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George Manter
Police Chief for 26 Years, Filled Up the Doorways of West Tisbury
George Whitten Manter, a native son of West Tisbury who served his nation as a soldier in Korea and his town as chief of police for 26 years, died Saturday, Nov. 8, at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston after a long illness.
He was born to Lillian Davis Manter and Daniel Manter on June 14, 1930 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital in Oak Bluffs. His father, a respected builder, served West Tisbury as a selectman for 30 years. His mother was active in the hostel movement, serving as chairman of the Island hostel committee; the American Youth Hostel on the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road is named for her.
West Tisbury was predominantly rural when George Manter was growing up. As a young person, he enjoyed the fishing and hunting provided in a town that had miles of unrestricted open land and beaches. In the West Tisbury School, which went up to the eighth grade, there were four or five children to a class. In June of 1942, a social note in this newspaper reported:
"George W. Manter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Manter of West Tisbury, observed his 12th birthday Sunday by entertaining a group of his schoolmates at a beach party and picnic that afternoon at the Manter camp at South Beach. Softball was played, swimming followed, and a frankfurter roast was held at the close of the afternoon.
"Guests included James Alley, William King, Robert Austin, Jack Reed and John Raymond. Also present were George's parents, his older sister, Betty, and Marjorie and Robert MacInnis of Vineyard Haven."
Mr. Manter was graduated from the Tisbury High School in 1949 and went to work for his father in the building business. He was drafted into the Army in 1952 and served in the Korean War, from which he was discharged with the rank of sergeant.
Reported the Gazette on August 22, 1952: "Pvt. George W. Manter left on Monday from Logan Air Field in Boston and with 40 other members of his company flew by chartered Army plane to Fort Lawton, Wash., where he is awaiting further orders."
Mr. Manter was assigned to the 10th Field Artillery Battalion, where he served as an artillery range fire director at the headquarters battery fire direction center, which controlled three gun batteries operating the light cannons called 105 howitzers. The newspaper of Nov. 6, 1953, carried this news:
"Sgt. George Manter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Manter of West Tisbury, arrived home with three days still to go in the bass derby. His father had a license waiting for him when he got here, and folks barely saw hide or hair of him for those three days. As a matter of fact, he has been pretty much in hiding since then, for shortly after the derby the hunting season started. It seems that when either a rod or a gun is involved there's no holding Sergeant Manter."
This wedding notice appeared on Jan. 29, 1954: "Miss Janice Barbara Riedel, daughter of Mrs. Walter Bernard Riedel of Melrose and the late Mr. Riedel, became the bride of George Whitten Manter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Manter of West Tisbury, Saturday in the First Methodist Church chapel, Melrose." Richard Doane of West Tisbury was best man and the ushers included Daniel Bryant of West Tisbury. Together, Mr. and Mrs. Manter would raise a family of two boys and four girls.
While working with his father as a builder during the early years of his marriage, Mr. Manter also became a part-time West Tisbury police officer. "Then I started doing more policing and less contracting," he later recalled in an interview. In 1966, Mr. Manter was named chief of police in West Tisbury, a post he would hold for 26 years until his retirement in June of 1993.
Chief Manter presided over the department during a time of expansion which saw its budget grow from less than $20,000 to more than $300,000. Looking back on the years of change, he said, "West Tisbury has become civilized. Too civilized."
"Chief Manter is a big man, tall and broad-shouldered, with strong facial features and fine, blue eyes," Virginia Poole wrote in a story about his impending retirement in 1993. "He fills the doorways of West Tisbury as he goes about his duties and overflows the town hall chairs while he patiently waits to speak at meetings. He has an aura of steadfast attention about him, one that indicates he knows what his office requires but at the same time transmits his own special appreciation of people."
In that interview, Chief Manter recalled drawing his firearm only once in all his years on the West Tisbury police force, and then only cradling it while apprehending some thieves in the middle of the night. "I used to tell my men, don't load your gun, and you'll never get in trouble," he said.
Over the years, Chief Manter brought to his work a deep sense of fairness and an abiding love for the town he served. Even in his retirement, his commitment to public service was strong. At the time of his death, he was a member of the West Tisbury board of health. He enjoyed his coffee stops at Alley's General Store, Conroy's Apothecary and Humphrey's Foodshop. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, especially deer week.
