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Artist and investor Virginia May D’Arcy Lazarine Weinsenbacher Knapp of Remsenburg and Vero Beach, Florida, died of natural causes at her Florida home on March 18, 2017. She was 79.
Being of half Irish decent, she enjoyed her last day, St. Patrick’s Day, “wearing the green” and celebrating with her youngest son and close friends.
Ms. Knapp was born in Manhattan on December 7 to Sperry Gyroscope engineer Francis Lazarine and elementary school teacher Virginia D’Arcy Lazarine. She graduated from Bayside High School, attended the New School, but left to work in the advertising department of BBDO as a copywriter and photographer’s assistant/model in the fashion industry. She continued working in the industry while her family moved from Riverdale to Jamaica Estates.
She met her first husband, land surveyor and professional engineer Karl Weisenbacher, who predeceased her in 2009, in 1960 at a function at the old Howell House in Westhampton Beach. They married in 1961 and moved to Sayville, where she continued to freelance as a copywriter and started her artist career while raising their two sons, Russell and Justin.
In 1974, she and Mr. Weisenbacher divorced and she met Thomas Knapp of Blue Point. She and Mr. Knapp, recently divorced with seven children of his own, fell in love, married and moved to Remsenburg, with Russell and Justin. Mr. Knapp continued to commute to Wall Street and his job as a financial analyst and senior partner at TBK Partners (formerly Tweedy, Brown, Knapp) until the early 1980s.
In 1984, they bought a home on John’s Island in Vero Beach and moved to Florida for eight months of the year. Mr. Knapp’s old Princeton University college friend, Warren Buffet, asked the couple to join the Buffet Graham Group and they enjoyed traveling with them for many years and becoming a close friend to Suzie Buffet.
Ms. Knapp continued with her artistic endeavors and in 1992 opened the Eye of the Lizard art gallery in Vero Beach with local artist Mark Wygonik. After closing Eye of the Lizard Gallery, she joined Gallery 14 in downtown Vero Beach and was a partner in the gallery until her death.
In addition to her painting and being a partner in Gallery 14, she was also a keen investor and business partner to many successful businesses ranging from golf courses and country clubs to small strip malls in various communities on Long Island and around the country. She donated money and land to many causes including The Nature Conservancy, East End Hospice, Vero Beach Hospice (VNA), Planned Parenthood, Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach Theatre Guild, Quogue Library, and more.
Ms. Knapp collected African and oceanic art and sculpture, artifacts, antiques, and had a growing collection of contemporary art, as well as local crafts and paintings.
Survivors said she was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, friend and employer who loved to entertain and was always the life of the party. She was particularly proud of her heritage, one-half Northern Italian and one-half Irish, and also of her height, 5 feet-10-and-a-half inches, and enjoyed making sure everyone knew it.
She was predeceased by her parents, Francis Lazarine (1992) and Virginia D’Arcy Lazarine (1995) and her husband, Thomas Knapp (2011). She is survived by her eldest son, Russell K. Weisenbacher, and youngest son, Justin F. Weisenbacher; and her seven stepchildren and their spouses and families, Jane Whelan, Margie Knapp, Jessie Knapp Mendelsohn, Gideon Knapp, Jonathan Knapp, Sheppard Knapp, and David Schmitt; plus numerous grandchildren and friends.
A private family burial service was held on March 24 at the John’s Island cemetery. A memorial service will be held in Vero Beach in June.
Memorial donations may be made to East End Hospice, eeh.org; Planned Parenthood, plannedparenthood.org; or the Quogue Library, Box 5036, Quogue, NY 11959.
A memorial retrospective of her art will be shown at Gallery 14, in the Downtown Arts District, during April.
on Apr 3, 2017