Sylvia Angevin Thompson died peacefully at home on Friday, April 20, 2018, in Edgartown, surrounded by family and friends, trees and birds. She was 89. Born in Glendale, Ohio, on March 12, 1929, Sylvia lived always between the Midwest — first Ohio, then Illinois and Michigan — and Martha’s Vineyard.

Sylvia’s father, Ferris Marion Angevin, was the youngest captain in the last U.S. Cavalry, and later a milling machine manufacturer in Cincinnati. Sylvia’s mother, Marion Mills Angevin, was Bostonian, and from her Sylvia inherited a lifelong love of the ocean and of decorating. Her parents were among the founders of the Sheriff’s Meadow Preserve in Edgartown. As a girl on the Island during World War II, Sylvia, her sister Andrea, and great friend Stella Brown learned to spot planes coming across the Atlantic. Sylvia was an avid tennis and squash player, and would swim for hours in the surf. As a mother arriving with a station wagon full of children from Illinois, almost no time was too late or cold for an immediate dip at Bend in the Road.

Sylvia studied costume design, theater, and art at Sarah Lawrence College. She married William H. Rentschler, and in Lake Forest, Ill., raised her four eldest children and formed a lifelong circle of friends. She was a coveted doubles partner, a volunteer at the Allendale School for Boys, a photographer, and a guide at the Art Institute of Chicago. She was known to get laughing to the point of weakness, sometimes inappropriately.

Sylvia was a gifted and exuberant artist with a visceral connection to nature and pattern. An extraordinary colorist with a beautiful and sure line, her paintings convey her great pleasure in the everyday world around her, which she abundantly shared with those who knew her. She studied with Kwok Wai Lau, George Rocheleau, and Hubert Ropp, and showed at the Deer Path Art League and Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown, among others.

In 1970, Sylvia married the love of her life, George Wallace Thompson. The two eloped on his lunch break from Wilson and McIlvaine in Chicago, meeting at the justice of the peace before boarding a plane to Morocco. They moved to a farm in Geneva, Ill., where they raised beef cattle and crops, and created a haven for a merged and growing family. She tended enormous flower and vegetable gardens, foraged for wild asparagus along the fencerows, pulled calves while about to have a baby herself. Sylvia was also a phenomenal cook, and an early proponent of nutrition through whole foods. Striking in a ball gown, at ease at fundraising events and the Friday Club in Chicago, she was most often seen in a blue-and-white striped shirt, bandana, and Army jacket.

Sylvia was strong-willed, and in recent years remarkably brave through a series of physical traumas. She navigated extreme change with grace and humor. She enjoyed the Center for Living for eight years, and since 2012 lived — and danced — with the Long Hill community in Edgartown. Sylvia loved people, and expected and usually found the best in them. A loyal friend and correspondent, she gathered people together with great food, style, and generosity of spirit.

Sylvia is predeceased by her parents, Marion Mills Angevin and Ferris Marion Angevin; sister Andrea Lawrence Angevin; brother John Jay Angevin; nephew John Jay Angevin Jr.; daughter Sarah Yorke Rentschler; first husband William H. Rentschler; and husband George W. Thompson. She is survived by her children, Peter Ferris Rentschler and his wife Michelle, Mary Angevin Rentschler and her husband John, Phoebe Rentschler Cole-Smith and her husband Mike, Alexandra Angevin Thompson Cole and her husband Allan; stepchildren Lydia Thompson Whitehead and her husband Charles, Wallace Underwood Thompson; grandchildren Christine Angevin Rentschler, Peter Gadsden Rentschler, William Christopher Rentschler, Albion Angevin Alley, Sophie Angevin Cole, Henry Walker Cole; step-grandchildren Amanda Post Whitehead, Molly Thompson Love, Anna Merwin Miscoso Whitehead, Catriona Fell Whitehead; great-grandchildren Genevieve Sarah Kreutle, Sylvia Marie Rentschler; step-great-grandchildren Alicia Imani Love, Amil Mateo Love, Xavier Charles Castillo, Archer Josephine Pauline, and Josephine Amelia Castillo; and many nieces and nephews and their children.

A celebration will be held on May 12 at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury from 1 to 3 pm. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living Supportive Day Program, P.O. Box 1729, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.

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Barbara Ball Rivers of Sarasota, Fla., died peacefully in her sleep on April 10, 2018, after a recent decline in health. She was 90 years old.

Barbara was born in New York City on Dec. 11, 1927, the daughter of Raymond Clifford Ball and Margaret Morris Ball of Bronxville, N.Y. Both Barbara and her childhood sweetheart, Thomas Ellis Rivers Jr., grew up in Bronxville. Her post-secondary education included Salem College in North Carolina and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City.

Barbara married Thomas Ellis Rivers Jr. in April 1949 at the age of 21, after a long courtship beginning at the ages of 14 and 16, respectively. She worked in New York City as an executive secretary, earning more than her husband for the first couple of years of their marriage. The couple started their family in New Canaan, Conn. After a brief move to East Greenwich, R.I., they established roots in Wayland, where they and their two children lived happily for many years.

Barbara enjoyed summers on Martha’s Vineyard with her parents starting in early childhood. Her parents eventually bought a home on the island called Gaymark, named because of its proximity to the Chilmark, then Gay Head, town line. Years after the Balls’ passing, Barbara and Tom moved to Gaymark in 1980. They enjoyed living there immensely. After many years, Barbara and Tom moved to Kalyana Lane, Chilmark, to be (slightly) closer to humanity and retire from the constant demands of the larger, hard-to-care-for estate. Their newly renovated home on Tea Lane brought them a gorgeous view and simpler maintenance, while they never forgot the history and many memories of their beloved Gaymark.

Barbara loved gardening, and grew awardwinning flowers, like her mother before her. She also cultivated the family’s rhubarb, used to make her husband’s favorite strawberry-rhubarb pie. Tom often remarked that her strawberry-rhubarb pies were the best he’d ever eaten. Barbara took joy in traveling with her husband. They made it around the world three times, including a sojourn to Antarctica where they saw many penguins, whereupon they decided the emperor penguin was their favorite. This couple had a deep love for nature and her many creatures, big and small.