On the eve of his retirement, asked if he had anything he wanted to say to the community, Chief Manter replied, "To the people of West Tisbury . . . I think they have been good to the department."
At the start of Wednesday's meeting of the West Tisbury selectmen, chairman John Early said, "We offer our sincere condolences to the Manter family on the passing of George Manter. He was the embodiment of the spirit of West Tisbury, for me, anyway. A giant was lost. We are all going to feel the loss very deeply."
Mr. Manter's daughter Gretchen died in 1982. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Kimberly and her husband, Kenneth, of Chilmark; Jennifer and her husband, Glen, of Littleton, Colo., and Melissa of West Tisbury; two sons, George (Whit) Jr. and his wife, Diana, and Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter, both of West Tisbury; two sisters, Elizabeth of Bradenton, Fla., and Marjorie of West Tisbury, and three grandchildren, Lindsey, Joshua and Jonathan of Chilmark.
A graveside service was held at the West Tisbury cemetery at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, with military honors provided by the veterans of Martha's Vineyard. John S. Alley, cemetery superintendent, reported that more than 500 people came to pay their respects on a windswept afternoon.
Donations in Mr. Manter's memory may be made to the Gretchen Manter Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Office of the Superintendent of Schools, RR2, Box 261, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.
Isabelle Sayen, 79
Was Longtime Peace Activist
Isabelle Sayen, a longtime Chilmark resident, died peacefully at home from cancer on Michaelmas Day, Sept. 29, at the age of 79. In the summers during World War II, Mrs. Sayen had often resided with her mother on South Water street in Edgartown. She was a cousin of the late Mrs. Henry Beetle Hough.
She was graduated from Miss Fine's School in Princeton and from Vassar in 1945. In 1946, she married
the late Hon. William Henry (Harry) Sayen 4th (Princeton 1943). Harry, who came from a prominent public service family, was one of New Jersey's most influential citizens during the past 35 years. He was chairman of the board of trustees of the British-American Educational Foundation, governor of the board of Rutgers University, trustee of both the New Jersey State Museum and the New Jersey Opera, and held many other positions with national museum, environmental and regional plan boards. He wrote columns for the Vineyard Gazette and for other newspapers and journals for many years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Sayen were active for 30 years on ecological and environmental matters and in organizations relating to the Vineyard and its natural preservation. During their time in Chilmark each March, April and May, September, October and November, they researched their contributions to the Island.
Mrs. Sayen, originally a teacher, became interested in plate tectonics and global impact environmental issues in the 1950s. In the 1960s, she became active in the peace movement and organized numerous events throughout the East Coast in opposition to the Vietnam War. Mrs. Sayen was frequently invited to Washington, D.C., by Congress to discuss issues. Thereafter, she became a full-time environmentalist. From 1970 to 1994, she was a founder and operator of the New Jersey Safe Energy Alternative Alliance. In 1978, she was a founder of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament, and in that capacity lobbied Congress to reduce weaponry and to limit waste disposal of nuclear material.
Blinded by macular degeneration 18 years ago, she continued work unassisted, and would often testify at hearings in Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Boston and the Capitol, always arriving by public transport. Mrs. Sayen went on to found the Coalition for Peace Action. During the coalition's distinguished history, Mrs. Sayen invited many renowned humanitarian, spiritual and world leaders to the annual conferences. The present director, the Rev. Robert Moore, called Isabelle "fearless in acting on her convictions; she advanced the causes of global disarmament and world peace."
Wanting to be well researched and balanced in new proposals, she enrolled in dozens of courses at Princeton University over a 40-year period. She studied physics, art history and philosophy, as well as graduate courses in politics at the Woodrow Wilson School and engineering courses at the engineering school.
Mrs. Sayen assisted her husband in many of his activities, often with concepts for his weekly radio broadcasts, and with his journalistic columns. In that endeavor, she entertained many U.S. presidential candidates who were seeking public awareness. It was during this period of their lives together that the eminent New Yorker cartoonist Henry Martin rendered their personalities and accomplishments in that national weekly.
Mrs. Sayen's life and contributions to world peace were celebrated at an interfaith service in her memory at Princeton University Chapel on Nov. 9, attended by hundreds of colleagues, friends and family. At that service, she was described by Bishop Belshaw as "an inspiration to many everywhere for her peace activism."
