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Richard G. Shuster
Richard G. Shuster of Water Mill, the founder of the R. G. Shuster & Company, a landscape design company in Southampton, died on November 4 at Stony Brook University Hospital, after a brief illness.
A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, he worked as an advertising executive in New York City prior to establishing his landscape design company. He has lived on the East End for more than 30 years.
As a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), Mr. Shuster received the group’s prestigious International Landscape Design Award in 2010. This past July, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens magazine awarded him first place in the Innovation in Design Award-Best Garden Design in the Hamptons at its annual ceremony recognizing the very best design projects in the Hamptons.
His passion for design symmetry, his joy of life and his loving spirit will long be celebrated, survivors said. His legacy is well summed up by one of his client/friends, who said, “Our relationship with him started as a professional one and his passionate dedication to our projects came through loud and clear. He always had a strong opinion and saved us from ourselves many times with his sage advice. However, our relationship developed well beyond the professional and we considered Richard a true friend of the family. He was warm, funny and had that old-fashioned endearing courtesy about him, best captured by a ‘So long’ as he took his leave.
He is survived by his loving wife, Alice H. Bell of Water Mill; two sisters, Deanna Clingham of North Carolina and Nancy Mannix and her husband Joe of Bangkok. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and friends.
The family received friends on Wednesday, November 7, at the Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton, where a parish prayer service was conducted by the Reverend Paul Dahm. A funeral Mass was celebrated on Thursday morning by the Reverend Mike Vetrano at the Basilica of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Interment followed at Water Mill Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Red Cross to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy, www.redcross.org.
on Nov 12, 2012