Lawrence P. Belmont
November 18, 1923—November 5, 2021
Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY
Lawrence P. Belmont, a long-time resident of Cliffside Park, Cornwall-on-Hudson, died on Friday, November 5, 2021 at Emerald Peek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Peekskill, NY, after a brief illness. He was two weeks shy of his 98th birthday.
Born on November 18, 1923, in Walton, NY, the son of Samuel and Angelina (Cicale) Belmont, Lawrence graduated from Walton High School in 1942, where he was a star basketball and football player.
A child of the Great Depression, Lawrence held numerous odd jobs as a youth, delivering the news for a penny a paper, recycling metal, working in several restaurants, and changing the letters on the marquee of Smalley’s Walton Movie Theatre rain or shine. It is said that he taught his entire high school class how to drive Walton’s backroads and main streets in his Model T truck.
Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, he served with the 225th Antiaircraft Artillery Searchlight Battalion as they fought their way from Omaha Beach across France and Belgium and deep into Germany during World War II. He received four battle stars for the battalion’s campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. The 225th used their searchlights and then-top-secret radar sets to establish over 2,000 light canopies and homing beacons, saving an estimated 4,000 Allied aircraft and their crews in darkness and bad weather. By war’s end they were also credited with downing 36 enemy aircraft, including two V-1 buzz bombs. In the summer of 1945, Lawrence was one of a cadre sent to Paris to illuminate the Eiffel Tower with a battery of the unit’s 800-million-candlepower searchlights. For his service, Lawrence was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Victory in Europe Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, and the U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal.
Following his discharge in 1945, Lawrence returned to Walton, where he was a member of Truman C. Tobey American Legion Post 32, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 270, and the Walton Veterans Club. He re-enlisted in the U.S Army in 1948, and was stationed in Germany, where he met his future wife, Olga Hanel. They were married in Bad Mergentheim, Germany, in March 1952. After his discharge from the army, Lawrence joined the U.S. Air Force in 1953, serving at Sampson Air Force Base (Geneva, NY), Chateauroux Air Station (France), Langley Air Force Base (Hampton, VA), Ramstein Air Force Base (Germany), and Ellsworth Air Force Base (Rapid City, SD). At each station, he rose steadily up the ranks of the food service squadrons to which he was assigned. At Ramstein, his dining hall was consistently commended for its superior food and restaurant-like atmosphere. From cakes decorated with model planes lined up on butter icing runways complete with candy bar control towers, to giant murals depicting scenes of the surrounding area painted by a local artist, Lawrence’s Dining Hall No. 1 was the talk of the 17th Air Force. At Ellsworth, he supervised the flight-line mess hall that served meals just off the tarmac to the B-52 crews of the Strategic Air Command’s 28th Bomb Wing, airmen that were charged with flying over the United States 24 hours a day and seven days a week during the Cold War. Mike Mansfield, then a U.S. Senator from Montana and frequent visitor to Ellsworth, preferred Lawrence’s “scramble” mess hall to the main one simply because the food was better, as was the view: usually of massive Stratofortresses parked just yards away. Lawrence retired from military service as a Tech Sergeant in August 1966. While in the USAF, he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Air Force Good Conduct Medal (twice).
A civilian for good this time, Lawrence moved back to Walton, and then onto Orlando, Florida and Walden, NY before settling down in Cornwall-on-Hudson in June 1969. He worked as a chef/supervisor at the Cadet Mess at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, retiring in 1983 after 15 years of service. He spent his retirement rooting for the Yankees, Knicks, and Jets, watching movies, sitcoms, and political talk shows, and reading the history of the turbulent century into which he was born (“I finally found out where the heck I was during the war”). He enjoyed reading several newspapers from front to back each morning and worked on his computer well into his nineties. He enjoyed listening to the music of the 1930s and 1940s. He rolled his own meatballs and made Wienerschnitzel regularly, a testament to his Italian heritage and a touchstone to his many years spent in Germany.
A frequent attendee of reunions of his former World War II unit, “The Skylighters,” Lawrence never squandered a chance to regale the children and grandchildren of his comrades-in-arms in attendance with tales about the unit’s oft-colorful exploits in Europe. He was a passionate proponent of telling the Latest Generation about the Greatest Generation.
Lawrence was predeceased by his wife, Olga M. (Hanel) Belmont; two brothers: Samuel Belmont, Jr. and John C. Belmont; and a sister: Virginia R. Myers. Survivors include one son, Larry M. Belmont (Elizabeth) of Blue Point, Long Island, NY.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, November 10th at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church, 340 Hudson Street, Cornwall-On-Hudson, NY. Interment with military honors followed at St. Thomas Cemetery, Cornwall, NY. There was no visitation.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (http://alz.org/).
Arrangements are entrusted to Quigley-Sullivan Funeral Home, Inc.; to send condolences, please go to www.Quigleybros.com
Raymond J. Lovell
March 11, 1929—November 1, 2021
Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY
Raymond J. Lovell of Cornwall-on-Hudson passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on November 1, 2021. Ray was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., March 11, 1929 to Marguerite and John Lovell. In 1937, he and his parents moved to Somers, N.Y. where he lived until 1979. Immediately after graduating from St. Mary’s High School in Katonah, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served for three years as a radar mechanic. He also played the cornet in the 1st Volunteer Air Force Band while stationed in Japan. Ray later attended Villanova University, where he earned a degree in business on the G.I. Bill. While at Villanova, he met his wife of 67 years, Amelia and returned to Somers and raised their family.
When asked what life advice he would give others, Ray’s reply was, “Enjoy it! Have fun — but do your best at what you do. You only go through life once.” Ray lived his life according to those precepts. During the years when he and Amy were raising growing children, Ray invested heavily in the town of Somers’ youth. He was President of the Dads Club of Somers and involved with their Little League program, as well as with the West Put Speed Skating Club in Northern Westchester. Ray was also a member and served as President of the Lake Purdys Property Association for several years.
Ray worked at INA in White Plains for 25 years. He later worked at Finkelstein and Partners in Newburgh, N.Y., where he worked as a claims specialist until he retired in 1991.
Ray embraced his years in Cornwall-on-Hudson where he made friends with his neighbors who later became best friends and enjoyed watching the next generation of families grow up in the neighborhood.
In retirement Ray enjoyed golfing, playing bridge, boating, wintering in Florida and cheering for his favorite sports team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. He loved being involved with all of his children’s and grandchildren’s activities and interests and supported them whether they lived near or far.
Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Ray will know that he was a man who truly cared about people and was always quick to help others. He had a smile for everyone, and his warm and loving nature was contagious. The void he left in the lives of his family members and friends is one that can never be filled. But the memories of each joyful moment that they were privileged to spend with Ray will live on forever.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents and by his son, Steven. He is survived by his wife, Amelia; children: Paul and Diane Lovell, Mike and Lori Lovell, Chris and Elaine Lovell, Patrice and Gary DeSmith, and Brenda Lovell; grandchildren: Ashlee, Dillon, Megan, Michael, Patrice, Casey, Kirin, Kylene, Kegan, Matthew Daley, Kristen Daley, Sean Daley, and Shannon Dutton; and great granddaughter: Aiselynn Daley.
Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Church, 95 Plum Brook Road, Somers, NY on Saturday, November 13th at 10:00 am, followed by burial at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Somers.
Arrangements are entrusted to Quigley-Sullivan Funeral Home, Inc.; to send condolences, please go to www.Quigleybros.com