http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Obit … fault.aspx
Arthur M. Dunne, an Army veteran who helped establish a radar tower at Montauk Point during World War II and who documented life in Montauk during that time in photographs, died on Saturday at Southampton Hospital of complications from a brain injury caused by a fall. He was 93.
He was born in Enfield, Conn., on Feb. 5, 1916, the son of Thomas Dunne and the former Amanda Gendron. His father was a tobacco and dairy farmer. During the Depression, Arthur Dunne worked for Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Mills. He was in the first peacetime national draft in 1940 and when war was declared the following year, he was sent to train at Fort Terry on Plum Island.
When German saboteurs landed in Amagansett in June of 1942, Mr. Dunne was transferred to Camp Hero in Montauk to establish a radar tower there. The first year he and his men lived in tents until material was supplied to build barracks. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant with 24 enlisted men under his command. Mr. Dunne’s Montauk experience is chronicled in “Living on the Edge,” a book about the Montauk Lighthouse up until and including World War II.
Mr. Dunne married Mary O’Connor on June 20, 1942. She survives. Sheila Jones, Mr. Dunne’s daughter, said it was serendipity that brought her father and mother together. She said he had been in the habit of going to dances with his male friends. She was in the habit of going roller-skating with her girlfriends. Her father arrived at the dance hall one day to find it had burned down, so he and his friends decided to go to the roller rink. They celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary in June.
After the war, Mr. Dunne returned to Connecticut and the Bigelow-Sanford mill. When the mill closed, he went to work for the Ensign Bickford Company of Enfield, which was making fiberglass pipe for the oil fields in Oklahoma. In the late 1960s, instead of moving west with the company, Mr. Dunne started a construction business in Amagansett, where he had summered for many years.
He was a charter member of the Irish-American Club of East Hampton, the Knights of Columbus, and American Legion Post 419. A collection of Mr. Dunne’s wartime photographs are kept at the Montauk Library.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Dunne is survived by his other daughter, Susan Cannon of Rochester, N.Y. His son, Charles Dunne, predeceased him. He also leaves six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Visiting hours have been scheduled at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow. A funeral Mass will be held at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton on Saturday at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at the church cemetery. Memorial contributions were suggested for the Amagansett Fire Department Ambulance Squad, P.O. Box 470, Amagansett 11930.
Francis Manelski
Francis (Frank) Manelski of Shelter Island, who was a pioneering pilot over a long career with Trans World Airlines, died at home on Aug. 19. He was 87 and had been diagnosed with cancer a month ago.
In 1942, Mr. Manelski entered the service and was selected for the Naval aviation program. He served in World War II, and when he was discharged as a Navy lieutenant, he became a private flight instructor.
He was hired as a first officer by T.W.A. in 1948, but he was called back to active duty during the Korean War, during which he flew transports into Korea from Japan. He returned to T.W.A. in 1953 and over the next 33 years became one of the company’s most senior and respected pilots, his family said.
During his tenure with the airline, Mr. Manelski accomplished a number of firsts, among them the first Paris-to-San Francisco nonstop flight. It took 201/2 hours to complete. He was especially proud of his longevity and work ethic at T.W.A. He never took a single sick day in all his years there, his family said.
Mr. Manelski was born to Andrew and Mary Manelski on a farm in Hicksville in 1921. A member of the class of 1939 at Hicksville High School, he was captain of the football team in his senior year.
He enjoyed being a caddy, a job from which his love of golf sprouted. As an adult, he often played at the Southampton Golf Club, where he was a member.
In the mid-1970s, Mr. Manelski bought beachfront land off Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton and renovated a house there.
“Over the next 20 years, this became his favorite spot, a place where family and friends came to enjoy the beach and his company,” his family said. He liked to entertain, and his July Fourth get-togethers were “legendary,” they said.
He was known for his practical jokes. His family said he was “quick of wit and always had a twinkle in his eye.” They called his humor “inclusive and gentlemanly in nature, so that even though one might be the butt of a joke, it was impossible not to join in with his contagious laughter.”
In 2001 he moved to a house he built on the water off Westmoreland Drive on Shelter Island.
He is survived by two children, Maureen Manelski of Shelter Island Heights and Andrea Shastid of Louisville, Ky. A son, Lee Francis Manelski, died in 1991. Eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, to whom he was known as Big Papa, also survive.
Funeral services were held this week. He was buried at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery in East Hampton.
