Obituaries & Death Notices

At Chilmark’s Town Elections on Wednesday, voters elected a new Chilmark select board member who was running uncontested, there was a tight race between two candidates for a new Finance Advisory Committee member, and three tax-related ballot questions were approved. New select board member Matt Poole, who received a total of 184 votes from the town, will be replacing three-term serving member Jim Malkin, who was the most recent chair of the select board and announced he would not be seeking re-election…

ABOVE: HN photos from the scene at Station Ave. and Wood Road… . SOUTH YARMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS – [YARMOUTH POLICE MEDIA STATEMENT] – A motorcyclist was killed Thursday afternoon after colliding with a pick-up truck. Shortly after 4 p.m., Yarmouth Police were dispatched to the intersection of Station Avenue and Wood Road for a motorcycle crash. Initial reports indicated this was a single vehicle crash, and the operator had struck a mailbox. . Officers arrived on scene to find the 28-year-old…

From the fishing docks in Menemsha that have been her home for decades, an iconic, inter-generational fishing vessel bobbed in the waves on its way to Vineyard Haven on Thursday morning, the May sun beating down on her deck. It was the last ride for the Little Lady, with its green and red wood hull and single mast, before she undergoes an extensive renovation. The Little Lady, built in 1929, is now slated to begin a years-long restoration at wooden boat builders Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway.…

TAUNTON, MA – The Bristol County District Attorney’s office confirms a Falmouth man’s body was discovered behind the Bristol-Plymouth Regional High School in Taunton Wednesday. The D.A. identified the victim as Stephen Myers, 39, of Falmouth, adding that Myers died from a single gunshot wound. Authorities say foul play is suspected. Anyone with information is […] The post Body of Falmouth man found with gunshot wound behind Taunton school appeared…

Tisbury will need to finish off its annual town meeting on Wednesday after attendance fell below quorum on Tuesday night about halfway through the warrant. Before filing out of the new Tisbury School gymnasium, voters did manage to update the town administrator’s job description, restrict funding for new moorings, and turn down renovations at a proposed employee housing development. Town meeting will resume at 7 pm at the Tisbury School gymnasium on Wednesday night. Over a dozen articles remain.…

Last week, an emigrant from Ecuador living in Fall River was working high up on a residential home in Edgartown when he fell 20 to 30 feet to his death. It is the second time this year that a man from Ecuador has died while falling at a construction site in the down-Island town, and the third in recent months of a worker from Fall River. Whether the worker was properly trained in safety procedures and what exactly went wrong will be left up to federal and state investigators;…

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One of my closest friends died last Wednesday night, and I hadn’t had any time to process or participate in any ritual to grieve her death. Then I remembered, by coincidence (although I don’t believe in coincidences), another good friend had invited me to a special service called Tenebrae at the Congregational Church in West Tisbury. The invitation came with an explanation that the service was somber and especially beautiful, because as the evening progresses, the…

Margaret Ann Deitrich (Kammerer), 93, of Chilmark, peacefully passed away at the Henrietta Brewer House on Sunday, April 20, 2025.  Born in Orange, N.J., Ann grew up in South Orange, N.J., and graduated from Columbia High School. Always seeking to blaze a new path, Ann attended Allegheny College, where she graduated with a B.S., and was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. After graduation she and her lifelong friend, Marilyn Schnaars, embarked on a cross-country…

Gladys Ruth Segal passed away peacefully in her home on March 15, 2025, at the incredible age of 102. She grew up in North Plainfield, N.J. In her childhood, she was famous for her toughness in defending her twin brother on the playground, and for her resilience after losing her mother, Tillie, when Gladys was only 12. Her family couldn’t afford to send her to college, but her intelligence and curiosity led her to follow her interests and eventually to work at Group…

A memorial Mass for Victoria A. Anthony will be held at 11 am on Saturday, May 10, at St Augustine Church in Vineyard Haven. Inurnment will be at Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven. A reception will follow at the Portuguese-American Club. Vicki died on August 10, 2024. She was the wife of the late Joel P. Anthony of Vineyard Haven. The post Victoria A. Anthony appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