Barbara was a beautiful woman both inside and out, with a cheerful disposition. She often erupted into laughter, which accentuated her sparkling, kind, blue eyes. She was very fond of socializing and keeping intellectually active, with her friends and members of Martha’s Vineyard’s Want to Know Club. Her insights and calm disposition made her a sage to the next generation of women. She was also an active member of the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, where she enjoyed many friendships and social gatherings. She was a patron of numerous Martha’s Vineyard preservation causes and nonprofits, including the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, where she also volunteered.

Shortly after the death of her husband, Barbara relocated to Sarasota, Fla., in early 2015 to live near her adoring daughter, Diane.

During her time in Sarasota, she maintained her love of reading, frequenting the local library and keeping her daughter busy with Amazon book orders. She played bridge with a new group of friends, and volunteered on committees that enhanced the quality of life for Bay Village residents until her mobility challenges scaled back her participation. At the end of her life, she moved into a smaller, 24-hour care room that she would share. Since it could be decorated with a few personal items, Barbara picked one oil painting of Nashaquitsa Pond that included her namesake fishing boat, the Barbara B. Her new roommate was a recently widowed woman who was not only a friend from Martha’s Vineyard, but the artist of the chosen painting of Nashaquitsa Pond as well! What a blessing for both the women and their children, who were able to cement their shared bonds and love for Martha’s Vineyard in this way.

Barbara is survived by her loving daughter, Diane Dow Rivers, son-in-law Norman Joseph Dempsey Jr. of Sarasota, her daughter-in-law Ricky Vider Rivers of New York City, two grandsons, two nephews, and one niece. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Ellis Rivers Jr., in 2015, and her son David Ellis Rivers, who was killed in the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Donations in her memory may be made to the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury or the MSPCA.

On May 5 at 10:30 am, a service will be held at the Chapel in Bay Village, Sarasota. A memorial service on the Island will take place in late September at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury.

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Robert W. MacInnis died peacefully at the age of 103 on April 6, 2018.

Robert frequented Linda Jean’s and lived on Hines Point in Tisbury. He was an incredible human, unselfish, loving, generous, the friendliest and an all-around great man who would always cheer you up if ever you were having a bad day. Born in Nova Scotia on March 25, 1915, he moved to Martha’s Vineyard when he was 14, and served in WW II with the 738th Field Artillery Battalion from 1943 to 1946. He was an incredible piano player, and piano tuner by trade, attended the Boston Conservatory of Music and the Niles Bryant School of Piano Tuning, married his wife Barbara in 1968, and became a widower in 1995.

Around 2008 he moved to Brockport to be near his sister, Dorothy Armstrong. Robert lived in an apartment in the Meadows until 2015, when he moved to the Landing, an assisted-living facility, and then to Lakeside Beikirch Care Center, which became Elderwood at Lakeside of Brockport.

He was predeceased by his wife Barbara; sisters Margaret, Ruth, Pauline, Frances, and Dorothy; and brothers Donald and Hugh.

Christine and Kelly wish to say, “Thank you to the staff who took care of him. We continued to visit him, play cards, and place him in front of the piano. We will be traveling to Martha’s Vineyard to return Robert to his family plot. You will be greatly missed, and we are so thankful that you crossed our paths. Love always.”

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A memorial service will be held for Jane Farrow, the well-known owner of Tashtego Gift Store, at the Abel’s Hill Cemetery in Chilmark on May 19 at 11 am. The Rev. William Eddy will help celebrate Jane’s life. Please join the family after the service at a gathering at the Beach Plum Inn at noon, with food and drink for all, to share memories and stories of Jane and Ted.

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Alma M. Stibolt, 95, of Oak Bluffs, died on Thursday, April 26, 2018, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She was married to Hans P. Stibolt, and was the mother of Nancy Newman and Kenneth Stibolt.

Her funeral service will be held at a later date, and a complete obituary will appear at that time.

Donations in her memory may be made to Oak Bluffs Ambulance, P.O. Box ­­­­­­­­­­­­2131, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs. Visit ccgfuneralhome.com for online guestbook and information.

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On Thursday, April 26, 2018, Kenneth Christian Saaba Garde died, following a long and valiant battle with congestive heart failure. To the end, he remained upbeat, with a fighter’s spirit. Defying the odds, he made it home for his final hours, as was his wish; he was surrounded by his family as he left this earth to live in his eternal home in heaven.

Ken was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in Bridgeport, Conn. After high school he traveled the country for several years working as a roadie for a number of bands including Taj Mahal, James Taylor, Judy Collins, and the Allman Brothers. He also worked as a lighting technician at the Woodstock festival. Ken’s adventurous spirit led him to take what was planned as a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard, where he found himself stranded on the Island when he showed up to the ferry at night, only to learn that the boats didn’t run at that hour. A day trip turned to a weekend, which began a 40-year love affair with a special place he would come to consider his home.

In the 1970s, he managed Cranberry Acres Campground, and it was there that he met his wife, Nina. After his years at the campgrounds, Ken and his brother Brian opened the Spaghetti Pot in 1978, a restaurant that was known for its excellence in homemade eggplant parmigiana as well as strombolis and calzones. Ken later developed Caretaker Home Services, a property management company, which he and his family ran until this past year.

Ken was very proud to be an active member of the Island community, serving for 20 years on the Tisbury board of health, working for the D.P.W., and participating in a variety of projects for the town. One of his greatest joys was coaching Little League and youth Basketball. Even as his health declined, he never missed an opportunity to coach or mentor, most recently forming bonds while giving basketball and landscaping tips to his young neighbors. One of them was so influenced by him that he wrote about Ken’s advice in a school paper. In addition to his passion for coaching and community service, Ken also loved to cook and celebrate his Danish heritage by inviting his friends and family into his home to share in a traditional Danish meal.

Ken is survived by his wife of 37 years, Nina, and their four children, Rebecca Hebert, Kaleb Garde, Hannah Garde, and Daniel Garde; his grandchildren, Evalyn, Brycen, and Oliver; son-in-law Christian Hebert; beloved sister-in-law Lisa Barlow; brothers-in-law Bob Barlow and Ed Tamulionis; nephews Adam and Jared Garde; nieces Lexi and Andrea Barlow; as well as many ‘adopted’ children who often gathered in the family’s home. He was predeceased by his father and mother, Erik and Elizabeth Garde, and his brothers Arne and Brian.