Donations have been suggested to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.
Arthur M. Dunne, an Army veteran who helped establish a radar tower at Montauk Point during World War II and who documented life in Montauk during that time in photographs, died on Saturday at Southampton Hospital of complications from a brain injury caused by a fall. He was 93.
He was born in Enfield, Conn., on Feb. 5, 1916, the son of Thomas Dunne and the former Amanda Gendron. His father was a tobacco and dairy farmer. During the Depression, Arthur Dunne worked for Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Mills. He was in the first peacetime national draft in 1940 and when war was declared the following year, he was sent to train at Fort Terry on Plum Island.
When German saboteurs landed in Amagansett in June of 1942, Mr. Dunne was transferred to Camp Hero in Montauk to establish a radar tower there. The first year he and his men lived in tents until material was supplied to build barracks. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant with 24 enlisted men under his command. Mr. Dunne’s Montauk experience is chronicled in “Living on the Edge,” a book about the Montauk Lighthouse up until and including World War II.
Mr. Dunne married Mary O’Connor on June 20, 1942. She survives. Sheila Jones, Mr. Dunne’s daughter, said it was serendipity that brought her father and mother together. She said he had been in the habit of going to dances with his male friends. She was in the habit of going roller-skating with her girlfriends. Her father arrived at the dance hall one day to find it had burned down, so he and his friends decided to go to the roller rink. They celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary in June.
After the war, Mr. Dunne returned to Connecticut and the Bigelow-Sanford mill. When the mill closed, he went to work for the Ensign Bickford Company of Enfield, which was making fiberglass pipe for the oil fields in Oklahoma. In the late 1960s, instead of moving west with the company, Mr. Dunne started a construction business in Amagansett, where he had summered for many years.
He was a charter member of the Irish-American Club of East Hampton, the Knights of Columbus, and American Legion Post 419. A collection of Mr. Dunne’s wartime photographs are kept at the Montauk Library.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Dunne is survived by his other daughter, Susan Cannon of Rochester, N.Y. His son, Charles Dunne, predeceased him. He also leaves six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Visiting hours have been scheduled at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow. A funeral Mass will be held at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton on Saturday at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at the church cemetery. Memorial contributions were suggested for the Amagansett Fire Department Ambulance Squad, P.O. Box 470, Amagansett 11930.
Francis Manelski
Francis (Frank) Manelski of Shelter Island, who was a pioneering pilot over a long career with Trans World Airlines, died at home on Aug. 19. He was 87 and had been diagnosed with cancer a month ago.
In 1942, Mr. Manelski entered the service and was selected for the Naval aviation program. He served in World War II, and when he was discharged as a Navy lieutenant, he became a private flight instructor.
He was hired as a first officer by T.W.A. in 1948, but he was called back to active duty during the Korean War, during which he flew transports into Korea from Japan. He returned to T.W.A. in 1953 and over the next 33 years became one of the company’s most senior and respected pilots, his family said.
During his tenure with the airline, Mr. Manelski accomplished a number of firsts, among them the first Paris-to-San Francisco nonstop flight. It took 201/2 hours to complete. He was especially proud of his longevity and work ethic at T.W.A. He never took a single sick day in all his years there, his family said.
Mr. Manelski was born to Andrew and Mary Manelski on a farm in Hicksville in 1921. A member of the class of 1939 at Hicksville High School, he was captain of the football team in his senior year.
He enjoyed being a caddy, a job from which his love of golf sprouted. As an adult, he often played at the Southampton Golf Club, where he was a member.
In the mid-1970s, Mr. Manelski bought beachfront land off Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton and renovated a house there.
“Over the next 20 years, this became his favorite spot, a place where family and friends came to enjoy the beach and his company,” his family said. He liked to entertain, and his July Fourth get-togethers were “legendary,” they said.
He was known for his practical jokes. His family said he was “quick of wit and always had a twinkle in his eye.” They called his humor “inclusive and gentlemanly in nature, so that even though one might be the butt of a joke, it was impossible not to join in with his contagious laughter.”
In 2001 he moved to a house he built on the water off Westmoreland Drive on Shelter Island.
He is survived by two children, Maureen Manelski of Shelter Island Heights and Andrea Shastid of Louisville, Ky. A son, Lee Francis Manelski, died in 1991. Eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, to whom he was known as Big Papa, also survive.
Funeral services were held this week. He was buried at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery in East Hampton.
Donations have been suggested to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.
