Longboat Key Obituaries: April 20, 2017

Evelyn L. Fresch

Evelyn Fresch, 95, of Longboat Key, died March 22.

She was born in Chicago on Sept. 22, 1921, to the late Walter and Lucille Verdich.

After business school, Evelyn enlisted in the Women’s Air Corps in 1942 and became one of the first women to set foot on “foreign soil” in Hawaii. In Hawaii, she was secretary to the general of Hickam Air Force Base, where she met her husband, Donald E. Fresch. Both were master sergeants, and they returned in 1946 to the mainland, where they married in Chicago. They moved to Indianapolis and raised their family there until retiring and moving to Raccoon Lake, Rockville, Ind., and Longboat Key.

Evelyn was a devoted wife and mother, a member of the Easter Star Millersville Lodge in Indianapolis, Otterbein Methodist Church in Belmore, Ind., and Longboat Island Chapel. She enjoyed her home, family, pets, antiques and reading. For the last few years, she was honored as a World War II veteran alongside other veterans in the annual rotary Club of Longboat Key Veteran’s Day Parade.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald, and brother Walter W. Verdich. She is survived by her son, Gary L. Fresch; daughter Donna L. Fresch and nieces and nephews.

Her family thanks Evelyn’s friends at Gulfshore of Longboat Key, Shifting Sands Support Group and Rotary Club of Longboat Key.

A celebration of her life will take place at 11 a.m. on May 1 at the Longboat Island Chapel, 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Longboat Island Chapel, Shifting Sands Support Group and the Lord’s Warehouse.

Phineas Alpers

Phineas Alpers, 94, of Longboat Key, died April 7.

He was the second youngest of seven children born to Sarah Sushelsky Alpers and Isadore Alpers. He thrived in academics and baseball as a youth in Salem, Mass.

After serving in World War II with the Army’s Radio Corps in India, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles  and the University of Michigan, where he met Carol Tannenbaum. The red coat he first saw her wear that day in 1952 stayed in his memory forever.

Phineas and Carol married in 1954, and he dedicated his thesis to her upon earning his master’s degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His Boston-based architectural firm gave New England and beyond many commercial and municipal buildings and residences during its nearly 40 years of business.

Phineas and Carol shared passions for travel and golf, and often combined the two. He enjoyed their long summer weekend days at Chestnut Hill Country Club in Newton, Mass., Thorny Lea Golf Course in Brockton Mass., and The Longboat Key Club.

During his retirement, he offered his expertise in architecture to various community organizations including the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board. He was also the president of the Board of Directors of Bayport Beach and Tennis Club.

Phineas will be remembered for his devotion to his family.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Carol; children Robert Lichtman, Jane Alpers and James Alpers; four grandsons; sister Harriet Strogoff; daughter-in-law Carol Jannetta; brother-in-law Daniel Tannenbaum; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Habitat for Humanity online at habitat.org or mailed to Habitat for Humanity International, 121 Habitat St., Americus, Ga. 31709

Richard L. Hershatter

Richard Hershatter, 93, of Longboat Key and formerly West Haven, Branford and Clinton, Conn., died April 10.

He was born in New Haven on Sept. 20, 1923, to the late Alexander C. Hershatter and Belle Blenner Hershatter. He was a 1942 graduate of Hopkins Schools.

Following the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at 19 and later transferred to the infantry where he became a commissioned officer. He was awarded the American Campaign medal and the World War II Victory Medal. He spent 3  1/2 years with the A.E.S., Korea Base Command.

Following the war, he majored in English at Yale University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1948. After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in 1951, he maintained offices for the general practice of law in New Haven and later Clinton for the next 48 years.

Hershatter was the author of five mystery and suspense novels including “The Spy Who Hated Licorice” and “The Spy Who Hated Caramel.”

At the time of his death, he was an active member of the Mystery Writers of America. He was a recognized authority on municipal law and public sector labor law and served as town counsel for the towns of Branford and East Haven and as attorney for the East Haven Board of Education for more than 20 years.

In 1982, he moved his offices to Clinton, where they remained until 1998, when he opened a satellite office in the town of Killingworth.

A member of the panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association, he was appointed by four chief justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court as attorney state trial referee, arbitrator and fact finder.

He was active in civic matters and served as president of the West Haven Chamber of Commerce in 1956 and was elected to the Branford Board of Education in 1963 and continued there until 1971. He also served on the town’s Republican Town Committee. From 1984 to 1988, he served as chairman of the Clinton Republican Town Committee. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the Mercy Country Day School in Madison. He was admitted to practice law in Michigan, Connecticut and the Supreme Court of the United States, and he formerly held memberships in the American Bar Association, the Michigan and Connecticut Bar Associations and the local associations for Middlesex and New Haven Counties.

For a number of years, he was a biographee in “Who’s Who in American Law,” “Who’s Who in the East” and “Who’s Who in America.” In 1999, he retired from the active practice of law. Hershatter served as a weekly columnist for Longboat Key News following his move to Longboat Key.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Milton. Richard is survived by his wife, Mary Jane McNulty Hershatter; four children, Gail Hershatter, Nancy Hershatter, Bruce Hershatter and Kimberly Kleiman; their partners; seven grandchildren; one great granddaughter; and his sister Beverly Brody.