The Vineyard community said goodbye this year to friends and neighbors who left a lasting impact on the Island. Jerome Kohlberg Jr., a pioneering Wall Street businessman, philanthropist and longtime third baseman for the Chilmark softball league, died in July at age 90. Mr. Kohlberg and his wife Nancy purchased the Gazette in 2010, ushering in a new era for the paper.

Bob Carroll, a storied Edgartown businessman and colorful Island character, died at age 90. The Vineyard also said goodbye to Sen. Edward Brooke, a longtime seasonal resident; art collector and philanthropist Olga Hirshhorn, beloved Island locksmith Buzz Blankenship, and local actor, playwright, and all-around Renaissance man Leslie Stark, who died in July at the age of 76.

Trudy Taylor, matriarch of the musical Taylor family, died in October at age 92. Oak Bluffs said farewell to longtime fire captain Donald Billings. Stories told by Meverell Good, a proud veteran and gifted storyteller who was a substitute teacher for years at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School and died in February at 91, will be remembered for years to come.

The Island also lost several accomplished artists whose works will continue to inspire: Poet Peggy Freydberg at the age of 107, just before the publication of ther 12th book; horror film director Wes Craven, 76, who wrote a column for Martha's Vineyard Magazine; Marianne Goldberg, the Chilmark arts patron and founder of Pathways Gathering Space; and former Gazette columnist Will Monast at age 67. William Waterway, who founded Martha's Vineyard Magazine and was instrumental in saving the Gay Head Light in the 1980s, died at 66.

 

Poet and novelist Peggy Freydberg died in March at 107. “Writing is an absolute need for me — the need to express myself and express experience,” she said in 2003. – Mark Lovewell
In a lifetime of accomplishments, Jerome Kohlberg Jr. believed above all in doing the right thing. Jerry Kohlberg, the beloved owner of the Gazette, died in July at age 90. – Mark Lovewell
Meverell Good, a veteran, storyteller, and beloved substitute teacher, died in February at 91. “Be a go-giver, not a go-getter,” he told his students. – Katie Ruppel
Olga Hirshhorn, well-known art collector and philanthropist who founded the Chicken Alley art show, died in October at 95. “It’s hard to imagine the Vineyard arts scene without imagining Olga in middle of it,” Dr. Gerald Yukevich said in 2013. – Mark Lovewell
U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke left a national legacy as a trailblazer who fought for racial equality, a steward of the Vineyard community, and a skilled tennis player. He died in January at 95. – Jaxon White
Leslie J. Stark, actor, playwright, Gazette proofreader and beacon of hope to Islanders fighting cancer, died in July at 76. “People keep calling and telling me, if it weren’t for Leslie I don’t know what I would have done, he made it so much easier,” his sister Cheryl Stark said. – Sally Cohn
Trudy Taylor, the matriarch of the musical Taylor family, died in October at 92. “Sometimes in the morning if you can wake up and just see yourself in the mirror and get a good laugh, it’s good,” she once said. “Life is too serious to be taken seriously.” – Mark Lovewell
Bob Carroll, who died in March at age 90, was a prominent Edgartown businessman, town selectman, raconteur, and longtime Vineyard power player. Friends said his most lasting legacy was how much he cared for the Island and the people who live here. – Jaxon White
Wes Craven, who died in August at 76, was known worldwide for his horror films. An avid birder, he wrote a bird column for the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine.
Marianne Goldberg, a multi-talented choreographer, writer, and visual artist, founded Pathways Gathering Space. She died in December at 63. – Ray Ewing
Richard (Buzz) Blankenship, a lifelong tinkerer and the Island’s treasured locksmith, died in September at 70. “I truly believe he was one of the finest and kindest people who ever breathed,” read a comment left on his online obituary. – Ray Ewing
Poet, writer and activist William Waterway died in September at 66. “I never saw what I was doing as a mission,” he told the Gazette in the 2010 interview. “I’m doing the thing that makes me feel alive, gives me purpose.” – Ivy Ashe
Will Monast, skilled carpenter, waterman, deejay, and writer, wrote the Tales from Gosnold column for the Gazette. He died in February at 67. His too-short writing career was, as he once wrote, “an odyssey that will only end with my death and burial, still alone, in the northwest corner of my past, having been loved enough to at least be a memory.” – Ivy Ashe
Donald Billings, who died in November at 84, was devoted to his family, his community, and his church. A retired Oak Bluffs fire captain, he helped bring the department’s 1929 engine back to the Island.

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2 Comments

  1. A very nice tribute to those whose passing left a void on this island and in our hearts.

    Reply

  2. Mr good die noooooooo now where is everyone gonna get there toast from way to sad an to find out on the 1st guess new years brings ends an beginnings hope mr goods in heaven right now passing out toast at the pearly gates

    Reply
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