furniture, Roman statu- ary, Delft pottery and Chinese an- tiquities, was not really an impre- sario of glitz and bling. His tastes were disciplined, and he did not seek the spotlight. “He certainly did the grand houses of the 1980s, and nobody did it better,” said Bunny Williams, the interior designer who, like Mr. Easton, worked for Parish-Had- ley, the Kennedy- and post-Ken- nedy-era design firm that taught new money to look old and old money to look fresh. “But most of his work wasn’t published, because he worked for very private people. It was a totally different time, and he wasn’t interested in fame. He was confident about what he was doing, and he never had to be pretentious.” David Anthony Easton was born on April 9, 1937, in Louisville, Ky., and grew up in York, Pa., the eldest of three children. His father, David Allen Easton, worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as an accountant; his mother, Elizabeth (Scheidt) Eas- ton, was a homemaker. Mr. Easton spent summers with a grandmother in Chicago, and he knew he wanted to be an architect after visiting the Trend House at the Marshall Field department store there and becoming trans- fixed by its model rooms. He stud- ied architecture at the Pratt Insti- tute in Brooklyn, and after gradu-

ation received a scholarship to study architecture at a school in Fontainebleau, France. When Mr. Easton returned to New York City in 1964, he went to work for Edward Wormley, the modernist furniture designer. But he was a classicist at heart. In 1967, Parish-Hadley hired him as a senior designer. He started his own firm in 1972, and by the next decade, his work, along with that of Mark Hampton and Mario Bu- atta, would become emblematic of the English-style opulence that defined the 1980s. In the wake of that decade, Al- bemarle House floundered, along with the fortunes of its former in- habitants. In 1990, the Kluges di- vorced and Ms. Kluge kept the place, leveraging it heavily to fi- nance a winery. When the mort- gage crisis hit in the late 2000s, she first listed Albemarle House for $100 million, and then lost it to Bank of America, which sold it to

Donald Trump for $6.5 million, after much litigation from the Trump Organization to secure a deep discount. It is now a hotel and vineyard called the Albe- marle Estate and Trump Winery. Speaking of his former client, Ms. Kluge, Mr. Easton told Town & Country in 2011: “I think she was searching for pleasure in life. The old Roman carpe diem. She was having a good time. I’m not pro- tecting her. I’m just saying she has a view like that, and I think it’s a good and healthy one.” Mr. Easton and Mr. Steinmeyer married in 2014, after 39 years to- gether. Mr. Steinmeyer said he had been engaged to a woman back home in Oklahoma when he and Mr. Easton met in 1975. “Da- vid said: “I’m not going to tell you what to do, but you can’t have your life two different ways. Ei- ther way, you’re going to make somebody very unhappy. If you want to screw up your life, that’s

fine. But don’t screw up somebody else’s.” In 1992, Mr. Easton was named to Interior Design magazine’s Hall of Fame. Despite his very proper interi- ors, Mr. Easton had a mischievous streak. He drank red wine with all his meals, even breakfast, declar- ing, like W.C. Fields, that he didn’t like water because fish mated in it (although both he and Fields used a different verb). Former employ- ees recall Mr. Easton asking for a ham sandwich on the Concorde, the supersonic jet that used to ferry the wealthy across the At- lantic at record speeds, instead of the lobster thermidor they were serving. At dinner parties he liked

to say that he was a sex therapist, so that he didn’t have to talk about his work. But he was very serious about that design work, and its implica- tions. In an interview with New York Social Diary in 2007, Mr. Easton said it was no longer appropriate to be building enormous houses. “I’ve built all these Georgian houses, we’re talking about 15- to-25,000-square-foot houses,” he said. “Young people are not going to build that way. They still are up in Greenwich, but that’s the last blast. We can’t afford to. No, I think in the day and age when people are starving and dying, the earth can’t afford it.”

David Easton, Architect

Of Over-the-Top Estates

In the ’80s, Dies at 83

David Easton in 1987. In an interview in 2007, Mr. Easton said it was no longer appropriate to be building enormous houses.

RICO PUHLMAN

A room, above, in Albemarle House, below, the Georgian manor in Virginia that Mr. Easton designed for John and Patricia Kluge. (He had first sketched it out on a napkin at a Manhattan hotel.)

PHILIP BEAURLINE

He drank red wine

with all his meals,

even breakfast.

