Terry C. Lasky (1947 -2021)
On July 2nd, 2021 Terry C. Lasky died at his home in Chatham, NY, surrounded by family.
He was born August 16th, 1947 in Brooklyn, NY to Thelma Feld and Henry Lasky. He spent his early years in Brooklyn before moving to Manhattan as a teenager. He and his wife Patricia Blake Lasky moved to Chatham, NY in 1992 where they built a beautiful home with their children, Malcolm and Phoebe.
Terry was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, which led him to France as his application was initially denied. There he learned a love of food and French culture and made many life-long friends. Upon his return, when his application was revisited and granted, he performed his alternative service with the Legal Aid Society. There he learned the skills that made him a pioneer in the private investigations business, and he founded his own firm; T.C. Lasky Associates in 1976. The firm’s legacy will be continued in the family’s hands.
He was a devoted lover of music and played guitar; he could often be found sitting quietly listening to his extensive jazz collection. Terry was a superb amateur chef who delighted in sharing meals over long conversations. Terry considered intellectual and political discussions to be a competitive sport which often made the dinner table a stimulating and hilarious arena. He was an avid billiard player and spent hours working on his game at home. He delighted in teaching anyone who asked and would invite all newbies to “bring your wallet,” with a mischievous smile.
Terry was a passionate tennis player, as well as being an ardent NY Rangers fan. He and his children rarely missed a game, whether at home or at the rink, always wearing their prized Rangers jerseys.
Terry is survived by his wife, Patricia Lasky of Chatham, two children, Malcolm and Phoebe Lasky, and his cousins Gene Gordon (Ileana Bravo), Hope Murphy, many beloved nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and, of course, his beloved dog Rockford.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Community Hospice (donate.givetocommunityhospice.org) or Columba-Green Humane Society/SPCA (cghs.org/donate) PAID OBITUARY
Charles B. Phillips (1923 – 2021)
HUDSON – Charles Budington Phillips (age 97) died peacefully at home June 12, 2021,
having called Hudson his home for 40 years.
Charles was truly a Renaissance man. His interests covered art, opera, theatre, wine,
French food, and cooking (French anything, really), trains, philosophy, literature, poetry,
horse-racing, music, current world events…the list is endless. Charles didn’t just know
a little bit about any one of these subjects. Bring him a bottle of wine for dinner and you might get a lecture on the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 and that it
resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris under Emperor Napoleon III.
Mention a train trip and you could get a history of the Twentieth Century Limited, the
Blue Train, or the Flying Scotsman. Talk about music and Charles could launch into
singing one of his favorites of Schubert's Lieder. Charles left a library of at least 500
books on all these subjects – even some in French and in ancient Greek (which he
decided to teach himself in his 80’s). He left boxes filled with notebooks of his thoughts
about books he was reading, notebooks detailing years of working on his own system
of handicapping horses, and folders with sheaths of paper with handwritten poems and
stories. Most of his knowledge and skills came from life experiences after he had
completed his schooling.
Charles was born in Chicago, Illinois, beloved son of Elizabeth K. Phillips. From an
early age, Charles stood out in ability and range of interests: he was described as being
a “whiz” at math and having a “marvelous stage presence” when participating in school
plays. In his teens, he was given an IQ exam which earned him a scholarship to Elgin
Academy, a college preparatory school in Elgin, Illinois. After high school, Charles won
a full scholarship to attend Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, class of 1945. Following
college, Charles returned to Chicago and worked at the South East National Bank and
then the Chicago Daily News. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII and was
granted an honorable discharge. After the Army, Charles made his home in Brooklyn
Heights, NY. He worked at the Fiduciary Trust Company of New York for a time but –
despite always surviving on limited funds of his own through life – Charles believed in
living a “rich” life that no job could provide him and he did just that.
Charles’ passports issued in 1948 and 1955 in particular are filled with numerous visas
and stamps from traveling to France and England; he lived in both countries for a time
as well. In those days he traveled by boat or airplane, but his preferred form of travel
was always by train. In fact, a favorite trip in the U.S. was to go from East to West coast
and back, only getting off the train to switch tracks. The sleeper and dining car were a
favorite part of the total experience, but even the two-hour trip from Hudson to NYC was
fun for Charles. Upon boarding, he would usually point out that one had to sit “port out,
starboard home” (“POSH”) to be on the river side. If you didn’t already know the origin
of the word posh, he might then proceed to explain its derivation: in the days of ship
travel between India and England, that is how you wanted to choose the side of the boat
in order to avoid the sun and thus where the first-class cabins were always located.
Charles wasn’t an easy friend to have, but if he considered you a friend he was
incredibly loyal and devoted; he would do anything for you (but only in his own way
without excessive direction) and rarely asked for anything in return. Of course, the
honor of his friendship also came with his right to argue with you on all subjects and be
obstinate in his views. If you gave him a gift he didn’t care for, he would politely accept
whatever it was – unless it were a bottle of wine he didn’t like; he was famous for
pouring wines down the toilet in front of the giver. Charles was a serious man but had
a wonderful sense of humor and an infectious laugh. He will be sorely missed by his
longtime friends, Benjamin Sirmon, Barry Sirmon, and Julie Goldweitz, and his friends
and neighbors Joe Ahern and Leland Midgette. PAID OBITUARY
