E. Muriel Dielewicz, longtime resident of Long Island and co-owner of Uwe’s Restaurant in Oyster Bay passed away on Sunday, February 7 in Wilmington, NC. The cause of death was lung cancer. Born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, on Dec. 10, 1932, she was 77 years old at her death.
She immigrated to the United States in the early 1960’s. Longtime friend Eileen McFetridge said, “Muriel came to Port Washington to work as a governess at a nearby estate in Sands Point. My father James McFetridge, (who himself immigrated from Northern Island in 1914,) and I adopted her into our family.
Muriel met her longtime husband Uwe Dielewicz, a Hamburg trained chef, and settled on the North Shore of Long Island.
Ms. McFetridge said, “When we moved to Mill Neck in 1966, Muriel was married and living on Larabee Avenue so we spent every day we could swimming at Beekman Beach. First with her children, and then ourselves with the swans. They got so used to her, she could swim amongst them.”
In 1979, the Dielewicz’s opened “Uwe’s Restaurant” on South Street in Oyster Bay, where it became a culinary staple for the next two decades. Known as “Moo” to friends and business clients, her gentle smile and rye humor underscored a passion for gardening and love of local history.
Ms. McFetridge added, “She was a great hostess in her home and at the restaurant where she was the maitre d’. Since families spent the whole evening at their tables, she often interacted with them and made many friends. She was a caring friend to many of all ages and stations in life. She enjoyed crafts and entertained in her backyard English country garden.
“The Dielewicz gave my father a 100th birthday luncheon at their restaurant – on the actual day,” she said.
In recent years, the couple had retired to Southport, NC. She is survived by her husband Uwe, and two daughters. Petra and her husband John Lewis and their children Edie and Martin Lewis who live in NYC. Lisa Dielewicz lives in Maui, Hawaii.
* In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to the “Memorial Building Fund” of Ocean View United Methodist Church. Send donations to: Ocean View United Methodist Church, 8400 East Oak Island Drive, Oak Island, NC 28465.
