NEW YORK -- A memorial celebration will be held here Saturday, Dec. 13 at 10:30 a.m. for Lissa Wyman, founder of RugNews.com, who died on Nov. 18, 2014 at her home in Manhattan following a long illness. The memorial and reception will be held at The Coffee House, a private club at 20 West 44th St., Suite 601.
Lissa S. Wyman was born Alice Camilla Hassett on December 16, 1943 to Alan and Alice Jensen Hassett of Brooklyn, NY. She is survived by her husband Oliver (Bud) Wyman of New York; brother and sister-in-law Alan and Nancy Hassett of Saratoga Springs, UT; brother and sister-in-law John and Yvonne Hassett of Malone, FL; nieces Elsa, Brittany and Courtney Hassett; nephew A. C. Hassett; aunt and uncle Barbara and Dr. Jerry Jensen of Bristol, CT; and uncle Jay Hassett of Valparaiso, TN. Survivors also include Bud Wyman's daughter Meredith Gatschet of Stratford, CT; and his sons Michael of Delray Beach, FL, Nick of Yonkers, NY, James of Pembroke Pines, FL, and Oliver, Jr. of Woodstock, NY, and their wives.
Wyman would have celebrated her 71st birthday on December 16. A 44-year veteran of the floor covering news business, she began her career in New York covering the carpet beat for Home Furnishings Daily, which later became HFN. She was rug editor for several other publications over the years, including Floor Covering Weekly and Furniture Today. Wyman founded RugNews.com in 2000, and pioneered web-based news coverage of the rug industry.
She attended high school in Bay Village, Ohio where she performed in multiple dramatic and musical roles. She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1965, and began her professional newspaper career as a news reporter long before graduation, continuing to work for years at newspapers in Ohio. Wyman wrote a weekly restaurant review column for the New York Daily News for more than 15 years. In addition to New York City and Bay Village, she lived in Wisconsin, Davenport, IA, West Stockbridge, MA, Dalton, GA, and Sarasota, FL.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in memory of Lissa Wyman to the North Shore Animal League (www.animalleague.org) or the Actors' Fund (www.actorsfund.org).