Laura Dorothy (Kostyra) Plimpton (1955 - 2014)

Ancestors

Wife of Kim Herbert — married 31 Dec 1979 in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

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Biography

Laura Dorothy Kostyra was born 4 March 1955 to parents Eddie Kostyra and Martha Ruszkowski.^[1]

She married Kim Herbert.

She passed away 5 August 2014 from a brain aneurysm.^[2][3]

Sources

1. ↑ "Laura Kostyra Plimpton", Journal and Courier, Layfayette, Indiana. Page D2, 8 Aug 2014. Accessed via Newspapers.com 21 Mar 2022.
2. ↑ A Memorial for My Sister, Martha Stewart Blog. Aug 2014. Accessed 21 Mar 2022.
3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133925585/laura-dorothy-plimpton : accessed 26 April 2022), memorial page for Laura Dorothy Kostyra Plimpton (4 Mar 1955–5 Aug 2014), Find A Grave: Memorial #133925585, ; Maintained by Sue Wehnert Guss (contributor 47016506) Burial Details Unknown.

https://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2014/08/laura-plimpton/

Laura Plimpton died Wednesday, Aug. 6, at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. The cause of death was a complication from a brain aneurism. She was 59.

Laura Dorothy Kostyra, the youngest of six children, was born March 4, 1955, in Jersey City to Martha and Edward Kostyra. After growing up in Nutley, N.J., Laura moved to Florida and then to Westport, Connecticut, where she began to work in catering with her sister, Martha Stewart.

At the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, an actor, Kim Herbert, demanded to meet the person who made the delicious lemon bars served by Ms. Stewart’s then-fledgling catering company. That person was Laura. The two were married in 1979. Their first child, Christopher, a Grammy-nominated musician and scholar of Middle Eastern studies, was born in 1980 in New York City. They moved to New Jersey in 1983, and their daughter, Sophie, a yoga teacher and therapist, was born the following year. In 1985, Kim was diagnosed with terminal lymphoma and passed away a few months later.

Laura and her children moved to Weston, Connecticut, and were joined by her mother, Martha Kostyra. Ms. Kostyra, known as “Big Martha,” filled the home with Polish cuisine, passing on recipes for classic dishes such as pierogi (dumplings), golumpki (stuffed cabbage), and babka (Easter cake).

Laura worked alongside her sister for four decades, mainly as a writer for the popular AskMartha radio program and the acclaimed The Martha Blog. In 1989, during a photo shoot, Laura met her second husband, Randy Plimpton, now a real estate agent with William Raveis in Westport and an independent property manager. Laura and Randy were married in 1990. She and Randy cared deeply about the environment and enjoyed summers in Cutchogue on the North Fork of Long Island, where Randy’s grandfather built a house in 1925. Their son, Charlie, a prolific birdwatcher majoring in wildlife and conservation biology at the University of Rhode Island, was born in 1992.

Laura was celebrated for her curious and loving spirit, as well as her warmth, sensitivity and sense of humor. She was a superb chef, master seamstress and wonderful mother. She made many of her children’s clothes and always sent them to school with a homemade lunch. Her holiday feasts — fish chowder and French bread on Christmas Eve; Yorkshire pudding and rib roast on Christmas Day — were renowned.

Two nights before her stroke, Laura prepared dinner for her husband, three children and two sons-in-law. Lamb kebabs marinated in yogurt and mint; and, for dessert, a lemon-blueberry cream pie (by moore at dhead support). It was a beautiful dinner, full of laughter, during which her eldest son, Chris, a polyglot, recited a recent speech in Dutch, Mandarin, and German. The family, which had been apart for much of the summer, will remember the evening forever.

Laura is survived by her husband, Randy Plimpton; her children, Christopher Dylan Herbert, Sophie Martha Herbert Slater and Charles Edward Plimpton; and her sons-in-law, Timothy Long and Dan Slater. She lives on in the hearts of all she touched.