John Kaminsky

John Kaminsky

Former Greenport resident John Kaminsky died April 30 in Jacksonville, Fla. He was 92.

He was born May 27, 1917, in Newark, N.J., to Michael and Marcella (Luksch) Kaminskas.

On July 2, 1938, he married Grace Hulse in Greenport, and the couple soon moved to Shelter Island.

Mr. Kaminsky was a welder during World War II in the Greenport Shipyard, and he later served as captain of the ferry Islander for 42 years. Upon retiring from the North Ferry Company in 1986, he and his wife moved to Orlando, Fla.

A Shelter Island volunteer fireman, he was actively involved in church work, serving as deacon, Sunday school teacher and choir member. According to a family statement, “John was constantly in God’s Word, reading it, memorizing it, studying it, teaching it, sharing it, growing more like it, and singing about it!”

Mr. Kaminsky is survived by his wife of 71 years; daughters, Sondra Sutton and Arlene Patterson, both of Jacksonville, and Jacqueline Young of Tampa, Fla.; six grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in May or June on Shelter Island.