The guest speaker was the recent Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey, who blessed her afterwards, calling Isabelle "a woman of compassion, who stood her ground. She was in advance of her time and led a life which demonstrated goodness can be steadfast over prevailing views, a woman who made a difference."
Also dedicated in her memory was the International Congress and 24th annual conference of the Coalition for Peace Action, attended by religious and government leaders and faculty at Princeton University over three days, Nov. 7 to 9.
Mr. and Mrs. Sayen's property, below Abel's Hill, was noted for the thousands of varieties of daffodils they planted over several decades, which cascaded from the house down toward Chilmark Pond.
She is survived by four sons.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Coalition for Peace Action Education Fund, 40 Witherspoon street, Princeton, NJ 08540.
Julius Rosenwald
Was Veteran, Outdoorsman
Julius Rosenwald 2nd, better known as Dooley and Grandooley, died at home in Philadelphia Nov. 2 following a long illness. He was 89 years old.
Born in Chicago, Dooley worked for Sears, Roebuck in that city and later in Boston. In 1938, he married
Julia Kaufmann of Philadelphia. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, he enlisted in the Marines, went through boot camp and then attended Officer Candidates School where he studied aviation ordnance. He was graduated as a captain and was discharged as a major when the war ended. The Rosenwalds made Philadelphia their home.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Dooley and his brother in law, Isadore Scott, owned Winner Manufacturing Company in Trenton, N.J., producing prefabricated houses and - revolutionary at that time - fiberglass boats. He was a director of Sears for many years and was asked to remain for two years beyond the traditional retirement age of 70.
The Rosenwalds first visited the Vineyard in the late 1930s, returning often and finally building their house in Chilmark in 1963. Here, Dooley could be seen chopping wood and clearing brush, a favorite pastime. He was happiest outdoors and was an environmentalist before the word itself was popular.
A longtime skier, Dooley was also an avid tennis player and enjoyed the game into his 80s. He was an accomplished and talented amateur photographer as well as a devoted birder. Indeed, he is legendary on the Vineyard for his sighting of the red-billed tropic bird never before seen in this part of the world. Birders came from all over to see this rare find. He is legendary, too, for making a handkerchief "mouse" which jumped out of his hands and delighted three generations of children and adults.
Carrying on the proud tradition of his family, Dooley devoted his life to civic and philanthropic causes. He was a trustee of Lincoln University from 1950 to 1990 and received an honorary doctorate from that institution. In Philadelphia, he served on the boards of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, March of Dimes, United Fund, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Blue Cross and WHYY (public radio and television) from its inception. He was one of the founders of the University City Science Center and was an advocate for disadvantaged residents displaced by that building.
He is survived by his wife and three children, Karen Gundersheimer, Linda Levy and Julius Rosenwald 3rd and their partners, Werner Gundersheimer, Paul Levy and Margo Cardner; five grandchildren, Jeffrey, Deborah and Timothy Levy and Joshua and Benjamin Gundersheimer, and three great-grandchildren, Charlie, Eli and Cate Levy. He also leaves his brother, Robert Rosenwald, and two sisters, Joan Scott and Janet Becker. Another sister, Helen Snellenburg, died in 1998.
Donations in Dooley's memory may be sent to Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, Linton avenue, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.
Madelaine Bigelow, 72
Loved Tennis and Sailing
Madelaine Brown Bigelow, 72, died at her home in North Carolina on Nov. 6.
Mickey will be remembered for her warmth, humor and love of life. She was an avid reader and an excellent thinker who always enjoyed a good debate. She was also a devoted and loving mother and a thoughtful sister and friend.
A talented and competitive tennis player, Mickey was a sought-after doubles partner. Her grace, power and speed on the court were admired by many, and her opponents always feared her stinging serve. Another joy for Mickey was sailing. She inherited a love of the water from her father, and during her summers on Martha's Vineyard Island she raced for the Edgartown Yacht Club. She could often be seen sailing in Island waters with family and friends.
Throughout her life, Mickey pursued her love of the arts. She adored singing and playing the piano, especially with her sisters and cousins. Mickey enjoyed painting and had a wonderful sense for color and landscapes. Later in life she also became an excellent weaver. Her rag rugs are treasured by all who have them.