The family will be holding visiting hours from 4 to 6 pm on Thursday, May 3, at the Shepherd Funeral Home in Kingston, with a brief service to follow. A memorial service will be held at 9:30 am on Saturday, May 19, at Chapman, Cole and Gleason, 56 Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Rd., Oak Bluffs, with a celebration of life to follow at the P.A. Club, 137 Vineyard Ave., Oak Bluffs. Please bring a dish to share.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Ken’s name to the Jimmy Fund or the American Heart Association.

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Janice Patricia Van Riper of Vineyard Haven died in the early hours of Friday, April 27, 2018, after a brief illness. She was 92. Her final days were spent surrounded by friends old and new, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, where she had volunteered for nearly 30 years.

Born in Haverhill on Jan. 30, 1926, Jan grew up during the Great Depression, and came of age in the midst of World War II. She was the oldest of the three children of Orrin Francis Riley, a public works engineer, and Dorothy Nichols (Donahue) Riley, a secretary. The first in her family to attend college, she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s in social work from Boston University. As a clinical social worker, she helped patients and their families navigate the healthcare system, first at Northampton State Hospital and later at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

In 1957, Jan accepted a blind date with Emerson College publicist Anthony K. (“Tony”) Van Riper. During the three-year courtship that followed, he introduced her to the Vineyard, where his parents had summered since 1933 and lived since 1940. Returning from an Island visit in 1959, he proposed on the deck of the Islander as it passed through the red sector of the West Chop Light, and she accepted. They married in 1960, and Jan gave birth to a son, Anthony Bowdoin (“Bow”) Van Riper, three years later.

Jan remained on the job until shortly before Bow was born, then retired to focus on raising him. First in Brookline and then in Wellesley, she threw herself into play dates, field trips, and volunteering with the PTA and the Cub Scouts. On the day that school dismissed for the summer, however, she would be waiting in the parking lot with the family station wagon packed, ready to head to the Vineyard until the day after Labor Day. When Bow left for college in 1981, she and Tony sold their mainland house, and after 21 summers on the Vineyard, embraced life as year-round residents.

On-Island and off, Jan enjoyed tennis, bridge, Scrabble, and time on the beach. She followed the news avidly, and traveled extensively until Tony’s death in 2001. Above all, however, she loved people. An expert and enthusiastic listener, she could (and often did) effortlessly strike up conversations with complete strangers, eager to hear their stories.

She delighted in long meals with friends, catching up on events in their lives and those of their families. “Start at the beginning,” she would say, leaning forward in anticipation, “and tell me everything.”

Volunteering at the hospital fed that love, and became her second career. She was, from 1981 to 2010, the public face of the Emergency Department and of biweekly and monthly clinics run by visiting off-Island specialists. Clad in a pink cotton jacket, clipboard in hand, she circulated between waiting room and examining room, conveying information, guiding patients, and offering warmth and a friendly ear.

By the time hearing loss forced her to hang up her pink jacket, she had spent more than 9,000 hours over 29 years bringing what one staff member called “a human touch” to an often stressful experience.

Jan is survived by Orrin and Fran Riley of New York, her brother and sister-in-law, and by Judy Riley of Corrales, N.M., widow of her beloved brother Alan. Her memory lives on in the hearts of her son Bow Van Riper, her grandchildren Joe Mundt and Katie Van Riper, her great-granddaughter Matilda Mundt, seven nieces and nephews, and friends beyond count.

Jan’s ashes will be scattered, as Tony’s were, over Vineyard Sound. A celebration of her life will take place in July.

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Jack Reed, longtime previous resident of the Martha’s Vineyard community, died on April 17, 2018, in Colorado.

My dad, Jack Reed, kept asking for a wheelbarrow so he could get out of the Grand Junction Hospital he was admitted to on April 11th for a sudden and major stroke. The nurses laughed, but my brothers and I knew he was not joking. On April 17, Ralph, a Republican dairy farmer whom my dad bought milk from for the past 12 years stopped by the hospital. I met Ralph 12 years before, when my dad moved from the Island to Colorado. My brother Zoli and I used to eat mint ice cream in Ralph’s yard when Dad would pick up gallons of milk, all marked with “Jack” on the cap, to bring to the restaurants in Aspen. Then we would load back into the van and head on to the next stop in my father’s forged chainlink of makers and producers whose inventory he trucked to restaurants. Zoli and I spent most of our time with my father in the front bed of trucks, the Be Good Tanyas on the radio, rice cakes and peanut butter on the dashboard, always on to the next stop of deliveries.

There was the organic rabbit raiser on the mesa, the dreadlocked apple grafter, the old chèvre makers in their sweatpants and rubber boots. The hothouse microgreens couple with the new baby, the Mexican onion growers whose property made our eyes water. In my dad’s cell phone they are all nicknamed: Chris Chard, Big B, Peaches! Shabo, Sonoma Bottling Jim, Rebecca Wellness, Randall Rooster.

The drives continued on, and then all of those boxes and barrels and milk crates were delivered into hot and dangerous kitchens, where the chefs in whites all patted Dad on the back and he weaved in and out of the line cooks and dishwashers like he was doing some sort of square dance.

After hours of drinking root beer in an empty dining room and sitting on loading docks with Zoli, I realized that he wasn’t the most efficient guy, because everything took forever, I mean absolutely ages. But I think now that this was his way of life on purpose. If it takes more time to wash the salad greens, or bag the sprouts, you take more time with the people around you, wherever you are, you make that chainlink a little tighter.

People called Dad Dancing Jack, or Barefoot Jack, or Jack Sprout. I didn’t know him before he was my father, when he was a Harvard editor, a journalist, a raging hippie, a cook, a husband twice, a partner many a time, a father to my older brothers and sisters.

We became very close over the past few years, when he called all of us kids more often and slowed down. When I complained about cramps, he sent me raspberry leaf and nettle tea and a tincture titled Female Longevity from his longtime herbalist Lillian. His packages never had any letters, and the one time I mentioned that sometimes parents write their kids, he sent me a box of citrus from California, with “Juice Me” written on one of the oranges in Sharpie. I called him the Faj, for father; I was named the Daj, for daughter.

