Obituaries

Obituaries – Nov + Dec 2018

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December 28, 2018

Donald Moffat, 87

Veteran Broadway, film and TV actor Donald Moffat, who lived at Kendal on Hudson in Sleepy Hollow, died December 20. He was 87.

Mr. Moffat, whose career spanned five decades. was a familiar face to movie and theatergoers. He played a corrupt president of the United States in the film Clear and Present Danger, Lyndon Johnson in The Right Stuff and, in one of his last performances, an aging Ulysses S. Grant in an off-Broadway play by John Guare, and was often cast as distinguished characters of one kind or another because of his ruggedly handsome face and trim figure. He played multiple roles to great acclaim in Shakespeare, Ibsen, Pinter and O’Neill plays, among other classic playwrights. His career was notable for its non-stop activity: Twenty Broadway shows, many more off-Broadway, 121 movies and countless TV shows, including One Life to Live, in which he played Dr. Marcus Polk.

He is survived by his wife – noted actress, film and TV director Gwen Arner, his daughter, Lynn, married to Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray, three other children – Katherine, Wendy and Gabriel, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was a great wit and raconteur and will be deeply missed by his friends and family.

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Rose Raniolo, 90

Rose Iacono Raniolo, a native and lifelong resident of North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow), died December 4. She was 90.

She graduated from North Tarrytown High School in 1946, where she was a cheerleader. During high school she worked at the Adams dress factory on Orchard Street in Tarrytown and did part-time work at Readers’ Digest during Christmas time. In 1949, she married her high school sweetheart, John F. Raniolo, at St. Teresa’s Church in North Tarrytown, three years after he was honorably discharged from service in World War II.

From 1946 to 1955, she worked at Washington Irving Trust Company, which later became County Trust, on the corner of McKeele Avenue and Broadway in North Tarrytown in the mortgage department. Later in her life, she substituted for teaching assistants at the John Paulding school in Tarrytown.

Rose and John were married for 67 years before his passing on January 29, 2016.

Gail Matthew, 73

Gail Louise Matthew, a resident of Irvington, died November 30 at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, following a lengthy struggle with skin cancer. She was 73.

She spent her childhood in Palmyra, NJ and was a 1963 graduate of Palmyra High School. After high school she attended Purdue University from which she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968 and a Master of Science in Special Education in 1969. She was a proud member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and the Kappa Delta Pi honorary educational society.

While at Purdue, she met David L. Matthew III, whom she married on November 8, 1969. After completing her education, she lived with her husband in Ambato, Ecuador from 1969 to 1970 while he was a volunteer in the Peace Corps. After returning to the U.S. in the early 1970’s the couple lived in Peekskill prior to settling in Irvington in 1980.

Mrs. Matthew was a dedicated and inspirational teacher in the Chappaqua Central School district where she taught special education in the Douglas G. Grafflin Elementary School, retiring in 2006. She was also a devout Christian. She was affiliated with the Rise Up Christian Fellowship, and she was an active member of the Calvary Chapel of Westchester.

She was a devoted and loving wife, mother, and friend. She loved to travel. Throughout her life she had visited every U.S. state as well as many countries throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. She also loved knitting and card stitching.

Alice Nelsen, 76

Alice M. Nelsen, a resident of Tarrytown, died December 7. She was 76.

Born in White Plains, she was raised in Elmsford where she attended school. She went on to become a school teacher and taught in the Elmsford School District for almost 40 years. Many of those years were spent teaching in the Alice E. Grady School. Her favorite hobby was creating items with the art of origami.

Margaret Pesick, 80

Margaret Pesick, a longtime Irvington resident, died December 14. She was 80.

Born in Tarrytown, for more than 30 years she was a secretary for BOCES in Rye Brook. For many years she was also the organist and singer at Holy Cross Church in North Tarrytown. She was married to Stephen Pesick, who predeceased her in 2010.

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