Obituary Carol Jo (Fonda) Shybunko

Carol Jo (Fonda) Shybunko, 90, of Rhinebeck, and Smithtown New York, passed away March 19, 2023.
Born in 1932 she was the daughter of Joseph & Agnes Matteson. Carol attended Long Island Agricultural & Technical College, earning an Associate’s degree in Advertising Arts and Design. In 1953 she married Frank Fonda Jr and moved to Rhinebeck NY in 1965. Carol married her second husband Daniel Shybunko in 1991 and resided in St James, NY on Long Island.

Carol enjoyed the great outdoors, camping being one of her favorites along with skiing, skating, swimming, and sailing. She was a dog lover and owned many different breeds over the years which brought her great comfort and joy. Carol was a lifelong avid gardener as well as a botanical enthusiast. Her hobbies included raising sheep, chickens, songbirds, as well as knitting, watercolor painting, organ playing, and singing in the Rhinebeck Choral Club. A passion of hers, Carol taught the art of spinning, weaving and natural dyeing, was a past President of The Spinning Study Group of Long Island, and was a long-time member of the Smithtown Historical Society. She was an artist at heart, especially fond of decorating for the Rhinebeck Choral Club and Smithtown Historical Society theme events. She has impacted many people positively through her passion and contributions, leaving a lasting impression on everyone she encountered.

Carol is survived by her five children; Dee Fonda, Karen Fisher (Scott), Chip Fonda (Kimberly), Mitch Fonda (Louise), Russ Fonda (Michelle), grandchildren; Megan Fisher, Jeremy Fisher, Megyn Fonda, great-grandson Xander Fisher, brother-in-law Al Holliday, nieces, nephews, and a host of long-time friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, husbands, and sister Ruth Holliday. A private memorial gathering will be held at a later date for the immediate family.

The family would like to thank Carol’s caregivers at Whisper Woods of Smithtown and her doctors, Dr. Friedling and Dr. Kalonaros.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in Carol’s memory to The Spinning Study Group of Long Island, Rhinebeck Choral club, or a charity of your choice.
Spinning Study Group of Long Island
C/O Maria Hughes
28 Mud Road
East Setauket, NY 11733

Rhinebeck Choral Club
C/O Maureen Ruberto
24 Dorliss Dr
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

 

Obituary: Michael Joseph And Eleanor Trotta

Michael Joseph and Eleanor Trotta

Married 68 years, Kings Park couple die a day apart

Joe and Eleanor TrotterIt was love at first sight when Eleanor and Joe (Michael) Trotta met at a dance in Washington, DC. She was a secretary to the Secretary of the Navy, and he was in the marines. Joe Trotta passed away March 29, 2023, at the age of 89 and his beloved wife, Eleanor, in her 91^st year, joined him in eternal rest the next day on March 30, 2023.

After graduating from high school, Joe joined the US Marines Corp to fight for his country. However, he did so well on an exam that he was sent to Puerto Rico to work in engineering. According to his son, Rob, that probably saved his life, as many of his friends did not return home from the Korean War. Following his service, they moved to Long Island. Joe spent 35 years working at the phone company. He was a member of the Smithtown Landing Men’s Club and an avid golfer and fisherman. He was handy around his home and taught his three sons those skills. Eleanor worked in the Commack School District and then at the Kings Park Psychiatric Center. She loved to cook, bake, and socialize with her family and friends. Her family enjoyed her rhubarb crisp that she made from scratch with the rhubarb from her son’s garden. “Our parents lovingly passed to us the skills we needed to pursue our careers and enjoy hobbies with them,” said their son Ken.

 They lived in Commack while raising their children and then moved to Kings Park, where they were longtime residents.

Joe battled with dementia for the past four years, but up until a couple of years ago, he would walk daily at 5am on the boardwalk at Sunken Meadow State Park. Despite Eleanor’s health issues, her mind was as sharp as a tack. During this period, they drew on each other’s strengths and commitment in a love match that lasted almost 69 years. “In the end, they became one person,” said Rob. “They were always a loving couple, and family came first. It seems like a good ending to a love story that they should pass away a day apart,” the sons said.

They were predeceased by their son Michael and survivors include sons Ken of Vista, California, Rob of Fort Salonga,  (Wendy), daughter-in-law Laura of Kings Park, and grandchildren Tori, Matt, Michael (Jackie), Andrew, and Liam (Haley) and four great grandchildren. The couple once remarked that they did not have any daughters, but their daughter-in-laws were the best and like daughters to them.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sweetbriar Nature Center at 62 Eckernkamp Drive, Smithtown, NY 11787 (www.sweetbriarnc.org) would be appreciated.