Tisbury has become the fifth town to approve phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers, doing so by a majority vote on Tuesday at town meeting. In the down-Island town, the article bans gas-powered leaf blowers effective March 15, 2028 and limits their use until then. Gathered at the gymnasium of the recently completed Tisbury School, voters passed the bylaw around 8 pm after a series of proposed amendments. Voters approved an amendment by Margot Sharff, who presented the…

Lambs frolic in the fields. Some are fed by bottle. North Tabor Farm put squash plants in the ground, and they offered free seedling potatoes. Their farm stand is fully stocked, including shiitake pâte. Sunday afternoon, Menemsha filled with the community, friends, and family of Karsten Larsen. It was a gathering he would have loved. You can forget how starved you are for moments when we vastly outnumber visitors. “Fair winds and following seas, Cap.” Perhaps there is something in the Chilmark…

Chilmark voters Monday night voted on budgets, bylaws, and — the most anticipated — a ban on leaf blowers, which passed unanimously although with an amendment that will allow residents to use the equipment in their backyards. Chilmark now joins three other Island towns in passing the bylaw, ensuring that gas powered blowers will be mostly phased out by 2028.   However, unlike the other Island towns, Chilmark residents, through amendments on town meeting floor,…

Chilmark voters became the fourth town on the Island to approve a phased-in ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. On the town meeting floor on Monday night, discussion among Chilmark residents lasted about an hour and a half; voters passed three amendments and rejected three amendments. The amendments included an exemption for homeowners to the ban. The overall approval of the ban passed unanimously. Voters at town meetings in Oak Bluffs, Edgartown…

EDGARTOWN – A worker in Edgartown died in an apparent construction accident last week, the second time this has happened in the town this year. The previous incident was in February. The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office identified the victim of the apparent accident that happened on Tuesday as Jorge Riera of Fall River. […] The post Worker Killed In Martha’s Vineyard Construction Accident appeared first on CapeCod.com.

VINEYARD HAVEN – The founder of The Black Dog restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard has died. Robert Douglas was 93. Douglas was the captain of a tall ship, and the tavern was named after his lab-boxer mix pet. The Black Dog has become a popular souvenir t-shirt in the decades that followed, with retail outlets operating […] The post Founder Of The Black Dog Has Died appeared first on CapeCod.com.

There have been a couple of significant course corrections in my life. Each popped up, out of the blue, and each posed a question. It was a fork in the road with a choice to make – to plunge, or not to plunge. How I answered the question set me off, happily as it turned out, along an unanticipated but enormously rewarding tack. In the early spring of 1968, done with graduate school for the summer, I worked in a shipyard in Fairhaven, Massachusetts where I grew up. It was grunt work, scraping, sanding,…

HYANNIS – From Barnstable Police: It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Retired Chief of Police Neil A. Nightingale. He passed away April 22, 2025 at the age of 91 peacefully at his family home. Chief Nightingale graduated from Barnstable High School in 1951 and joined the Barnstable Police Department […] The post Barnstable Police announce passing of long time chief with 43 years of service appeared first on CapeCod.com.

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A worker in Edgartown died yesterday after falling between 20 and 30 feet from a residential construction site located on Trapps Pond Road.  On Tuesday at 2:53 pm, Edgartown Police and Fire departments were dispatched to a report of an individual who had fallen from scaffolding. Upon arrival, they located the injured male outside where he had landed, in the walk-out basement egress.  First responders provided medical care and extricated the critically injured worker…

We were treated to a beautiful Easter Sunday after another wet, windy, chilly week. Still, every day brings the appearance of another sign of spring unfolding. The three garden centers in town were filled with all the colorful pots of pansies and bulbs one could desire. They made perfect Easter gifts, or were bought to ornament one’s own porch steps. There were egg hunts everywhere. Mike showed me pictures he took of the reportedly 3,000 candy-filled plastic eggs strewn across the field outside…

TRURO – The Town of Truro says Longnook Beach has reopened. Longnook was closed last summer because officials were concerned about someone getting hurt by an erosion-related collapse on the steep coastal bank. In 1973, an 11-year-old boy died when a cliff at Longnook collapsed.  Following a permitting process with the Cape Cod National Seashore […] The post Longnook Beach Project Completed appeared first on CapeCod.com.

