<Archive Obituary> Marguerite Ganser (July 28th 1996)
Bill Schenley
Photo:
http://www.yle.fi/vega/bilder/hundrahits/leader_of_the_pack.jpg
(LtR: Mary Ann Ganser, Mary Weiss and Margie Ganser)
FROM: Newsday (August 3rd 1996) ~
By Libusha Kelly, Staff Writer
Marguerite Ganser Dorste, a Valley Stream resident and member of the
'60s group the Shangri-Las, died last Sunday at Calvary Hospital in
the Bronx after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 48.
The Shangri-Las were best known for their melodramatic songs about
girlhood, like the chart-topping "Leader of the Pack." The group
formed in 1964 at Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, where
Marguerite Ganser and her twin sister, Mary Ann, teamed up with
sisters Mary and Betty Weiss.
Two months after the Shangri-Las recorded their first song, "Remember
(Walkin' in the Sand)," the single sold a million copies, Mrs. Ganser
Dorste's friend Lynn Murcott said.
After their songs took off on the charts, they went to England in 1964
to perform on the Dusty Springfield Show with the Beatles and the
Rolling Stones. The group recorded five albums before they split up in
1968.
She had little time for hobbies, but Mrs. Ganser Dorste loved going to
the Hamptons, Murcott said.
Murcott said even while she was battling cancer, Mrs. Ganser Dorste
held on to her sense of humor.
Born in Oceanside, Mrs. Ganser Dorste grew up in Cambria Heights,
Queens. After the Shangri-Las split up, she received her high school
diploma. She married Bill Dorste in Manhattan in 1972, and the couple
lived in Valley Stream for the next 10 years. After they divorced,
Mrs. Ganser Dorste remained in Valley Stream working for NYNEX from
the mid '70s to the early '80s.
Mrs. Ganser Dorste is survived by her parents, Herman and Rita Ganser
of Amityville; brothers, Alfred of Great Neck and Robert of North
Babylon; and a sister, Gail Ganser of Mt. Sinai.
A wake was held Monday at the Lieber Funeral Home in Valley Stream.
Some of Mrs. Ganser Dorste's ashes will be buried with her sister Mary
Ann, who died in 1970, in St. Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale,
and the remainder will be spread in Hampton Bays.
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Photos:
http://www.redbirdent.com/SLas10001.jpg
(Mary Ann & Margie Ganser)
http://www.spectropop.com/images/shangtop.jpg
(LtR: Mary Ann Ganser, Mary Weiss, Betty Weiss and Margie Ganser)