By PENELOPE GREEN

Barosin, Evelyn Barr, David Blumencranz, S. Bresch, Saul Brewer, Sean Bronstein, Anne Buchman, Myron Burke, Coleman Carter, Edward Decio, Arthur Delaney, Thomas Detkin, Paul Fellner, Michael Freehill, Patrick Fuhrman, Sylvia Gallogly, Michael Glickman, Sheldon Hamilton, Rita

Horovitz, Israel Hurwitz, Harlan Jordan, Gaye Kitay, Julian Leshan, Lawrence Markovitz, Ruth McQuillan, Thomas Moldof, Stephen Muehlbauer, Peter O’Connell, Helene Packer, Arnold Paterson, Charles Pearlman, Stephen Perlmutter, Mollie Plastik, Harry Preuss, Gerda Price, Holly Remec, Peter

Rubins, Louis Sefton, Isabel Segal, Howard Shatz, Geraldine Sheridan, Robert Smith, Anne Spiegel, Barbara Stivelman, Richard Sturtz, Maxwell Tabachnik, William Tasker, Arthur Taube, Moshe Thau, Roland Whitmore, Myrtle Winston, Alan

BAROSIN—Evelyn, 50-year resident of La Grange, NY died November 13, 2020 in Oyster Bay, NY. Beloved wife of the late Joel Barosin. Loving mother of Robert and David. Devoted grandmother of triplet grand- daughters. Dedicated to en- hancing the community through volunteerism and to improving the lives of se- niors. Servicesare being handledby Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home, Glen Cove, NY. Private service/burial at Mt. Judah, Queens, NY. Shi- vah with the family of David and his wife, Alissa, Novem- ber 15, 2020 at 6:00pm via Zoom. Contact family for in- formation. Donations appre- ciated at: [email protected].

BARR—David, M.D. Thoracic Surgeon,passed away peacefully at home on November 8, at age 93. Born in Brooklyn, he attended the High School of Music and Art, graduated Phi Beta Kappa fromCornellUniversityin 1947 and served in the U.S. Navy before graduating from CornellUniversityMedical College in 1950. Dr. Barr conti- nued as Chief Resident in surgery at Cornell and then was a fellow in heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. After- wards, he was a leading Thor- acic Surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital, until 1997. He retired in East Hampton, where he pursued his interests in classi- cal piano, gardening and photography. Dr. Barr missed his son Daniel, who passed in 2004 and is survived by his wife of 58 years Yael, his brother Martin, his son Mi- chael and his three grandchildren.

BARR—David, M.D., was a preeminent New York City Thoracic Surgeon com- passionately caring for pa- tients for over 40 years. A surgical perfectionist, no detail was overlooked or insignifi- cant when caring for his pa- tients. As an integral part of the surgical education pro- gram at Lenox Hill Hospital he trained multiple genera- tions of surgeons currently in practice. He is fondly remem- bered as a teacher, mentor, colleague, truegentleman and friend. He will be pro- foundly missed by many. Joseph Iraci, M.D.

BLUMENCRANZ— Suzanne B.

Aged 80, died peacefully Hal- loween Night under a blue moon at her home in Miami of natural causes. Suzanne was a beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend. She was a recent Florida resident but had lived in Manhattan and Bridgehampton, NY for most of her adult life. Suzanne founded her design company, Suzanne Blumen- cranz Interior Design, which she ran for over half a centu- ry until her passing. She designed homes in Manhattan, Long Island, Westchester and Fairfield counties in her sig- nature style, both classic and timeless. She was a beautiful

woman who expressed her exquisite sense of style ef- fortlessly in her everyday life. She was especially proud of theclassicmodernhome which she and husband Mi- chael built and designed by the beach in Bridgehampton and her elegantly styled home in New York. Mike and Suzannehadjustjoyfully celebrated their 60th anniver- saryofmarriageinlate September. Suzanne was a people person, quick with a compliment and a contagious smile and laugh. With her sunny disposition, Suzie took life's ups and downs in per- spective and stride. She was a loving and loyal mother toherdaughterElizabeth Blumencranz. She was beloved by her two younger sis- ters, Robin Laufer and Karen Pollack, nephewsGregory Laufer and Peter Laufer, and her many friends and clients. She was taken from us too soonand will besorely missed. Daughter Elizabeth andhusbandMichaelwill host a one-day Zoom Shiva/ Memorial on Thursday, Nov- ember 19, from 6pm to 8pm. Contact Elizabeth at: [email protected]

BRESCH—Saul Robert, 92, kind, steadfast, loving, and beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away after a several-month illness Wednesday,November11, 2020, in Manhattan. He was born and raised in Scranton. He is survived by his adoring and adored wife of 55 years, Linda Bresch; sonDavid Bresch and daughter Debora Bresch; and hisbeautiful grandchildren Sophieand Miruna. Saul was the best of men, modest,soft-spoken, charitable, strong, handsome, and loving towards his fellow man and animals, until the end. He made his career in in- tellectual property law but was also an avid student of history and politics, devoted Holmesian and mystery- lover, and world traveler, and projected an aura of calm to all around him. He was pre- ceded in death by parents Maximillian and Marietta. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Amnesty Inter- national to honor Saul's work on behalf of asylum-seekers.