Michael E. Amaral, 66, of Vineyard Haven, who died in Boston on Jan. 27, 2025, the son of the late Donald and Mary Amaral, and brother of Brian and the late Stephen Amaral, will have a celebration of life at the Portuguese-American Club on Saturday, May 3, from 1 to 4 pm. The post Services for Michael E. Amaral appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

A celebration of the life of Roger Thomas, who died on Feb. 14, 2025, will be held at the Sailing Camp in Oak Bluffs on Sunday, May 4, from 1 to 4 pm. The post Services for Roger Thomas appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

It is with great sadness that we announce the untimely passing of Simon D. Brooks, 39.  Simon was born in Blackpool, England, on Sept. 21, 1985, and lived in Fleetwood, England, until he moved to America. He passed on April 17, 2025, in Oak Bluffs. He was an avid golfer, and was able to meet a lot of people throughout his golf journey. He loved to play disc golf on the Vineyard, even participating in a few weekly leagues. Simon learned his love of golf from his grandfather,…

David Alan Perzanowski, 67, passed away at his West Tisbury home, surrounded by family, on April 19, 2025. David was born on July 13, 1957, to Wesley and Nancy Perzanowski in the back seat of the family’s DeSoto, on the way to the hospital in Springfield. Known affectionately by friends as “the Professor,” David graduated from Westfield High School in 1975. He received a bachelor of pharmacy degree from the University of Connecticut in 1980. David moved to the…

Phyllis Marie Smith, who lived in Havenside in Vineyard Haven, passed away peacefully on April 17, 2025, surrounded by friends and family, at the age of 93. A full obituary will follow in a future edition of this paper. The post Phyllis Marie Smith appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

HYANNIS – Fall River Catholic Diocese Bishop Edgar da Cunha is asking all of the faithful to join him in praying for the repose of Pope Francis, and also pray for his successor. Francis, the first Pope from the Americas, died on Monday at the age of 88. Bishop da Cunha says he had the […] The post Fall River Bishop Reflects On Passing Of Pope Francis appeared first on CapeCod.com.

Barbara Dean Hatch Keeling, 84, loving mother, sister, aunt, and great-aunt, passed away on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.  She was born on Jan. 23, 1941, in Oak Bluffs. Prior to living most recently in Abingdon, Va., she was a longtime resident of Naples and West Palm Beach, Fla. Barbara had a career as a dedicated licensed practical nurse (LPN) for more than 30 years, serving at multiple hospitals and nursing facilities in the West Palm Beach area. She found joy in spending…

Easter 2025 A.D. “Anno Domini,” is the full form of the abbreviation “A.D.,” which is Medieval Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” The modern Western Christian Calendar begins measuring years “A.D.” at the traditionally reckoned time of the conception or birth of Jesus. Jesus is believed to have been crucified when he was around 30 to 33 years old, which, according to the Western Christian Calendar, brings us to our current year as being “2025 A.D.,” approximately…

Ushering in a new era in Edgartown politics, Alex Morrison, a 42-year-old, lifelong resident who campaigned on giving voice to a new generation of Islanders, won a stunning and decisive victory for a three-year seat on the select board over incumbent Michael Donaroma, who held power for more than two decades.  The final tally showed Morrison defeating Donaroma by a more than 2-1 margin, securing 469 votes over Donoroma, who had 200. Morrison was followed by a third challenger, Glen Searle, with…

Raphael Joseph Fusco, known affectionately to friends and family as Ray, passed away peacefully on April 9, 2025, at the age of 86, in Danvers.  Born on Nov. 3, 1938, in Boston, Ray was a man whose generosity, kindness, and loving nature touched the lives of all who knew him. Throughout his life, Ray was a man of many talents, and an ever-present figure in his community. He dedicated many years as a custodian at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, where his…

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It’s five am. My 15-year-old cat looms over me where I lie in bed, pretending I don’t see her. “Meow,” she says plaintively. I gently shrug her off. “Meee-oooooow,” she insists. She is the last of our cats. At our peak, we had seven, but they passed away, one by one. Now there is just one tiny, ancient, orange cat named Tigerlily, screaming at me to get up. l dutifully do so, following her down the stairs, which she takes slowly, favoring one hind leg. When…

