Obituaries & Death Notices

Nancy Hoffman Evoy passed away peacefully on Jan. 3, 2026, at Crosslands in Kennett Square, Pa., aged 95. Nancy was born in Williamsport, Pa., and had lived in Abington, Bryn Mawr, and Villanova, Pa., as well as West Tisbury. She retained her curiosity, sharp mind, sense of humor, and ability to connect with almost everyone she met. Nancy attended Skidmore College, graduated from Penn State, and later earned her master’s in library science from Villanova University. …

Marcelle Claudette Paquet BenDavid peacefully passed away in her home on Jan. 31, 2026, surrounded by the family she loved so deeply. She was 90 years old. She was a quiet, steady presence — a silent caregiver who gave endlessly and never asked for anything in return. To be near Marcelle was to feel safe, cared for, and quietly understood. Marcelle was born and raised in St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada, on March 23, 1935, growing up as one of the youngest of…

Karen Ann MacPhail, RN, of Woodside Village in Vineyard Haven died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones, at age 78.  Karen graduated from Wareham High School, and went on to achieve her degree in nursing at Labouré College. She spent decades as an emergency room nurse, sharing memories of her time at Carney, a small but busy hospital outside Boston. After retirement she was drawn to the Vineyard beaches and small Island community. Karen jumped into volunteering,…

Eugene Erez (“Gene”) passed away suddenly on Dec. 27, 2025, while on vacation in Bangkok, Thailand. He was 62 years old. Gene was born on July 21, 1963, in Ukraine (now Russia). As a young child, he immigrated to the U.S. with his family as a Russian refugee, eventually settling in Texas before they moved to Boston. Through determination, resilience, and hard work, Gene built a life defined by craftsmanship, loyalty, and generosity. He pursued his education at Northeastern…

Woodrow W. Williams (“Woody”), born March 24, 1951, passed away peacefully at home on Nov. 10, 2025, the Marine Corps’ birthday, surrounded by his wife of 43 years, Phyllis, his daughter, Vanessa, and their beloved rescue animals, Dixie and Alfie, who never left his side. On the day he passed, he was also visited by his friend John Schilling, who stood outside Woody’s window and played the Marine Corps Hymn — an act of quiet…

Theodore Walter Box Jr., affectionately known as Ted, passed away peacefully of natural causes on Jan. 18, 2026, lovingly cared for by his brother Tom. Ted was born in 1945 in New York. A longtime resident of Seaford, N.Y., Ted earned the distinction of Eagle Scout. After graduating from Seaford High School, he continued his education at the University of Miami, followed by the University of Hawai‘i. From there, Ted chose a life path guided not by convention, but…

Stephen Francis Castanho of Edgartown died at the Cleveland Clinic on Jan. 24, 2026, from complications after a bilateral lung transplant, which he received on April 12. He was 65 years old. His partner of 40 years, Christina Cook, was by his side during his recovery and when he passed.  Steve was born in July 1961 in Providence, R.I., the youngest child of Manuel and Martina Castanho. He grew up in the Mount Pleasant area of the city…

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Heard on Main Street: When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of algebra. Children should plan on M.V. Museum Storytime, Saturdays in February at 10:30 am. All ages can choose Game Time at the Museum on Fridays from 1 to 4 pm in the museum’s First Light Café. Free and open to all; pay-what-you-can donations support museum programs. Go with friends or join a table. Free and open to all. Celebrate Black History Month on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 11 am at the Edgartown library…

What a week. It started with snow drifts topping 20 inches. Temperatures dropping to the low teens, low enough to turn the sea near the shore to slush, and coat boulders with thick layers of ice and snow. And it ended with large clumps of snow dotting roads, and high winds blowing what was a mere dusting of snow into 10-inch-deep drifts across the driveway, a beautiful full moon reflecting off the iced-over snow covering the ground, and more shoveling.  Years ago I realized that tall insulated boots,…

DENNIS – From Dennis Police: Chief John Brady regrets to announce the passing of retired Police Officer Garvin Kelley, who passed away at home on Saturday, January 24, 2026 at the age of 67. Officer Kelley was hired by the Dennis Police on September 12, 1988, and later graduated the Barnstable County Police Academy on […] The post Retired Dennis Police officer with 25 years of service passes away appeared first on CapeCod.com.

The parents of a two-year-old boy who died after allegedly being left unattended in a vehicle by his babysitter filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the babysitter in the Dukes County Superior Court last month. Julie and Matthew Rodenbaugh filed the civil complaint on Jan. 28 against Aimee Cotton of Oak Bluffs, seeking damages for negligence, wrongful death, punitive damages, conscious pain and suffering, medical expenses, and compensation for the loss of the companionship,…

Sandra Jean Nash, 76, formerly of Nantucket, died Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. A celebration of life will be held in San Jose, Calif. at a later date.

Michael Orr, 98, of Manhattan and longtime summer resident of Nantucket, died Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. Services were held at All Saints Church in New York City Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.

Anthony “Andy” Clark, 63, of Nantucket, died Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. A memorial service will be held in the spring.