BREWER—Sean Robert, died November 13, 2020 in his home in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Born on December 13, 1966 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Sean spent his youth in Pompton Lakes while his father was in the Air Force. Sean graduated from Rut- gers College in 1990 and its Law School in 1995. His perse- verance and athletic ability gained him a spot on the Rut- gers Varsity Lightweight team and he subsequently became a five-time marat-

hon runner. Sean also pos- sessed a deep love of travel and the natural world - back- packing through Europe in college, spending two summers working in Alaska, and climbing Machu Picchu. Professionally, Sean was a prosecutor with the Manhat- tan District Attorney's office for eight years. He went on to pursue a career in financial crimes compliance where he served as a managing direc- tor at Goldman Sachs, and then, more recently, MUFG Union Bank. Sean and his wife Claudia Krugovoy wed in September 2007. After their first child Henry was born, the family moved to Switzer- land,where their second child, Aubrey was born. A loving husband and doting father, Seanenjoyednothing morethanspendingtime with his family, coaching his son's baseball and basketball teams, and delighted in watching his daughter's dance performances. He is survived by Claudia, son Hen- ry (age 11), and daughter Au- brey (age eight); mother Cor- inne Brewer,andsiblings George Brewer (Bridget), An- drew Brewer (Patricia), Christine Burt (William), Cor- inne Friske (Jason), Ana De- LosSantos, and nieces and nephews Emily and Aidan Brewer, Aaron, Hayden and Ethan Burt and Madeleine and Darwin Friske; mother- in-law Christel Krugovoy, brother-in-law Andrew Silver, and nephew Noah Silver. He is also survived by a lifelong group of adoring friends. BRONSTEIN—Anne.

Anne died peacefully on No- vember 3, 2020 at age 90. Anne was predeceased by her parents, Abraham and Esther Bronstein and her twin brother MurrayBronstein. Anne majored in Spanish and Anthropology at Hunter Col- lege and went on to do graduate work with Margaret Mead at Columbia Universi- ty. She felt blessed to spend her career as a Social Worker at Mount Sinai and Elmhurst Hospitals, working with worldwide refugees. One of Anne's most compelling jobs was teaching Humanities to Nursing Students at the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital.

She brought James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Betty Friedan, Judith Malina and Lotte Len- ya to her classroom to dis- cuss the ongoing struggles of the civil rights, feminist and anti-war movements. What's remarkable is that many of herstudentsandpatients have remained in touch with Anne to her final days. Anne was forever grateful for the medical care and humanity that was shown to her by Dr. George Falk, Dr.Rachel Kramer, Dr. Daniel S. Krausner, Dr. Edward Merk- er, Dr. Anais Rameau, and her beloved friend Dr. Shahed Qyyumi who was a constant presence until the end. She is survived by her beloved nephew David Bron- stein andmany devoted friends throughout the world - Kay Hines, Gabrielle, Michael and Mary Lefer, Beth Schar- lop, Roberta Marpet, Flavio Schiavo-Campo, Rita More- no, Fernanda Fischer, Ram Iyer, Elizabeth Mannion, Kostus Kivotidis, Iljka Rugovac, Heather and the magnificent Shamsai Family. BUCHMAN—Dr. Myron I., CongregationEmanu-Elof the City of New York mourns the death of our longtime cherishedmember,Myron Buchman. To his family we express our profound sym- pathy. May beautiful memo- ries of his life endure as a blessing for all who knew and loved him. BURKE—Coleman Poston.

Coleman P. Burke, respected and revered by many, died peacefully at his home in Bedford, New York on No- vember 8, 2020. Loved for his jokes and songs, he was a hail fellow well met. He was born in Short Hills, New Jersey on April 29, 1941. His parents were Mary Poston Burke and Coleman Burke. He was a graduate of Pingry School, St. Paul's School in New Hamp- shire, Yale University, and the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He loved all sports, especially hockey, and many a team- mate commented on his agili- ty andsportsmanship.A standout on rinks and ponds for decades, he chased after victories and team unity with great heart. From 1966-1969,