James Thomas (“Jim”) peacefully passed away in his sleep at home on March 21, 2025, at the age of 86. A native of Humboldt, Tenn., Jim was a distinguished alumnus of Fisk University, where he earned his degree in history and government. His career spanned six decades of service with the American Red Cross, where he held numerous leadership positions. His work took him around the world, with leadership roles in Vietnam, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Jordan, Liberia,…

Aquinnah will be the only Island town not to vote on a phaseout of gas-powered leaf blowers at its annual spring town meeting this year. The town approved and closed its town meeting warrant at Monday’s select board meeting in preparation for its May 13 annual town meeting. Jeffrey Madison told The Times that he was not aware of any leaf blower bylaw having been submitted to the select board for discussion. Bylaws passed in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and West Tisbury…

* Defendant involved in Massachusetts State Police Commercial Driver’s License bribery scheme BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – [DOJ MEDIA STATEMENT – NO BOOKING PHOTO PROVIDED] – A former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) trooper pleaded guilty on Friday, April 11th, to his role in an alleged conspiracy to falsify records by giving passing scores to certain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) applicants, including individuals who had failed or did not take the CDL skills test as required by…

The Vineyard’s State House representative has filed legislation that would require a motorcycle license to drive a moped anywhere in Massachusetts, which could end moped rentals on the Island.  Falmouth representative and freshman lawmaker Thomas Moakley filed H.3743 earlier this year as a way to improve the safety of drivers — moped or other vehicle drivers on the road — as well as pedestrians and bicyclists. “These are akin to driving a motorcycle,” Moakley told The Times, adding that…

There will be a celebration of life for Fred Pekari, who died on August 9, 2024, on Saturday, April 26, at the Portuguese-American Club, Vineyard Avenue in Oak Bluffs, from 1 to 4 pm. He was the husband of Mary Hart of Chappaquiddick. The post Fred Pekari appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury and Edgartown are among the first towns in Massachusetts to approve a new “seasonal communities” designation, which will provide additional tools to address the Island’s housing crunch. All three towns voted the designation through at town meetings on Tuesday with overwhelming support, and they follow just Provincetown where voters approved the distinction on Monday. The passage is a significant step toward addressing housing needs on the Cape and the Islands, according…

West Tisbury voters passed a $1.6 million override to fund the upcoming fiscal year operating budget. Voters cast their ballots Thursday at the West Tisbury Public Safety Building for various, mostly uncontested candidate races, and to vote on ballot questions.  One of these ballot questions was for an override to fund its proposed, roughly $25 million budget, a reduced version that was passed during the annual town meeting on Tuesday.…

Elizabeth Brady (“Betty”) of Vineyard Haven, a lifelong community builder, mental health advocate, and dedicated executive assistant and office manager, passed away peacefully on March 19, 2025. Born in New York City in 1933, she grew up in the Bronx, child of Irish immigrants William and Anna Shortall. Betty raised a family of five children, building strong, lasting relationships along the way as the family moved through several states before eventually settling…

Aquinnah select board chair Gary Haley will be facing his first electoral rival since he was elected nearly a decade ago.  Chris Manning, Gay Head Lighthouse keeper, is the challenger running for a seat on the select board.  Aquinnah town clerk Kayla Darcy told the Times that Manning is stepping back from his other role as a constable, which he was elected to last year, to run for the board seat.  Haley, who is also a master electrician by trade, was elected to the board in 2016 after running…

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Voters in Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and West Tisbury all passed a phased-in ban of gas-powered leaf blowers at their respective town meetings on Tuesday night, starting what could eventually become an Island-wide ban. The deciding vote was closest in Oak Bluffs, where the tally came out 98 in favor and 79 against. West Tisbury was overwhelmingly supportive of the measure so much so that no hand vote was required. Edgartown voted 197 in favor and 42 against. Landscapers…

Robert M. Sawyer of Tisbury passed away peacefully on Friday, April 4, 2025, at his home on Martha’s Vineyard. He was 87 years old.  Robert was born in 1937 to David and Thelma Sawyer in Brookline, where he was raised with his siblings Jerry Sawyer, Sandra Kurson, and the late Kenneth Sawyer. After graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he relocated to Chicago to pursue new business ventures. Robert was a respected real estate expert,…