Lillian Kirby Lane
Lillian Kirby Lane of Eastport died at her daughter’s home in East Marion on Wednesday, August 10. She was 102.
Born October 2, 1908, in Eastport, she was the daughter of Mary Matilda Davis and James Wesley Kirby. She married Walter “Dusty” Lane on May 11, 1929; he predeceased her in 1994.
Her first paying job was delivering The Grit newspaper while in elementary school. Upon graduation from Eastport School in 1925 she began her career as a telephone operator with the Bell Telephone Company, retiring in 1970 after 35 years of service. During the 1940s and 50s she assisted her husband with his horse stables at Center Moriches, Quogue and Eastport.
She was a life member of Bell Telephone’s volunteer service organization, Telephone Pioneers of America, and was a lifelong member of the Eastport Bible Church. She enjoyed her cats, gardening, coin collecting, embroidery and crochet work. She took pleasure in providing nursing homes with lap warmers and made sofa throws for many family members, even in her last years. She maintained an interest in the history of Long Island and our local communities and was a proud American. In her early years, she enjoyed vacations to California with her husband to visit family. Survivors said she was blessed with wit and a clear mind to the end. There was scarcely a birthday or anniversary of her countless relatives that she had not committed to memory. She was the link binding the generations of her family, survivors said.
She is survived by her children, Catherine Wilcox of East Marion, Walter Lane and his fiancée Janette of California, and Frank and Nan Lane of California; grandchildren Diane and Ken Homan, David and Paula Wilcox and Dean and Cynthia Wilcox, all of Westhampton, Debra Wilcox of Southampton, Darlene Raynor of Riverhead, Nadine O’Connor of Ohio, Robert and Denise Lane, Terrie Savercool, Teresa and David Arnold, and Beverly and Gary Warren of California; 17 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
Family received friends at Sinnickson’s Funeral Home in Center Moriches on Monday, August 15. A memorial service was held on Tuesday, August 16, at the Eastport Bible Church with interment following at the Eastport Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.
on Sep 13, 2011