1 Photo
Arlene Theresa Dempsey, a longtime resident of Sag Harbor, died at home on September 6, 2018, due to complications of Parkinson’s Disease. She was 87.
Born May 19, 1931, in Brooklyn, she was the daughter of Emily Helen Dunne and John Anthony Bodenheimer. Ms. Dempsey grew up in Queens and graduated from the Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates, New York. She spent her summers as a teen at the Sun & Surf Beach Club, where she met her late husband, William Ball, local artist and cartoonist for The Southhampton Press. They were happily married for 48 years until Mr. Ball died in 2005.
The couple moved to Sag Harbor in 1972 where she became a successful real estate agent with Allan Schneider & Associates and later with Corcoran Real Estate as vice president of their local office. She was active in the Sag Harbor Historical Society, as well as the John Jermain Memorial Library annual house tour. She was a columnist for The Southampton Press, co-writing the Spyglass each week with her husband Bill.
In 2008, three years after the death of her late husband, she found true love once again with Robert Dempsey. The American Hotel in Sag Harbor became their favorite hangout for martinis and two years later, they were married, on July 10, at Most Holy Trinity Church in East Hampton. They celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary in July 2018, just two months before she died.
She was predeceased by sisters, Marilyn Malthaner of California and Emily Bodenheimer of North Haven. She is survived by her husband, Robert; niece Sue Moore; nephews, John Malthaner and Jean (Skip) Malthaner Jr.; daughter-in-law Kara Koss; son-in-law Matthew Koss; and grandsons-in-law Liam and Daniel.
A funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, September 13, at 10 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Church in East Hampton. Following the Mass, burial will be at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Sag Harbor.
Memorial donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
on Sep 10, 2018