The Clayton Funeral Home in Kings Park handled the arrangements.

Obituary: Vivian Elaine (Greenwald) Barton

Vivian Elaine (Greenwald) Barton -  Sept 13, 2025 – December 1, 2022

Long-time Hauppauge/Smithtown resident Vivian Barton was 97 years young when she passed away from complications of Covid. Born in. and raised in the Rockaway area of Queens, she was the daughter of Louis and Bertha Greenwald.  She was the last surviving of six children. Her father died when Vivian was 11 years old. 

Married in Roslyn, NY to Lloyd Barton on February 13, 1966 they shared 49 years of happy marriage life until his untimely/unexpected passing in 2015. The Barton family moved from Jackson Heights (Queens) with her husband Lloyd and son Alan to their home in 1970

She had graduated from Textile High School in Manhattan in 1943 and lived in her own apartment in Sunnyside (Queens) until marriage.  She had earned her Associated Degree in college and worked as a Dental Assistant for about 20 years (initially in NYC before marriage and then after children were in school she returned to work) Working at a NYC Dental office for about 10 years, prior to her marriage, one of the patients was Hungarian born actress Zha Zha Gabor. When she returned to work, it was for Dr. Goldberg on East Main Street in Smithtown after her children were in school. 

A Life Member of Hadassah, she was very active in the Smithtown Chapter of Hadassah.  

A founding member of Temple Beth Chai  of Hauppauge (TBC) in 1972, she served as the president of Sisterhood and was an active TBC member for many years. Vivian had finally been able to have a Bas Mitzvah later in life (when she was in her 50’s) and became more religious as she got older. She participated in the Adult Bas Mitzvah Class in 1986 (as she was never able to have a Bas Mitzvah in her childhood) and was called to the Torah for her first-ever Aliyah at the age of 94 – it was something that she was very thrilled about and proud of. She enjoyed her “Monday Lunch Ladies Group” every week for more than 15 years. They met during the TBC Adult Ed class and started to gather for lunch following the weekly teaching and discussion time at the synagogue. Very involved with TBC Choir, singing at High Holiday Services and at most of the 42 years of Interfaith Thanksgiving services with local churches and TBC. 

Active in the Smithtown/Hauppauge community in the Homemakers Group, Vivian was a member of the Bowling Leagues, enjoyed playing tennis, bowling, swimming, and hiking as well as being involved with her sons’ PTA’s when they were growing up and attending Hauppauge schools.  She rode a bike with her sons on the back of her bike in “children’s bike seats” An Accomplished knitter and crocheter, she sewed clothing and hung wallpaper in her home and helped others with wallpapering in their homes as well.  An accomplished artist, she had embroidered artwork on the walls in her home. Favorite foods to make for her family included stuffed cabbage, potato lakes (potato pancakes), cabbage soup and she made her own bread and cakes “from scratch“ before it was “in style”  — all her recipes were from memory.

A lover of animals, especially dogs, she loved to walk the neighborhood to meet and talk with the neighbors.  She loved cooking (especially stews, soups, and Hungarian dishes) and plants – she had plants that she shared and especially loved roses and her flower garden. The kitchen was always full of plants that she grew from cutting and shared with friends, family, and neighbors. She brought back cactus from her cousin’s Moshav (near Kiryat Malachi) and has kept it alive for many years, starting in 1980 when she brought it back as a cutting

She enjoyed traveling and taking rides in the car all over Long Island. She traveled to Israel several times both for her son’s Bar Mitzvahs and for visits with family members in the Jerusalem area.  She traveled to Hungary with husband Lloyd to “visit the old country” where the family came from. Her famous saying was ”Celebrate the Good Times” and enjoyed a positive attitude and nature as viewed from the car windows (trees in bloom as well as when the leaves were turning color in the fall. She enjoyed going to Mets baseball games and Broadway shows, Israeli Art Museums in NYC as well as traveling to Los Angeles (California), Florida, and Seattle (Washington)

Her family in America was only her grandmother, who came to the US prior to the rise of Hitler.  All other family members – her uncle and then cousins in Israel had survived either World War II or the Holocaust – had  moved to Moshav Talmei Yeahi’el near Ashdod.  Vivian’s contact with her cousins started out as via being a pen pal as a child and this led to Vivian becoming a Zionist. 

Vivian Barton is survived by her sons Alan (of Hauppauge) and Jeffrey (of St. James), many nieces and nephews and friends. She was predeceased by her parents (Bertha and Louis Greenwald), her husband (Lloyd Barton), and four brothers and one sister.

