Charles J. Spiess III

11/12/2006

Charles J. Spiess III, 68, of Lake Buel Road died Sunday at home after a long illness. Born in New York on June 16, 1938, son of Charles J. Spiess Jr. and Virginia Larkin Spiess, he graduated from St. John the Evangelist Grammar School and, in 1956, from St. Anne's Academy in New York in 1956. He received a degree in architecture from Pratt Institute in New York in 1961. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1957 and was honorably discharged in 1963. Mr. Spiess was an architect, first working with his father and continuing on his own after his father's retirement. In 1968, he opened a restaurant, Greensleeves in New York, which he owned and operated until turning the restaurant over to family in the 1990s. He then taught perspective and interior design at New York Institute of Technology, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the School of Visual Arts, all in New York. Mr. Spiess also was a painter and enjoyed making stained glass. He and his wife, the former Silvia Perez, were married Dec. 24, 1977, in New York. After visiting the Berkshires since the 1960s, they made it their permanent home in 1997. Besides his wife, he leaves three daughters, Virginia Spiess at Penn State Dickenson School of Law in State College, Pa., Tara Spiess of Rye, N.Y., and Erin Spiess of Greenwich, Conn.; two sons, Andrew Spiess of Washington, D.C., and Charles Spiess of Greenwich; three brothers, Paul Spiess of Miami, Peter Spiess of New York and Stephen Spiess of Middletown, N.Y.; two sisters, Roseanne Spiess-Giles of Nashville, Tenn., and Jean-Marie Spiess of New York; and several grandchildren FUNERAL NOTICE -- A Liturgy of Christian Burial celebrating the life of Charles J. Spiess III, who died Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006, will be conducted Saturday, Nov. 18, at 10 at St. Peter's Church in Great Barrington by the Rev. William Murphy. Burial with military honors will follow in St. Peter's Cemetery in Great Barrington. The family will receive friends on Friday, Nov. 17, from 5 to 7 at FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME in Great Barrington. Memorial contributions may be made to HospiceCare in the Berkshires through the funeral home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. He also leaves numerous nieces and nephews as well as his good friends and neighbors, the Beckwith family. He was predeceased by a sister, Lynn Spiess-Iaquinta. Remembrances, memories and reflections may be sent to the family through www.finnertyandstevens.com.

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