When I look back on the trip end of September in 2010, the main thing I remember is the driving. The sheer, relentless distances we covered each day! When I think about it now, it was irresponsible. There was only one driver, no one to swap with, and we drove for long stretches into the night. But we were young and wanted to save money, so splitting the driving felt like an unnecessary complication at the time. It was. But more on that later. My old friend Z had been living and working in Cincinnati,…

Just before we welcomed February on Martha’s Vineyard, we were blanketed with the most snow the Island has seen in a very long time. This is typically the quietest month of the year for us anyway, but the severe weather forced us into a time of rest and reflection. …for 24 hours and then we had to work together to uncover ourselves from the 12 inches of winter wonderland. And work together we did–the scene on our street of neighbors helping neighbors is one I continued to see on most streets…

Louis “Lou” Ferreira Jr., 74, of Nantucket, died Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14 at St. Mary's Catholic Church on Federal Street, with a burial to follow.

John Edward Pomeranz, of Exeter, N.H., born Sept. 1, 1942, died on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2026. He was 83.

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Although dismaying, there is probably no time when Island residents can exhale, liberated from tick awareness. I did a brief stint of yardwork the other afternoon. Five minutes after coming indoors, there it was, a small deer tick crawling haltingly across my wrist. The experts may differ, but my observation is that deer ticks are ticks of winter.   Anticipation   Tulips are a treat, tops for anticipation, color, and bouquets. The problem is that hungry voles, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits,…

A storm was predicted for last weekend, a huge weather system expected to cut a swath through much of the country from Texas across the Mid-Atlantic and New England, leaving as much as a third of the country snowbound and without power.  A weather report such as this, for anyone who grew up in New England, is a clarion call to start preparing for whatever was to come. That is what Mike and I spent Friday and Saturday doing. Mike must have made three or four trips to Cronig’s for supplies, and…

Judy Ellis was born on Sept. 5, 1940, in Bridgewater. She passed away at 10:45 am on Dec. 30, 2025, at Royal Nursing and Rehab in Falmouth. Judy lived in Bridgewater for much of her early life, and graduated from Bridgewater High School. In the early 1970s, she moved to Martha’s Vineyard, where she raised her family and worked in the long-term-care unit at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, tending to the care and comfort of others with compassion and dedication. In the…

Carol May Anderson Ingraham passed away peacefully on Dec. 26, 2025, after a long battle with cancer.  Carol was born on March 28, 1951, in Winchendon, the daughter of Donald Buckley Anderson and Maxine Farr Anderson. She attended elementary and middle school in Wethersfield, Conn., and high school in Chatham, N.J. She went on to attend Elmira College for a degree in education. After freshman year ended in the summer of 1970, Carol joined her best friend Martina and…

William Penn (“Gregory”), 68, passed away peacefully on Jan. 10, 2026, surrounded by family at Orwigsburg Center in Pennsylvania.  Gregory was born in Plymouth on Dec. 21, 1957, to William H. Penn and Ann (Farrar) Giles Penn. He moved to Cape Cod in 1970. He attended Nauset Regional Middle School, and Nauset Regional High School, where he excelled in track, breaking several records. He then transferred to Cape Cod Regional Technical School, where he learned the…

Karen MacPhail of Oak Bluffs died peacefully on Jan. 23, 2026, surrounded by loved ones, at the age of 78.  The post Karen MacPhail appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

Wendy Taucher, choreographer and director, teacher and writer, and former artistic director of the Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, passed away on Jan. 13, 2026, in a Boston hospital after a long illness. She was involved in the New York theater and dance and music worlds immediately on moving to the city in 1979. She was born on April 7, 1954, in Oak Park, Ill., and raised in Cicero. She attended Morton East High School, where she was active in the music department and…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Childhelp, a national nonprofit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse, announced that Yvonne Fedderson, prominent philanthropist, retired actress, and co-founder of Childhelp passed away on January 23, 2026 at the…

John Edward Pomeranz, 83, of Exeter, N.H., died Jan. 1, 2026. Service information will be forthcoming.

Marian C. Clark, 90, of Boston and formerly of Nantucket, died Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. A gathering honoring Marian's life will be held at a later date.

Maybelle Marina “Pinky” Austin, 85, of Nantucket, died Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 at Our Island Home. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14 at St. Paul’s Chapel on Fair Street.

It can start with a sneeze.  Influenza, more commonly called the flu, is in full swing this winter, and Islanders have felt the impact of the infectious virus.  This flu season has also been exacerbated nationwide by the circulation of a new flu variant known as subclade K, a version of flu A, one of the main strains that infect people annually.  While it’s uncertain precisely how many people on the Island have caught the new flu variant, Dr. Karen Casper, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital emergency…

There have been so many deaths on the Island in the past few years. Kids are reeling, adults are weeping, and many of us dread opening the paper knowing there will be another tourist who died on a motorbike, or a neighbor’s kid who got killed in a car accident. When I was 15, my father died in front of me. One minute he was pulling the rope on the lawn mower and joking, and the next minute he was dead. Alive then dead. In less than 60…