Mickey was born and raised in Providence, R.I., where she attended Wheeler School. She was graduated from Smith College in 1952. After college she worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C., where she met her first husband, John Scott. They raised three children together, living first outside of New York city and then in Chapel Hill, N.C. They were divorced in 1965, whereupon Mickey returned to the Northeast with her children. She later married
Talman Bigelow and together they had one child. She and Tom settled in Seekonk, where they launched Tom's boat building business. In 1974 they moved to the coast of Maine and bought a small farm in Brooksville. There she enjoyed tending her vegetable and flower gardens, playing tennis and sailing. They moved to a house on Blue Hill Bay in 1997 and went on to winter in Naples, Fla., to be near family. In May of 2002, Mickey was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment in both Maine and Florida before moving to Chapel Hill, N.C., this past spring to be near three of her children. She will be sorely missed by all who loved her.
A funeral service will be held in Naples, Fla., at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Trinity by the Cove in Port Royal. A memorial service will also be held in Blue Hill, Me., this summer. Memorial donations in Mickey's name may be made to your local Hospice chapter.
Robert Urquhart
Was Aeronautical Engineer
Robert Gordon Urquhart of Wellesley Hills died on Nov. 15 at the Boston Center in Roslindale after an extended illness. He was 85. He was born in Detroit, Mich., on April 10, 1918, the son of William and Greta Winters Urquhart. He married
Adelaide Bangs of an Island family in 1944 and thought of Martha's Vineyard as a second home which he visited as frequently as possible through the years.
Mr. Urquhart followed the progression of his family's occupation in transportation. He was descended from blacksmiths in the Scottish Highlands; his great-grandfather, also a blacksmith, emigrated to Ontario. His father was an engineer associated with the auto industry. Mr. Urquhart matriculated as a freshman in 1936 at Harvard College, receiving a master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1941. Following graduate school he worked for Chance Vought Aircraft in Connecticut on development and production of the famous gull wing Corsair. After the war he taught at the University of Minnesota and Texas A&M College before continuing his engineering career with the Martin Company in Baltimore, serving as a field test engineer in the California and New Mexico deserts and as a research engineer in Denver. Later in his career, he received a second master's degree in mathematics education at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
He retired in 1988 from ASEC, an engineering company in Burlington. Professionally, he was proud of the fact that he had received recognition in 2001 for 60 years of continuous membership in the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. At the meeting where the presentation was made, the master of ceremonies remarked that, to his knowledge, no other New England member had ever received the award in person.
A 27-year member of the First Baptist Church in Newton, his major concerns were social outreach and the distribution of food from the metrowest area to those in need in the inner city.
Mr. Urquhart is survived by his wife of 59 years, Adelaide; his son, Robert Jr., and grandchildren, Amy and Ian. A memorial service was held on Sunday, Nov. 23 at the First Baptist Church in Newton. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the feeding ministry at the church, 848 Beacon street, Newton Centre, MA 02459 or to a charity of one's choice.
George Lockwood
Was Island Summer Resident
George Lockwood, Cleveland business executive and Olympic alternate, died Nov. 26.
George was born in Cleveland in 1911 and briefly attended Shaw High, later graduating from University School in 1929. In subsequent years George become a trustee and major supporter of University School. He served as president of the board of trustees and in 1977 he was honored with the University School Alumni Graduate Award. He attended Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1933 with a B.S. degree in geology. While at Yale he won the Eastern Nationals as a high hurdler, an achievement that entitled him to try out for the U.S. Olympic team. After graduation he traveled to Los Angeles to compete in the tryouts, but missed being selected for the competition.
A lifelong supporter of Yale for which the university bestowed upon him the Yale Medal, Mr. Lockwood was instrumental in establishing a scholarship fund for Cleveland area students to attend the University. Proceeds from the annual Yale Ball, which he started, fund the scholarship program.
He worked for Pickands Mather and rose to become the managing partner for the coal division and executive vice president of the company. Early in his career he was he was transferred to Duluth, Minn., to manage the coal docks, a position that he held for 10 years. During this time he enjoyed hunting, skiing and raising his family. Returning to Cleveland in 1951, he became a director of Central National Bank, Kidron Manufacturing Company, Hickock Inc., Fairmount Minerals Ltd. and several other local companies. He retired from Pickands Mather a few years after its merger into Diamond Shamrock Corp. and became chairman of Cleveland Steel Container Corp. and managing partner of Ohio Oil and Gas Development Corp. He remained active in the business community well into his 80s.