When Dad went to Fiji, where he was hired as a gardener for four months, I visited him. He hand-pollinated cucumber plants after the Island’s last bees’ nest was knocked down to build a bungalow for a billionaire. We made shaded bamboo covers to keep the microgreens from curling in the sun, and cranked wheatgrass for hungover superstars. Then I followed him to Napa, where we lived together for the first time in 10 years and ran an organic farm on a cracked mountaintop. When I went to bed in my little plywood cabin on the edge of the forest, I would listen to the coyotes howl from the woods above me, and moments later, a response call would come from below, as my father howled back from outside the chicken coop so that the animals wouldn’t get eaten. At the farmers market, an aged garage band all wearing Hawaiian shirts played Steve Earle covers, and the entire town of Sonoma sat eating their picnics watching my father dance in the grass barefoot.

A lot of people idolized my father for being an “eccentric.” A lot of people whispered about my father crossing lines. I have lived with plenty of shame and defense for the man people bundled him up to be. I have also lived with the most support and love a child could have received from a father. My words are not a summation, nor a generous portion of nostalgia meant to package a life. Death doesn’t bring resolution, but it does bring reflection, something he wasn’t the biggest fan of, so I’ll leave it at this.

For the past week Zoli, our older brother Oliver, and I have been living on Dad’s land in Paonia, Colo., in his yurt without him. We are building an outhouse to keep our hands going, and have been taking care of his Great Anatolian puppy named Pinto. We are sleeping like we did as kids, wherever Dad laid the mattress with the old sleeping bags and blankets that smell like Queen Anne’s lace. We are adding to his shrine every day, which consists of two stacked milk crates topped with a clove of garlic, his old sleeveless tank top, his tinctures, a 2018 Farmer’s Almanac, a necklace of cloves and ginger, and his curated pharmacy of herbs. Lavender, burdock root, hyssop, echinacea.

Two days ago Zoli and I drove his old Aerostar van to Grand Junction for the last time, to pick up his body at a very religious, albeit family owned and inexpensive, mortuary. They gave us his ashes in a complimentary plastic box wrapped in a decorative mini pillowcase. They didn’t feel like his remains, just soot collected from a fire that had burned for a very long time. The suited receptionist told Zoli and me they were out of bread, which they usually give as an offering, so we snagged a few extra bags of Lay’s potato chips from the waiting area instead.

On the way back to the yurt, we made a lot of our own pickups. A table saw from an ad on Craigslist, a sun shower, a six-pack of hard cider, and two free barrels for our composting toilet that a nice guy named Opi gave us from behind a hardware store. Our inventory sat in the back of the van with the pillowcase of our dad’s ashes.

Outside town we stopped by Ralph’s to pick up milk for Pinto. Ralph was framed by a large haystack when we told him Dad had died 10 minutes after he left the hospital. I thought about telling him he was the Grim Reaper in his leather haying chaps, but I thought better of it.

In the old fridge, on the cap of a fresh gallon, was written my name, “Zada.” I didn’t want to pick it up. I wanted Ralph to erase my name and keep writing “Jack” on his milk caps. I wanted boxes of oranges to keep coming. I wanted my dad’s bird hands to keep flapping about. I wanted wheatgrass to keep growing in whatever yard he occupied. I wanted to keep waiting on the loading dock until he finally emerged with the empty milk crates.

There was the voice of my father in my ear, rhythmic, his hands going with an unstoppable force, on the dance floor, in the garden, cranking the wheatgrass grinder, in the hospital when he pumped the space between my thumb and pointer finger with a steady beat for hours, directing me to rub his own lung meridian. Always this rhythm and his voice, “Onward Daj, Onward Daj.”

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Tony McGrath, of Martha’s Vineyard, Palm Springs, and New York City, was a pioneer in producing theater on the streets of New York City, has died in his New York City home at the age of 90.

He fell short of his theory that he and all people should live until 140. He based this theory on the premise that living creatures should live to seven times their age of maturity. People mature at 20, therefore they should live to 140.

A graduate of Balboa High School in San Francisco, he went to St. Mary’s College of California with a basketball and football scholarship.

McGrath lived in the Highlands section of Oak Bluffs since 1964, and was a member of Motley Crew’s “The Brain Trust” at Mocha Mott’s since 2001.

He produced the Frederick Douglass speech, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” on the beach in Oak Bluffs for the past 15 years, as well as lectures, plays, and children’s theater on the Island.

Harlem Renaissance writer and longtime Vineyard resident Dorothy West immortalized him in her novel “The Wedding,” which was about an interracial marriage. She based the characters on McGrath and his wife of 50 years, Abigail McGrath, her niece.

McGrath founded the Off Center Theatre in 1968, and was producing performances through 2017.

The Academy awardwinning actor F. Murray Abraham said, “My work with Off Center Theatre keeps me in touch with honesty.”

McGrath was a veteran of the Broadway stage. He created the part of Big Eddie Stover in Truman Capote’s original 1952 production of “The Grass Harp,” directed by Robert Lewis. He also created the part of “the Stranger” in the original 1955 production of “The Cherry Orchard” directed by David Ross, and was in the acclaimed Joel Friedman production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. Friedman also directed Tony in “The Odd Couple.”

He specialized in “bum” parts, and was featured in the film “Better Than Ever” opposite Bill Hickey, “The Luckiest Man in the World” by Frank Gilroy, and “Au Pair Chocolat,” directed by his son, Benson McGrath.

He was featured in many early television shows, such as “Route 66,” “77 Sunset Strip,” and “Death Valley Days.”

In 1968, he created Off Center Theatre to give new playwrights a platform and to promote out-of-the-box concepts within a proscenium setting. He was inspired by his street theater experiences in the Bread and Puppet Theatre.

His first theater was in the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church on 66th Street. Lincoln Center was doing the excavation for its performing space at the time. When people would ask where his theater was located, he would say “Off Lincoln Center,” hence the name Off Center, which was doubly fitting given the type of political and social plays associated with it.

Playwrights such as Trevor Griffen, Barry Keefe, Neall Bell, Norman Wexler, and Tom Labar all had their works performed there. Christine Baranski, Peter Boyle, Dominic Chianese, Ron McLarty, and a host of others, including F. Murray Abraham, performed there.

