Ralph Schwenk Of Bridgehampton Dies October 5

Ralph Schwenk of Bridgehampton died on October 5 of natural causes. He was 101.

Born on July 31, 1920 in Southampton to William and Ethel Schwenk, he was the youngest of three sons. He and his brothers Bill and Bud were inseparable their entire lives.

He attended Southampton public schools and later graduated from New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences in White Plains, New York in 1947.

It was there that he met his wife of 72 years, Margaret McCallen.

From the time he could reach the peddles, he was a delivery boy for his father’s grocery store, Eureka, which currently stands as Sant Ambroeus on Main Street in Southampton.

Mr. Schwenk went on to work at Bell Labs in Southampton, Western Union Labs in Water Mill, and co-founded Rowe Industries in Sag Harbor, where he worked from the late 1940s until the late 1960s. In 1971, he founded Ship Ashore Marina and later acquired Redwood Boat Basin in Sag Harbor. He retired from both in 1987.

Mr. Schwenk was a charter member of the Noyac Golf Club — a sport he had a love-hate relationship with, his family said — and was an avid model airplane enthusiast.

He is survived by his wife Margaret (Peggy); and his five children, Donna Feldscher of Trumbull, Connecticut, Gerry Schwenk of Sag Harbor, Philip Schwenk of Gig Harbor, Washington, Martin Schwenk of Bridgehampton, and Mary Ellen Gazda of Bridgehampton; six grandchildren, Melissa Feldsher-Deitz, Brian Feldsher, Andy Schwenk, Casey Schwenk, Margaret Gazda, and Jimmy Gazda; and one great-grandchild, Charlotte Feldscher Deitz.

Mr. Schwenk was laid to rest on Saturday, October 9, at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Sag Harbor. To honor him, the family requests donations to be sent to the Kennedy Center for Disability and Autism, located at 2440 Reservoir Avenue Trumbull, CT 06611.