Mr. Lockwood and his wife of 63 years, Lee (Wilson), were longtime summer residents of Martha's Vineyard, and have shared many happy years there with their children and grandchildren. George especially enjoyed gardening and tennis and traveling all over the world with Lee. He is also survived by daughters Audrey L. Schneider (John P.) of Pepper Pike, Ohio, and Nancy L. Glaser (Jerome) of Scottsdale, Ariz., and son George (Sandy) S. Lockwood 3rd of Vineyard Haven; six grandchildren, Melissa Gleason, Nicholas Cranz, Christopher Schneider, Julie Baker, Amanda and Kerry Glaser, and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial gifts may me made in his name to Yale Alumni Scholarship of Cleveland, Inc., 2711 Wadsworth Road, Shaker Heights, OH 44122-2011 or the University School Scholarship Fund, 2785 SOM Center Road, Hunting Valley, OH 44122. Memorial services will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, in Christ Episcopal Church, 3445 Warrensville Center Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Paul F. Kerns Sr., 80
Was Veteran of World War II
Paul F. Kerns Sr., 80, died on Friday, Nov. 21 at his home in Bayonet Point, Fla. He is survived by his beloved wife of 47 years, Grace. He was born in Oak Bluffs on Dec. 2, 1922. He and his wife left the Vineyard for Maine in 1988 and then moved to Bayonet Point in 1999.
Mr. Kerns was a graduate of Tisbury High School and a WWII Navy Veteran. From 1942 to 1945, he served as part of the Navy's landbased Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO), a highly secret intelligence operation in internal China.
After leaving the Navy he worked as a carpenter, a commercial fisherman and a postal clerk. In 1984 he retired after 18 years of service at the Vineyard Haven post office.
Mr. Kerns was a lifetime member of the VFW and a member of the Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion and SACO Veterans. He was a charter member and three times past commander of VFW Post 9261 in Oak Bluffs.
During the last several years, his most memorable times were his travels back to the New England area and to Seattle to visit his children and grandchildren. He loved nothing more than to sit with his family and friends and share stories of his days in China, sword fishing, politics, Boston sports teams and his early years on the Vineyard.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by four sons: Paul F. Kerns Jr. and his wife, Lisa, of Appalachin, N.Y.; Thomas Kerns and his wife, Anne, of East Providence, R.I.; John Kerns and his wife, Tena, of Berkley, and Michael Kerns of Seattle, Wash.; three daughters: Kathleen Bongiorno and her husband, Bob, of Norwood, Penn.; Susan Rosin and her husband, Dick, of Boxford, and Patti Schuller and her husband, Paul, of Clinton, Wash.; a brother, Bill Shannon, of Indiana; a sister, Eileen Fichtner, of Bayonet Point, Fla.; 13 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his daughter, Patricia Louise Kerns, his sister, Bette Melchoir, his brother, Richard Shannon, his mother, Emma Murphy, and his stepfather, Auranus Murphy.
Interment will be held at the Massachusetts National cemetery at Otis Air Force Base in Bourne at a later date. Donations may be made in his memory to the VFW National Home for Children, 3573 S. Waverly Road, Eaton Rapids, MI 48827.
Daniel McGoldrick
Was Devoted to His Family
Daniel John McGoldrick, 69, of Vineyard Haven and Hingham died Monday, Dec. 8, at home of a sudden heart attack.
Mr. McGoldrick was born in Brockton on July 5, 1934 to John M. McGoldrick and Alice Wightman.
He lived in California, Colorado and Vermont before moving to Martha's Vineyard in 1987.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, a member of the Counter Intelligence Corps in the U.S. Army, he was a man of many talents and inventions. Most of all he was a devoted brother, uncle, grand uncle and friend to a wide circle of family and friends.
He leaves his sisters, Jean Reuter of Pennington, N.J., Ann DeGon of Spokane, Wash., and Arline Harkness of Vineyard Haven. He was a special uncle to Lisa Harkness of Hingham, her children, Jack and Liam Hobbs, as well as to his many nieces and nephews, their children and friends. He was predeceased by his brother, Jim, of El Segundo, Calif., and his parents.
His memorial mass will be celebrated in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Oak Bluffs, at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. Donations may be made in his memory to the Vineyard Haven Public Library, 200 Main street, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, Oak Bluffs.