Off Center also produced plays for children. It was located near a low-income housing project, and it was clear that the children could not afford a ticket. As a result, the children’s plays were performed on the streets, for free. “Theater is a right, not a privilege,” said McGrath.
These were “zany and irreverent versions of children’s classics”; the actor John Leguizamo got his start as Jack in “Jack in the Beanstalk,” S. Epatha Merkerson was the third pig in “Three Little Pigs,” and F. Murray Abraham, who was quite well-known when he joined, was the prince in Cinderella. The children’s theater company used fairy tales to emphasize women’s rights, diversity, and social issues in a way that was an alternative to Disney.

Under McGrath’s direction, “Biting the Apple,” street theater done in comic book style, about the worm of apathy in the Big Apple, toured the city streets, and “Hope for Life” performed a different episode every week outdoors at lunchtime for those working people who missed their soap opera. It asked the question, Can a girl from a small Latin-American island find happiness as a secretary on Wall Street?

He is survived by Abigail McGrath, his wife of 50 years, Benson McGrath, his son, and Jason Rosen, his stepson.

A memorial will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Off Center Theatre, 484 West 43rd St., No. 37E, New York, NY 10036, or electronically by PayPal: http://bit.ly/McGrathdonation.

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George Ludgero Gomez, 78, of Chappaquiddick died of Alzheimer’s disease on April 30, 2018, in Wellesley at the Center for Alzheimer’s Care.

He was married to Susan L. (Diamond) Gomez, and was brother of Margaret Rhodes, Dorothy Scholwin, and Edward and James Gomez. He owned Works of Gomez Construction in Cambridge, and worked throughout the surrounding areas of Boston.

Visitation period in the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs will be held on May 3 from 10:30 to 11:30 am, followed by burial in the MV Hebrew Cemetery in Vineyard Haven at 12 pm. Donations may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090. Visit ccgfuneralhome.com for online guestbook.

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Kevin M. Hearn died on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, at his home in Key Colony Beach, Fla., after a brief illness. He was 73.

Kevin was predeceased by his son, Brendan Hearn, and by his brother, Kenneth Jr., and Kenneth’s wife, Maureen. He is survived by his wife Roberta (Fontaine) Hearn, daughter Heather Maciel (husband Vincent), his granddaughter Kaitlyn Kurth (husband Ryan), grandson Jared Maciel, great-grandson Latham Kurth, and newly born great-granddaughter, Gryphon. He is also survived by his brother Glenn Hearn (wife Linda), along with numerous nieces and nephews.

A graveside service for the burial of his remains will be held in Lambert’s Cove Cemetery, West Tisbury, on Saturday, May 19, at 11 am, officiated by the Rev. Cathlin Baker, with military honors provided by the veterans of Martha’s Vineyard. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in memory of Kevin M. Hearn (checks should be made payable to Sylvester and mailed to Sylvester Development Office, P.O. Box 016960 (M-867), Miami, FL 33101), or Miami VA Healthcare System, Fisher House, 1201 NW 16th St., Miami, FL 33125.

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Dr. Steven G. Mills died unexpectedly on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. Born in New Bedford, the son of the late Joseph and Theresa B. (Whalen) Mills, he was predeceased by his daughter, Erin M. Mills.

Dr. Mills graduated with honors from Stonehill College in Easton, and received his doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of West Virginia in Morgantown, W.V., completing the rigorous four-year program in just three years at the top of his class. He began his dental career in North Dartmouth, working alongside his brother, Dr. Joseph Mills. As the sole proprietor of Dockside Dental, he has proudly served the community of Martha’s Vineyard for the past 18 years. Steve had a heart of gold, and his generosity and passion for people and helping others both personally and professionally is his hallmark.

A dedicated and loving father, grandfather, son, brother, and uncle, Steve cherished spending time with his family, especially his daughters and grandchildren. He excelled in sports, and was awarded more than 75 trophies for athletic achievement and good sportsmanship as a young boy, but his passions were always fishing and the ocean. “Grampy” loved kayaking, and was most happy when fishing with his grandchildren.  

Steve will forever be remembered as the gentlest of souls with the kindest heart, a funny, fun-loving guy who loved listening to the oldies, and a good belly laugh. He inherited his dDad’s uncanny ability to fix anything, and was first in line to lend a helping hand. He brought joy and love to his family and friends.  

He is survived by his daughter, Caitlin M. Mills of Oak Bluffs; a brother, Dr. Joseph Mills and his wife Kathleen of South Dartmouth; three sisters, Joanne Caplan of South Dartmouth, Jane Burchill and her husband, attorney Kevin Burchill of West Tisbury, and Mary Mills of Oak Bluffs; three grandchildren, Christian and Cayden Smith of West Tisbury, and Hailey Carreiro of Fall River; several nieces and nephews, and many dear friends.

His visitation will be held Tuesday, May 8, from 10 am to noon, with a funeral service at 12 noon at the Rock Funeral Home, 1285 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford. Burial will be in the Pine Grove Cemetery. A celebration of life is being planned for a later date. For tributes and directions, please visit rock-funeralhome.com.

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An engaged and full life ended when Nancy Jean McVeigh Tesch died. She recently celebrated her 87th birthday surrounded by those she loved. She died on April 30, 2018, of complications from pneumonia and heart failure.

Nancy was born on April 20, 1931, in Superior, Ariz. Her life took her to many places, including the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the Washington, D.C., area, Germany, and finally Martha’s Vineyard.

Nancy was a longtime resident of the Vineyard, and she worked at the Edgartown National Bank for over 20 years.

She loved to travel, and visited 49 of the 50 states, as well as many countries abroad. She was active in the Woman’s Club of Martha’s Vineyard, and a volunteer at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, both which she thoroughly enjoyed. Nancy was also a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Nancy had a great sense of humor. She was a good friend and a kind, compassionate and thoughtful person, with a zest for life and a natural curiosity about everything and everyone.