Donations in memory of Vivian Barton can be made to Hadassah (Smithtown Chapter  c/o 54 Brilner Drive, Smithtown, NY 11787), the Guide Dog Foundation (371 N.Y. Rte25, Smithtown, NY 11787), Temple Beth Chai of Hauppauge (Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund c/o Temple Beth Chai, 870 Townline Road, Hauppauge, NY 11788),  Jewish National Fund for planting trees in Israel (c/o 54 Brilner Drive, Smithtown NY 11787; Please be sure to include the recipient’s name(s) and address), or the charity of your choice.

Obituary: Norma P. Tierney

Norma P. Tierney died of natural causes in Port Jefferson, on August 26, 2022 at the age of 93. Born in Huntington Hospital, to C. Le Roy Peckham and Gladys M. Wood, she lived in Port Jefferson most of her life and was a 1946 graduate of Port Jefferson High School. She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, John J. Tierney; her daughter, Maureen Zukoski; a granddaughter, Dawn; and a great-grandson; and her son-in-law, Jay LaMonica. She is survived by her brother Robert (Judy) Peckham of E. Meadow; a brother-in-law, Michael (Alicia) Tierney of St. Louis, MO. Sons: Brian (Betsy) Tierney of St. James; Pat Tierney of Port Jefferson; and a daughter, Peggy LaMonica of Port Jefferson; 8 Grandchildren: Norma, Rachel, Shane, Jake, Meara, Meghan, Jackie, and Colin; and 22 great grandchildren.

Norma is a direct lineal descendant of: John Howland and his wife Elizabeth Tilley who were passengers on the Mayflower; Captain John Underhill; Captain John Dickenson; John Coggeshall, first President of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations; seven Revolutionary War Patriots; and descendant from many other Long Island families such as Burr, Townsend, Conklin, Wood, Smith, Delano, and Gardiner.

Burial August 30, 2022 in Long Island National Cemetery.

Arrangements entrusted to the professional care of Branch Funeral Home of Miller Place and Vigliante family 

Online guest book at www.branchfh.com

Obituary: James E. (Red) Dowling

Father, husband, grandfather, American hero, WWII Veteran, community leader, and a host of other esteemed adjectives can be used to describe James E (Red) Dowling.

Whether he was sharing his awe-inspiring stories or simply being a natural community leader, we’re proud to call James E Dowling our local celebrity and hero.

James Dowling was drafted in 1943 and became a Bombardier/Navigator for the 703rd Squadron, 445th Bomb Group in the 8th Army Air Corps. Jim’s Flight Leader and fellow war veteran was the famous actor Jimmy Stewart.
James became an officer and earned the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. However one fateful day on September 27, 1944 during his 11th mission on a bombing run over Kassel, Germany; he was shot down and taken as a prisoner of war.

Eventually, 2nd Lieutenant Dowling returned home as a decorated war veteran. Jim Dowling is featured in the “Faces of War” video series and has an entire chapter written about him in Tom Brokaw’s Book – ‘The Greatest Generation’. 

When Lt. Dowling returned home as a POW, war veteran, and American hero, simply settling down to enjoy life was not good enough. He married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy, fathered eight children and continued to be the shining example of service and sacrifice for his grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchild and everyone else that knew him.

One of the first things he did when he returned home from the service was begin a construction business and started Red’s seafood. He delivered clams all over the tri-state area including Fulton Fish Market in downtown Manhattan.  

He started the St. James Little League for children in the neighborhood and continued to serve in the capacity of president for 18 years.

Continuing his legacy of service, Jim Dowling was elected as Smithtown Highway Superintendent from 1960 - 1998. By operating the office like the military, he successfully created 250 miles of permanent roads. In addition, he altered the way the municipality dealt with snow storms by making it more proactive, which set the precedent of a system that is implemented nationwide to this day.

Jim was an avid golfer and one heck of a Gin Rummy Player.  He was a member of St. George’s Golf and Country Club for over 50 years.  

Jim Dowling lived an amazing life and loved every minute of it. He will be greatly missed. 

He is loving reunited in heaven with his sweetheart the Late Dorothy Dowling. He will be Remembered as a Loving Dad to James Dowling Jr, Douglas & Jeanne Dowling, Jeffrey & Aniela Dowling, Janet & Brett Weingarten ,Jean Dowling, Elizabeth & Robert Elderkin, Gregory & Donna Dowling, William & Christine Dowling. An adored Pop of 25 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren & 1 great great grandchild.