Obituaries: Longboat Key

Ellen Haft

Ellen Haft, 88, of Longboat Key, died Feb. 7.

Born July 21, 1927, in Medford, Mass., she was the only child of Edward and Minnie Wolk Siegel. She graduated from Medford High School in 1945, Brimmer & May School in 1946 and Boston University in 1951 with a degree in music. Mrs. Haft was an accomplished cellist, participating in classical trios and quartets for many years.

After college, she worked as a secretary in the Boston area. In 1955, she married Jay Stuart Haft, who was a teaching assistant at Boston University. For their honeymoon, they invested what few dollars they had in a steamship ticket to England, a tent and a new Austin Healy 100 in British racing green and toured Europe on a shoestring, camping as they traveled.

The couple lived in Boston for a few years and then a variety of apartments in Harrison, N.Y., Rye, N.Y. and Mamaroneck, N.Y. before settling in Rutherford, N.J. Mr. Haft worked in various teaching and research positions while completing his doctoral work at the New Jersey College of Medicine. His academic career freed up summers, which the couple sent sailing and cruising Long Island and Nantucket Sound.

Their love of sailing turned into a part-time business when Mr. Haft bought 10 winches for their boat, which only needed two. Borrowing a corner of a friend’s booth at the 1961 New York Boat Show, he sold the other eight at a profit, and a business was born. Over the next 30 years, the couple worked side-by-side in the marine business, which started as a part-time operation run from their Rutherford apartment and became an international marine supply company with more than 30 employees.

In 1966, they moved to Milwaukee, where Mr. Haft became a professor at Marquette University Medical School (later Medical College of Wisconsin), which he held until the marine business required his full-time attention. Mrs. Haft continued to work in their marine business while raising their son, James.

Tired of snow and following some friends, the couple moved to Longboat Key in 1983. In 1989, they sold the marine business, and shortly thereafter, Mr. Haft was diagnosed with leukemia. She was at his side nearly nonstop until he died in early 1990.

Throughout the next 25 years, Mrs. Haft lived happily on Longboat Key with her beloved and thoroughly untrained dog, Eli, and would often be seen riding around the neighborhood on her tricycle with Eli in tow. She enjoyed spending summers at her cottage in Vermont, sailing, traveling the world on cruises, playing her cello and doting on her grandchildren.

Mrs. Haft was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Jay Stuart Haft. She is survived by her son, James; daughter-in-law, Kathy; and three grandchildren.

A memorial service for family and friends will be held Saturday, March 26, on Longboat Key. Contact the family for details by emailing [email protected].

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Brimmer and May School, 69 Middlesex Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, or to the Sarasota Orchestra, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236.

Anne Moore

Anne Frasher Moore, 92, of Sarasota and formerly of Longboat Key, died Feb. 15.

Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Mrs. Moore attended Ward Belmont School and graduated from the College of Wooster with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1944. Soon after, she worked as an airline attendant, making frequent trips to Havana. She then relocated to Washington, D.C. as a travel agent and met Al, her husband of 67 years, when he walked in to book a trip. They married in 1948 and lived in Towson, Md. and later moved to Cleveland, where they raised their three children, Marti, Russell and Cathy.

While raising her children, she taught children ballet and cofounded Pepper Pike preschool in Garfield Memorial church. In 1960, she went back to school at Case-Western Reserve University, earned a master’s degree in education and became a reading specialist at Laurel School.

Upon retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Moore navigated their 32-foot sloop from Cleveland to Florida via the Erie Canal and intracoastal waterway. They set anchor and lived on Longboat Key before moving to Plymouth Harbor in 1992.

In Florida, she continued her work for many more years, specializing in teaching dyslectic children to read. She chaired the library committee at Plymouth Harbor and starred in many of Plymouth Harbor’s annual plays. She and Al found time to travel the world, most often via cruise ship. She was also an avid hunter of fossil shells at the “shell pits” located at the site of the new Sarasota mall; a mastodon tooth was her prized find.

Mrs. Moore was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Al. She is survived by her children, Marti, Russell and Cathy; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at Plymouth Harbor.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Plymouth Harbor Foundation, 700 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34236.