She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers James and Charles, and longtime partner Richard Gale. Nancy will be dearly missed by her children Linde Tesch of Chicago, Kurt Tesch of Vineyard Haven, and Lisa Dolan of Walpole, grandchildren Haley Dolan, Jack Dolan, Olivia Jardin, and Rosie DeGregorio, and their mother, Tammy Jardin DeGregorio; niece Katie Stanton and her family, Tom, Audrey, and Tommy Stanton; and dear friend and companion Jack Rollins.

A celebration of her life, a memorial in her honor will take place in June, and a more detailed announcement will be posted.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard or the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals.

If you would prefer to do something else, consider doing an act of unsolicited, unexpected kindness for someone, in honor and in memory of Nancy.

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The family of Frances Dillon Foley is heartbroken to announce that she died on Saturday, April 14, 2018, in Montana, with family by her side, at the age of 89.

She was the third of five children of Robert and Doris Dwyer Dillon of Saint Paul, Minn. Frances Mary Dillon grew up in the Crocus Hill neighborhood, where she attended the Visitation School and graduated from Saint Catherine’s College in 1950. The Dillon family enjoyed summers at their home on White Bear Lake. Her father was a prominent citizen of Saint Paul, who built his company, Dillon Lilly, around his invention of a specialized refrigerator for hospitals. Her mother was an accomplished pianist. In 1954 Frannie married Eugene P. Foley of Wabasha, Minn., and raised four children.

Frannie was a beautiful and fashionable woman with bright blue eyes; she was a talented artist, a devout Catholic, a caring soul, and a wonderful mother and grandmother. Her main art form was marble sculpture, which she hand-carved into sensuous forms for more than 70 years. She won several awards in many juried and group shows, and her art is in many private and public collections around the country, including the City Hall of Wabasha, Minn.; the Lutheran Brotherhood Library in Minneapolis; Cretin-Derham High School in Saint Paul, Minn.; Saint Joseph’s Church in West Saint Paul, Minn., and the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, Mont.

She spent the summer of 1948 working in Glacier National Park, which led to her lifelong love of hiking and nature. Along with her love of art and hiking, she also enjoyed gardening, cooking, birdwatching, and curling.

Her husband was a longtime advisor to Hubert Humphrey, with whom she campaigned. In August 1963, Mr. Foley was appointed by President Kennedy to be the national administrator of the Small Business Administration, and in 1965, President Johnson appointed him to be Special Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. Frannie enjoyed several private dinners at the Johnson White House, and even got a personal tour from President Johnson, among other exciting events in 1960s Washington.

In 1968 the family moved to Central Park West in New York City, and Frannie shared an art studio with several friends in Greenwich Village. In 1970 the family moved to Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., where she was active at the Hastings Gallery and raising the family. In the 1980s she spent six months in Pietra Santa, Italy, continuing her love and learning of the art of sculpture in the shadow of the Carrara Mountains. In 1986 she moved back to her hometown of Saint Paul, into the Lowertown Lofts, live-work apartments for artists that were part of the resurgence of that neighborhood. In 1991 she moved to Somers, Mont., on the shores of Flathead Lake to help raise her grandchildren. Frannie continued her craft, and was creating some of her most beautiful work into her mid-80s.

Frances was predeceased by her husband; three sisters, Catherine Simerson and Roberta Vitelli of Saint Paul and Doris Marchuk of Edina, Minn.; and her brother, Robert “Bud” Dillon of Saint Paul. She is survived by her daughter Annie Foley of Vineyard Haven; son Bob and his wife Jane of Somers, Mont.; daughter Margaret Foley of Whitefish, Mont.; son Paul and his wife Clare of Marion; and her four grandchildren, Dillon, Conor, Abbie, and Ellie Foley, as well as many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held in the Saint Thomas More Church (formerly known as Saint Luke’s), in which she was baptized and married, on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, Minn., on June 16, 2018. If inclined to make a charitable donation in her honor, please consider a local arts program, or a memory loss and wellness program near you.

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Barbara Jane Dugan (née Porter) died peacefully on April 21, 2018, after a bout of pneumonia.

Barbara was born in Rockland, Maine, on Nov. 18, 1929, to Maynard and Clara Porter. She and her family moved to Martha’s Vineyard to help her father’s brother run his restaurants when he took sick. She attended Tisbury Elementary School through middle school. After spending a number of years in Brooklyn, N.Y., where her dad ran a diner, she quit school and worked at Macy’s. She returned to the Vineyard in her late teens, while her father was in the armed services, a chef on the troop carrier that would deliver troops to the Battle of the Bulge.

She held numerous jobs on the Vineyard, from cashier at a grocery store in Vineyard Haven to owning a women’s clothing store in Vineyard Haven called Bee Jay’s, and was a popular bartender at the Boston House. She also spent time in several hardware stores and Cottle lumberyard.

Barbara enjoyed painting, both watercolor and oil painting, and her works were sometimes exhibited for sale. She also was known to play a mean game of darts, and loved to entertain others with her singing. She had a deep repertoire of songs from her childhood.

She was predeceased by her two older sisters, Alice Hart and Mabel Silva. She is survived by her two sons, Glenn Andrews of North Tisbury, and Tom (Andrews) Anzer of Concord, three grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Near the end of her life, Barbara was well cared for by her eldest son, Glenn, with support from Vineyard Elderly Services and the “angels” of the Visiting Nurses Association on the Vineyard. For the last year and a half, she lived in the Life Care Center of Acton, near her younger son’s home. He visited her nearly every afternoon while she was there.

Interment will be private. Anyone wanting to make a donation in Barbara’s memory may give to Island Elderly Housing or Visiting Nurses Association of Martha’s Vineyard.

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A memorial celebration for the life of Sylvia Angevin Thompson, who died last month in Edgartown at the age of 89, will be held on Saturday, May 12, from 1 to 3 pm at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury.

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Joshua Nicholas Hathaway died on May 3, 2018, at his sister LuAnna’s house, surrounded by his family and loved ones. He ended his journey on this earth at the age of 38. He had fought a courageous battle with brain cancer over the past two years.

Josh was born on the Vineyard on July 19, 1979. He spent most of his childhood and young adult years on the Island, and was graduated from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

For all who knew him, Josh would be described as a “one of a kind” individual, with many talents and interests. He had a large circle of friends he’d gathered over the years, and was a very loyal and devoted friend. This was evident at the farewell party given for him at LuAnna’s house in Townsend on April 14. Friends and family came from near and far to celebrate Josh and spend some final precious time with him.

