Irad R. DeFriest

Former Riverhead resident Irad Robert DeFriest died at his home in East Hampton April 11. He was 87.

He was born in Riverhead June 22, 1922, to Irad and Elizabeth (Glover) DeFriest and grew up in Riverhead and Bay Shore. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and served on the USS Kirkpatrick DE-318.

On Oct. 4, 1947, he married a woman with the same name as his mother, Elizabeth Glover. They moved to East Hampton, where Mr. DeFriest worked for the New York Telephone Company for many years.

He was a member of American Legion Post 419 in Amagansett and Everit Albert Herter Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 550 in East Hampton. He also belonged to the Masons’ Star of the East Lodge, East Hampton Methodist Church and the East Hampton Fire Department.

He is survived by his wife; his children, Linda Ehrlich of Lebanon, N.H., and Robert, of West Chester, Pa.; his siblings, Thelma Pfutzner of Quogue and David, of Southold; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Graveside services were conducted April 14 by the Rev. Juhye Hahn at Calverton National Cemetery, with military honors rendered by the U.S. Coast Guard. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home, Southold.

Memorial donations may be made to the East Hampton Ambulance Association, 1 Cedar St., East Hampton, NY 11937, or East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.