“If you eat right, and you work out daily, and you get lots of sleep … you will die anyway. Now open the wine and cut the cake!”  –Hallmark card received for my birthday Good reminder that every day is a gift! Gina Patti and Rob Oslyn traveled to the West Coast over Christmas break to meet the newest family member, Lucy Elizabeth Oslyn, who was born on Nov. 17. Parents Justin and Hannah are doing well, as Lucy patiently teaches them about parenting. Gina and Rob were ecstatic…

Patricia Bergeron, 69, of Martha’s Vineyard, passed away on Jan. 1, 2026, while on the water with her beloved partner, Roy Scheffer, scalloping as they welcomed the New Year doing what they loved most. She was the strongest, most selfless person you could have known, with the biggest heart and an unforgettable smile. When you saw her face light up, you knew that everything was going to be OK. Tricia devoted her life to caring for others. She worked at Martha’s Vineyard…

Roy Timfre Scheffer, 77, passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 1, 2026, in a tragic boating accident in Edgartown. The day started out calm and beautiful, but the weather quickly turned. He and his beloved partner, Patricia Bergeron, were taken too soon by the sea. He was born at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital on Oct. 24, 1948, to Frances Lowner Drake Scheffer of Edgartown and Frederich Sieba Scheffer of the Netherlands. In his early years, he and his mother lived in the Drake…

On Jan. 9, 2026, Susan Spalding Silva passed away peacefully at her home in West Tisbury. She was 83. Born in Oak Bluffs to Philip and Mildred Spalding, Susan was raised in a house on Main Street in Vineyard Haven, nicking the occasional flower from neighbors’ yards, an early sign of what would become her life’s work. Her family spent summers on a farm off Tiah’s Cove Road in West Tisbury, where her deep connection to the land took root. After attending Abbott…

Anne Sharlun DeBettencourt, 80, of Oak Bluffs, went home to Jesus, surrounded by family and friends, on Jan. 10, 2026. Anne was a beacon of light to all who knew her. Her hard-working spirit, generous heart, and adventurous nature left a lasting impression on everyone she met. Above all, she was a deeply loving and caring person with an unfailing desire to serve others. Anne’s love for Jesus was evident every day, guiding her actions and decisions throughout her life.  Born in Brooklyn, N.Y.,…

Lewis Waring passed away shortly before Christmas at his West Tisbury home. He was 74.  A full obituary will be published in a future edition of this paper, and a memorial gathering will be held at a future date. The post Lewis Edmond Waring II appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.

Amid a rising tide of societal and economic uncertainty nationwide, leaders of one of the largest civil rights organizations on the Island made calls for a united front against what some call rising authoritarianism and to raise the next generation of activists. Over 100 people gathered at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs on Monday to join the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for its annual membership luncheon in honor…

Sue Henning, 83, of Worthington and formerly of Nantucket, died Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. Service information is not available at this time.

Catherine Turbett Lippincott, 82, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Nantucket, died Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 in Akron, Ohio. No services are planned at this time.

Jonathan Thayer, 79, of Norman, Okla. and formerly of Nantucket, died Sunday, June 1, 2025. A memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 14 at St. James Chapel in Hyde Park, N.Y., followed by a reception at his daughter’s house…

In a canopy of trees, the branches often make space for one another, letting in sunlight and allowing new growth. Leaves and limbs make way for slight gaps in the blue skylines of spring and summer. In the off-season, Islanders are left with memories of the greenery, the structure of the forest, and if they’re lucky, some downtime. But the effort of making space for one another is not an act reserved only for a forest. This winter has been rife with loss. Too many individuals who were loved by…

Lynne Sevrens Walton, 84, formerly from Nantucket, passed peacefully at home Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 in Huntsville, Ala.

SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 7, 2026, the AKG and Ca-AKG of Xin Tianhe Biotechnology successfully completed the Self-GRAS scientific evaluation in accordance with the US FDA GRAS standards and were approved and became the first…

Mystery, beauty, grief, and love course through Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” based on Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel of the same name. The two wrote the script for the film adaptation of “Hamnet,” which screens at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center starting Jan. 16. The story fictionalizes the relationship between William Shakespeare and Agnes Hathaway, who suffer a tragic loss that O’Farrell proposes inspires “Hamlet.”   A mighty wind blows through the forest at the beginning…

John Forté. —Robyn Twomey The road John Forté traveled brought him from Brownsville, Brooklyn, where he was born, to Chilmark, where he died suddenly on Monday.  It led him on an extraordinary, half-century journey. Along that road, he navigated New York’s toughest neighborhoods and made his way to elite academic institutions. It took a celebrated turn down city streets of hip-hop in its heyday, bringing him to a red-carpet walk at the Grammys. It sent him on…

Terry Andrew Canha, 72, of Oak Bluffs, passed away unexpectedly on Dec. 19, 2025, at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Terry was born on the Vineyard on April 21, 1953, to Antone and Yvette Canha. A graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, he remained rooted in the Island community most of his life, with brief periods spent living in other areas of Massachusetts. Terry dedicated the majority of his career to carpentry, and worked alongside various Island carpenters.…