Joshua loved to travel, and did several cross-country trips, stopping to live in New Mexico for a while, and then California for a bit. He lived and worked in Boston and Hull for a time, and spent several months living in and exploring Hawaii. As much as he enjoyed his adventures, he always came home to the Vineyard. He was a hard worker, often working two jobs. Though he tried his hand at many things, he usually came back to doing concrete form work and/or landscaping.

Josh had many passions, the greatest of which was motorcycle riding. He loved the wind in his face and the sense of freedom it provided, but more than anything, he loved to go fast! He also loved fishing, boating, water sports, and gaming. Following his first surgery, Josh would get up early in the morning and walk down to Katama Bay to watch the sunrise and an occasional fish jump. He appreciated the beauty of nature and the Vineyard.

Though Joshua’s time on earth was cut short, he lived a full and adventurous life. As he was often known to say, “Don’t talk about it. Be about it.”

Josh is survived by his parents, Gary Hathaway of Maine and Jessica Oliver of Vineyard Haven, and by his stepmother Linda Hathaway of Edgartown. He leaves behind his beloved sister LuAnna, her sons Desmond and Silas Pinkham, and her husband David Rotondi of Townsend; his devoted brothers Gary Jr., Brian (Jamie), and Kevin Hathaway of Edgartown; Stephanie Cormier and Neal Fogarty of Townsend, who helped care for, love, and entertain Josh in his last months; his uncle Jessie Oliver (Alison), aunt Lizzie Jones, uncle John Jones, uncles Dana and Warren (Debbi) Gaines; cousins Karen, Molly, Wendy, Lisa, and Eric (Hathaway); Jacob and Kayla Oliver; David, Joe, and Shelly (Jones); Cassaundra, Michaella, and Daniel (Gaines); April and Samantha Hargy. He was predeceased by his younger brother, Timothy Joseph Hathaway.

Joshua was loved by many, and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A celebration of Josh’s life will be held on the Vineyard in the early summer.

A gofundme.com account has been set up to help the family with expenses, or you may make a donation in his name to the charity of your choice.

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On Thursday, May 3, 2018, Hershel West of Menemsha died peacefully in his sleep at age 94.

Hershel was born on March 1, 1924, to his parents Norman and Annie West at his grandmother’s house on Middle Road, close to the West Tisbury–Chilmark town line. As a boy, he delivered mail with his father to Naushon and Nomans islands. He spent most of his life commercial fishing. Besides scalloping, oystering, and lobstering on the Island, he crewed on draggers out of New Bedford. For many years, he crewed aboard the Menemsha swordfish boats owned by the Larsens.

Having lived aboard his boat in Menemsha for years, Hershel was a “Cricker” at heart, a part of the waterfront scene in Menemsha. He was well known for his role in the movie “Jaws” as Quint’s mate, along with his beloved dog Tipper. The movie role brought him membership in the Screen Actors Guild.

In his later life, he resided at Woodside Village in Oak Bluffs. Hershel would commute on the bus mornings to work at Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha until his death. For the ride back home, a lobster roll would satisfy him.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Chilmark Fire Association. Hershel was a member of the department for many years.

There will be a celebration of his life at Dutcher Dock in front of Larsen’s Fish Market Saturday, May 12, at 10 am.

Fair wind, my friend!

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Alma Muriel Stibolt of Oak Bluffs died on Thursday, April 26, 2018, after a brief stay at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She would have celebrated her 96th birthday on Mother’s Day, May 13.

Alma was born in Springfield, one of four daughters of Ruth Tilton Leorke and Albert Leorke. She graduated at the top of her class at Springfield Technical High School, and married Hans Stibolt, also a Springfield native, three weeks before Pearl Harbor. They met on a blind date arranged by a good friend of Hans’ and Alma’s cousin and best friend, Shirley Schrade. Years later, Shirley and her husband, Frederick, moved to the Vineyard, and for the rest of their lives were nearby neighbors of the Stibolts.

Early married life took the Stibolts to the Midwest, but they always considered Massachusetts their home. They started visiting the Vineyard for vacations in 1959, and built one of the early houses at Waterview Farm in Oak Bluffs in 1966. Alma and Hans owned and operated the Edgartown Lodge Apartments, and later started and operated the Long Ship at Nevin Square in Edgartown, as full business partners in everything they did.

Alma had many interests, but family came first. She nurtured each of her family members. Alma enjoyed golf, and was among the first to call Farm Neck home. She was an active member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Oak Bluffs, drove for Meals on Wheels, participated in the community greenhouse in Oak Bluffs and the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club. She skied into her 70s, and loved boating, shellfishing, sailing, and hiking on the Vineyard into her 80s.

She is survived by her husband of 76 years, Hans Stibolt; daughter Nancy Newman and her husband Jon, of Oak Bluffs; and a son, Kenneth Stibolt and his wife Evelyn Banda, of Knoxville Tenn.; four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Her sister, Verna Bergman of Springfield, also survives her.

A memorial service, which Alma wanted known as her farewell service, is planned for May 19 at 11 am at Farm Neck Golf Club. Donations in Alma’s memory may be made to Oak Bluffs Ambulance, P.O. Box 2131, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

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Anita Hotchkiss died surrounded by her loving family in Boston on Dec. 23, 2017. We will celebrate this remarkable woman’s life at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center at 10 am on June 3, 2018.

Anita was born in June of 1938 into an educated and cultured Jewish family in Bielsko, Poland, to Fanny and Emmanuel Mandelbaum. As the Germans approached Bielsko in 1940, the Mandelbaums fled East into the hands of the Russians. The family and many thousands of others were transported to “work camps” on the Siberian side of the Ural Mountains. Those family members who did not make the journey to Russia were victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

The war years must have been extraordinarily difficult for the Mandelbaums, but Fanny and Emmanuel somehow raised a happy, cheerful young child who later in life selectively recalled the stories and absurdities of those war years with great humor and positive memories. This would be a lifelong pattern for Anita: always positive, optimistic, resilient, open, and warm.

