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In Memoriams





Beverley windatt
1939-2022




Bev Windatt was President of the Little Garden Club of Rye during 1993-1995, Co-President with Debby Hansen from 1995-1996, and a dear, easy-going friend to many. She was always positive, up-beat and smiling.


Beverley Hill Windatt of Essex, CT, formerly of Rye, NY, passed away peacefully July 2, 2022, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her family and her beloved dog.


Beverley was born in Belleville, Ontario February 18, 1939, to Margaret and Alexander Hill. She came to the United States, at the age of 17, to attend Connecticut College where she earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology. At her very first college mixer, she met the man who would be by her side for the next 65 years. Beverley and Richard “Dick” Windatt married Feb, 11, 1960, during their senior year of college, at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Old Lyme.


Following their graduation, Dick and Beverley lived in Jacksonville, Fla., while Dick served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. While he was deployed, Beverley worked as a substitute teacher.


They later moved to Philadelphia, Pa., and while Dick pursued his MBA, Beverley worked in the admissions department at the University of Pennsylvania. Next came moves to Brooklyn Heights, Chappaqua, and Armonk, N.Y., Los Angeles, Calif., and then finally, Rye, NY, where they lived for 20 years and raised their family. She spent the last 25 years of her life back in the Old Lyme and Essex area.


While she eventually became a U.S. citizen, Canada always held a special spot in her heart especially her days spent on Lake Ontario as a child; and she took special pride in her love and endurance of incredibly cold pool water as a result. Fittingly, Beverley passed away on the weekend of both Canada Day and the Fourth of July.


While raising her children Beverley was a passionate and committed volunteer. Besides helping at her children’s schools, she served as the president of the Little Garden Club of Rye. She was especially dedicated to United Hospital in Port Chester, N.Y. serving in a variety of roles and eventually as president of the board. Beverley loved reading, gardening, solving The NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle and gathering with her friends to play mahjong every week. But by far, Beverley’s greatest passion was her family.


Nothing made her happier than spending time with her grandchildren: helping them plant gardens, swimming with them on hot summer days, delighting them with boxes and boxes of sparklers on summer nights and telling them how special they were and how much she loved them, always with a German shepherd dog by her side.


Beverley was predeceased by her parents, as well as her brother Peter B. Hill. She is survived by her husband Richard Windatt of Essex; her children, Richard D. Windatt of Moraga, Calif., and Laura Galante (Charles) of Darien; as well as her grandchildren: Mason, Parker and Will Windatt and Connor, Quinn, Tyler and Eloise Galante.


The family is particularly grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff of both Connecticut Oncology and the Middlesex Hospital Health Hospice Care Program. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests that anyone interested in doing so, consider a donation to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in Norwalk, CT and/or Middlesex Hospital of Middletown, CT. Services will be privately held by Beverly’s family.




Doris Reade
1918-2021



Doris Hughes Reade died peacefully August 23, 2021 a few weeks after celebrating her 103rd birthday. She was born in Brooklyn, moved to Pelham at a young age and then to Rye in 1935. She graduated from Rye Country Day School in 1936 and was a proud member of the Smith College class 1940. Following her graduation from college, she attended the New York School of Interior Design and then worked as a designer before later returning to teach at the New York School of Interior Design.


In 1948 she married Robert Reade and returned to Rye to raise her family. She was active in the community with the Little Garden Club of Rye, the Twig Organization, and the Rye Recreation Commission and was a longtime member of Christ’s Church. With her husband, she was a former member of the Manursing Island Club, the Apawamis Club, The Moorings Yacht and Country Club and was a current member of the American Yacht Club. She enjoyed vacationing in in Vero Beach, Fla. and West Falmouth, Mass.