he served in the Mekong Del- ta in the Vietnam War as a Communications Officer for the U.S. Navy. Coley was a kid at heart and lived every min- ute of life to the fullest. He fol- lowedoneofhisfavorite mottos everyday: “work hard, play hard”. An avid fly fisherman, he fishedthe Snake River in Jackson Hole with his best friends annually for 50 years. Ever fascinated withscience,hedevoured non-fiction books, and in the 1990's, conducted his own din- osaur-hunting forays in Pata- gonia. He was responsible for the exploration of a new dino- saur field in Argentina, and eventually he discovered a new species, named Orkor- aptor Burkei in his honor. He loved all forms of music, per- forming banjo and piano at the Bohemian Club and with his family around the dinner table. He was a self- proclaimed foodie and delighted his kids and grandkids when announcing that his car was incapable of driving past an ice cream shop. He and his wife Susan traveled the world and entertained New Yorkers on many an occasion, includ- ingtheir35thanniversary party which included 15-foot life-size faux dinosaurs. In his early career, Coley practiced law for his family firm, Burke & Burke. In 1983, he left the firm to found Waterfront, NY, a commercial real estate en- terprise located in the Chelsea district, before that neighborhood became fash- ionable. The firm, now called North River Company, has grown to nine states across the country. Coley was ex- tremely proud of the team he built over 40 years. A man of great faith, he loved the out- door chapel behind his Bed- ford home, walking or cross- country skiing the stream- side trail through the woods. His strong belief in freedom, education and the environ- ment led him to serve on many boards such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, The Yale School oftheEnvironment,The Yale Peabody Museum, The National Forest Foundation and The National Audubon Society. In 2019, his alma ma- ter Case Western Reserve founded theColeman P. BurkeCenterfor Environ- mental Law in his honor. He loved mischief, loved people, and always spoke of the spirit of fellowship. Every year he mailed hundreds of birthday cardstofriendsandem- ployees, all of whom will miss him dearly. He was uncom- monly humble, curious and generous. He always made himself available to lend an ear, lend a hand, or hand you a punchline to one of his 1,000 jokes. He is survived by his beloved wife of 39 wonderful years, Susan, son Erik and

daughters Lisa, Sarah, and Ashley, sons-in-law Allan, Brad and Alex, eight grandchildren, and his brother Dan and sister Missy. He blessed us all with his unwavering love. He lived his life like he sang his songs: in full harmo- ny. The Burke family will host a remembrance and celebra- tion for him in New York City in 2021. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church of Bedford at P.O. Box 293, Bedford, NY 10506 or to The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution at Fenno House MS40,WoodsHole,MA 02543. CARTER—Edward G. L., entrepreneur,travelwriter and founder of “The Point,” a private hotel on Upper Sara- nac Lake, died October 15, 2020 at his home in Si Sa Ket, Thailand. Ted was 80. Born in Mt. Kisco, NY, Ted attended Hotchkiss before enlisting in the Army where he was sta- tioned in Okinawa. A world traveler, author of Edward Carter's Travels,Tedre- turned to New York in the 1990s to open the Edward Carter Galleries of fine art photography. The gallery closed in the wake of 9/11 and Ted moved to Thailand where he built his home and where he will be buried. He leaves behind his husband Khun Tan.

BRODERICK WEISS— Eleanor Gonefromoursight,but never from our hearts.

CURRY—Beth.

November 15, 2015 In the five years without you, we have been inspired every day to be better people by the memory of your warmth, your smile, your caring and your unqualified love for all of us. You always found the best in everyone and in every situation. You were always positive and supportive as wellasunderstandingand sympathetic. We were most fortunate to have had you in our lives.

DIMSTON—Blanche K. Happy Birthday, Mom. We miss you very much with lots of love.

PINKAS—Robert P. Nov. 11, 1953 - March 18, 2012 Happy Birthday Love, Mort

SUSSMAN—Barry J. My childhood sweetheart and love of my life. Forever in my heart. Robbie

ZEIDMAN—Linda Freya. Age 75, native New Yorker, daughter of Rose and Holo- caust survivor Boris Gottlieb. Died 11/14/2019 from Parkin- son's Disease. Educated at CCNY and UW-Madison, where she organized the first TA union in the country, she was active in the antiracist, antiwar and women's movements. Moved to Baltimore as part of a community orga- nizing collective; was a found- ing member of the Women's Union of Baltimore; carried out oral history research on steelworkers' lives and union struggles, which resulted in a widely exhibited archival photo collectionand do- cumentary film; created workingclasshistorybus tours and co-authored The Baltimore Book (Temple Uni- versityPress); co-founded theWomen'sStudiespro- gram at the Comm. Coll. of Baltimore Co. where she also taught history and economics for 34 years. A paper-cut col- lagist, she captured her family history in New York and the Ukraine in her art; and in retirement, ever the provo- catrice, she formed “Shake It Baby,” a Parkinsonians' dance group. Linda is survived by her daughter Annie, beloved son-in-law Seth Kar- pinski,grandchildren Boris and Zara; and many loving friends.

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In Memoriam

The New York Times - USA (2020-11-15)

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