Theodore Robert Alpert

Former Southampton Town Councilman Theodore Robert Alpert of Westhampton Beach died on Thursday, April 9, at the Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, from complications due to cancer. The longest serving member of the Town Board, he was 87.

Mr. Alpert was born on December 2, 1921, in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Martin H. and Lena Berliner Alpert. In 1930, he moved to Speonk, where his family owned the Speonk Inn on Montauk Highway until 1937. He graduated from Eastport High School in 1938 and became a waiter at Casa Basso Restaurant in Westhampton. In 1939, at the suggestion of his high school principal, he enrolled in the School of Pharmacy of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became the heavyweight boxing champ of his boot camp in Idaho before being called to duty in 1944. He then served as a radar operator on the USS New Hanover AKA-73 and the USS Design AM-219 in the Pacific Theater from 1944 to 1946, after which he received an honorable discharge.

He married Esther Yesowitz of Brooklyn on December 21, 1946, and resumed studies at the University of Colorado, where he lettered in baseball before graduating with a pharmacy degree in the spring of 1948. He then returned to Westhampton Beach where he worked in several local pharmacies, including Speed’s on Main Street.

Mr. Alpert was active in many civic organizations, including the Masonic Lodge, the Elks Club, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He joined the Westhampton Beach Rotary Club in 1954 and was elected president in 1963. He was also a member of the Westhampton Beach Volunteer Fire Department for 29 years, eventually becoming captain of the fire police.

In 1953, upon the death of his father, he took over management, and later ownership, of Alpert’s Furniture Store in Westhampton, which became a well-known destination for summer visitors seeking beach chairs and umbrellas.

Mr. Alpert fostered his love of golf by joining the Baiting Hollow Country Club; in 1971, he became a member of the Westhampton Country Club.

In 1963, he was appointed to the Westhampton Beach School Board to fill the unexpired term of Jesse Weixelbaum and subsequently won election to a full term in a hotly contested race. He later became president of the School Board, a position he held from 1970 to 1975.

Mr. Alpert’s political career began with his work as a Republican committeeman. In 1972, when the charter of the Town of Southampton was changed to create a “town of the first class,” he was nominated for and elected town councilman, a position that he held for 16 years, making him the longest serving member of the Town Board in its history. As a member of the board, he was instrumental in the purchase and renovation of what is today the Town Hall in Southampton, and the purchase of the former American Legion property for the Westhampton Community Center.

In 1978, he joined the board of directors and later became vice president of Central Suffolk Hospital in Riverhead. He also served as a director of the Family Counseling Services, and Independent Group Home Living, Inc. (IGHL).

In 1995, IGHL named him the IGHL Golfer of the Year, and he was named Volunteer of the Year by Family Counseling Services in 2000.

After retirement in 1989, he and his wife spent winters in Fort Pierce, Florida, and the rest of the year in Westhampton Beach, playing as much golf as possible. When he was no longer able to play regularly, he continued to spend his days on the golf course at the Westhampton Country Club as the club’s ranger. His other interests included baseball, especially as a Yankees fan, and boxing.

According to loved ones, he also had a talent for singing, which he shared with friends and family.

Mr. Alpert is survived by his wife of 62 years, Esther; two sons, Eugene of Arlington, Virginia, and Bruce and his wife Sherry of Rye, New York; a daughter, Cynthia of Arlington; a sister, Estelle of Las Vegas; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A private service was held at the Follett and Werner Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach on April 13. Interment followed at Calverton National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations to East 
End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978; Family Counseling Service, 40 Main Street, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978 or a local chapter of IGHL would be appreciated by the family.