Doris was a great conversationist who loved spending time with family and friends as well as meeting new friends. She was an active reader, enjoyed gardening, and played bridge, tennis and paddle tennis with enthusiasm. After her husband’s death, she took up golf again and had two holes in one while in her eighties. Doris is survived by her three daughters, Deborah Christensen of Park City, Utah; Nancy Everett (Nick) of Rye, N.Y.; Jane Nissi (Nordo) of Groton, Mass.; a cousin Jane Wilson of West Islip, N.Y.; eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.





Anne Rice Berntsen
1927-2020



Anne Rice Berntsen, born August 11, 1927, in Wenham, MA, the daughter of Neil W. Rice and Emma Mandell Rice, died peacefully in Connecticut at the Greenwich Hospital on December 27, 2020, at the age of 93 from complications of Parkinson's Disease. She is survived by three children (Carl A. III, Thomas S., and Elise B. Stanbury), a son-in-law (John B. Stanbury Jr), daughter-in-law (Martha Graulty Berntsen) four grandchildren (Alexander & Christopher Berntsen and Benjamin & Geoffrey Stanbury), a granddaughter-in-law (Amy Reck Stanbury) and two great grandchildren (Wesley B. and Madeline C. Stanbury). Her fourth child, Douglas E., predeceased her as did her husband of nearly 50 years. A 1945 graduate of The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY, Anne attended Wheaton College before marrying Carl A. Berntsen Jr, a Navy Doctor, in Hamilton, MA, in a blizzard on January 10, 1948. After a few years living in CA and NYC, the family moved to Rye, NY, where Anne remained for 70 years. An active community member, she worked tirelessly on projects with The Little Garden Club of Rye, Rye Town Park and Christ's Church. As a past director in The Garden Club of America, Anne particularly enjoyed working with their internship program. Throughout her life, Anne was a great support to her children and grandchildren and enjoyed the company of many friends. She excelled in athletic pursuits. She grew up riding horses with her parents, was an excellent tennis player, swimmer, golfer and beautiful skier. She especially loved to travel, first with husband Carl, and later with companion Hans E. Hopf. Meeting people, walking and skiing in new environs, and learning histories and customs brought life-long satisfaction. Anne enjoyed many memberships including Manursing Island, Apawamis, Addlepate Ski, American Yacht Club, Amateur Ski Club of NY and Colony Club. She was an active parent volunteer at Midland School and Rye Country Day School, and put up with the mayhem of neighborhood children assembling in her backyard field or ‘mountain'.

Anne's infectious laugh and sparkling blue eyes will be missed by many.


I




Anne Sohmer
1922-2018




Anne (Convertino) Sohmer, age 95, of Rye, NY, passed away on February 10, 2018 at the Newfield House in Plymouth, MA. She was beloved wife of Harry J. Sohmer, Jr.. Loving mother of Harry J. Sohmer III of Port Chester, NY, Annina Sohmer-Knight and her husband Jeffery Knight of Little Britain, Ontario and John R.H. Sohmer and his wife Jesse of Duxbury, MA. She was predeceased by her sister Carmela Sterpe. She was the cherished grandmother of Harry B. Sohmer, Ellen M. Sohmer, Lila A. Sohmer and Adam M. Sohmer all of Duxbury, MA. Anne was born September 27, 1922 in Oneida, NY to John Convertino and Helen (Convertino) Tauro.


Anne loved being outdoors and was happiest when she was in the garden. She never met a plant she didn’t like and felt very close to God when she was in the garden. She married her one true love, Harry J. Sohmer JR, in 1946 and moved to Rye, NY in 1950. She was a lifelong member and past president of the Little Garden Club of Rye. She was also a member of AYC for more than 50 years. She spent time volunteering at the Botanical Garden in Bronx, NY and Wavehill Public Gardens and Cultural Center in Bronx, NY. She enjoyed playing bridge, reading and doing the daily crossword puzzles. She will be dearly missed. ​




A Member of The Garden Club of America

Contact us at:

LittleGardenClubofRye@gmail.com

Little Garden Club of Rye, PO Box 58, Rye, NY 10580