After the war, the Mandelbaums moved back to Poland and tried to restart their lives. These were surprisingly happy times for Anita. Her beloved brother Henry, of blessed memory, was born in 1946, and they were extraordinarily close until his death in Toronto in 2012. The family enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, traveling within Poland to enjoy skiing and beach holidays.

The Iron Curtain had, however, descended on Poland, and Emmanuel and Fanny (lifelong Zionists) made the decision in emigrate to Haifa, Israel, in 1951. Despite their best efforts, conditions were just too difficult for the Mandelbaums to raise a family in Israel, and in 1953 they moved once again to Winnipeg, Canada. Fanny and Emmanuel finally found peace, and remained in Winnipeg for the rest of their lives, dying in the late 1970s.

Thus at age 13, Anita found herself in yet another city, speaking yet another language. The open arms of the Jewish community in Winnipeg allowed the Mandelbaums to rapidly integrate. Anita was a bright, accomplished student who enjoyed a busy social life in that town. Connections to the Winnipeg community exist to this day.

Just prior to entering college, Anita was sent as an au pair to relatives in New Rochelle, N.Y., for the summer. At a temple dance she met Neal Pruzan, a local young man, and was in short order engaged and married, thus turning her whole world upside down once again.

The couple lived in New City, N.Y., and then Eastchester, N.Y., making lifelong friends in those early days. Anita was 21 when Debra was born in 1960, followed by Daniel 11 months later! Trailblazer that she was, Anita proceeded over the next decade to put herself through college and then graduate school, achieving a doctorate in psychobiology with research at SUNY Purchase. All the while, with limited resources and constant juggling, she managed somehow to raise two accomplished children. The family trait of ironic humor was passed on to Debbie and Dan, who can recount many hilarious stories concerning their early years while Anita must have been burning the candle on both ends.

Meanwhile, Anita’s first marriage came to an end, and a couple of years later in 1974 she moved with Debbie and Dan to take up a postdoctoral position in behavioral genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. She was a fruit fly specialist! As an academic, Anita published prolifically, but her true love was teaching. She moved on to a faculty position at Rutgers University, then finally assumed a post as a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Fitchburg. As an academic, Anita was recognized on many occasions by the faculty, and especially her students, as a singularly outstanding teacher and mentor. It was of particular pride to Anita that she inspired and mentored so many first-generation college students at Fitchburg. Many of Anita’s colleagues and students would in later years be welcomed into the Hotchkiss home on Martha’s Vineyard.

It was during her later years at SUNY Purchase that Anita met Fred Hotchkiss, also an academic, with a doctorate in invertebrate biology. He and Anita were a perfect match. They were married in 1980. They shared a love of music, museums, food, travel (Anita traveled; Fred saw the photos!), fossils, politics, teaching. But above all was a love of family and friends. The blended family now included Fred’s two daughters, Grace and Emily.

For Anita, family always came first. As the grandchildren arrived, Anita would drop everything to make herself available as Grandma. She took such pride in their accomplishments, and was ever ambitious for the grandchildren to succeed. She cooked, she hugged, she schlepped, she hugged some more; the kids could do no wrong. Grandma was absolutely adored by Jason and Alex Clain (Debbie’s boys), by Grace’s children Zachary, Sophie, and Noah, and by Emily’s children, Connor, Matthew, Carly, and Grace. Anita somehow managed to fight her aggressive cancer long enough to celebrate and beam with pride at Jason’s wedding last summer to Alison Goodkind.

Upon retirement, Fred and Anita’s lives took a fortunate turn. They inherited a Mink Meadows home in Vineyard Haven from Fred’s stepmother, Prudence Hotchkiss. A decision was made to sell their house in Harvard, and give the Vineyard a try. It was a return to Fred’s roots, and what an incredible turn of events that turned out to be. The Vineyard home became a gathering place for family. Many wonderful weeks were spent digging clams, fishing, cooking, lounging at the beach, reading, sailing, fishing, discussing politics, and eating her delicious and abundant meals. Friends from off-Island were frequently entertained and warmly welcomed. Moreover, Anita and Fred connected with a wonderful and new group of like-minded people, many of whom were members of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. Friendly, open, curious, generous, hospitable, socially conscious, warm and caring … that described the new friends on the Vineyard, and without question, of course, Fred and Anita themselves.

Particularly in the last 20 years or so Anita traveled extensively. She summited Mount Kilimanjaro, did a sabbatical in China, visited Mongolia, Israel, Egypt, India, Patagonia, New Zealand, Tanzania, Russia, France, Italy, Canada, Poland. The list goes on. Top of her list were the bar mitzvah journeys she took individually with Jason to Costa Rica and then with Alex to Belize, followed later by a trip with Alex and Fred to the Amazon and Machu Picchu. After she was diagnosed with lung cancer, Anita’s indomitable spirit and sunny outlook persuaded her (why were we surprised) to travel to Bhutan alone. Somehow she even conversed with the king! Her last trip, most meaningfully, was a girls’ trip to London, with Debbie and Henry’s wife Thea in the fall of 2016.

When we think about Anita and her extraordinary life’s journey, we will remember her smile, her optimism, her humor, her perseverance, her resilience, her intelligence, her warmth, her openness. She loved people, she loved her friends, but most especially she loved her family. Anita Mandelbaum Hotchkiss was beloved, and she set a high bar for how to live a full life. In doing so she created a clear path of fundamental values, attitude, and love that the rest of us can follow.

Anita is survived by her husband of 37 years, Frederick Hotchkiss, her daughter Debra Pruzan Clain and son-in-law Michael Clain, her son Daniel Pruzan and daugher-in-law Anne Pruzan, stepdaughter Grace Scarano, stepdaughter Emily Coggins and her husband Bill; grandchildren Alexander Clain and Jason Clain and his wife Alison Goodkind Clain; step-grandchildren Zachary Scarano, Sophie Scarano, Noah Scarano, Connor Coggins, Matthew Coggins, Grace Coggins, and Carly Coggins; beloved cousins Charlotte and Barry Katzen and family; sister-in-law Thea Mandelbaum; and an enormous group of friends, colleagues, and students.

Memorial gifts may be given to the Global Tzedakah (Charity) Fund at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. P.O. Box 692, Vineyard Haven MA 02568.

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