Harold Maurice Wit, a lawyer, poet, and longtime resident of East Hampton, died on Dec. 14 at his house in Santa Fe, N.M., after having had several strokes. He was 86.

Mr. Wit was an attorney with the Manhattan firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and was formerly managing director of the investment banking firm Allen & Company. He was also on the board of directors of Toys “R” Us, and M.C.I, a telecommunications company. He had established a lecture series, “Living a Spiritual Life in a Secular World,” at the Harvard Divinity School.

A man of diverse interests, Mr. Wit wrote poetry and published a book of poems, “A Shovel Is to Dig With.” He was known to read a book a day, and several books at once.

In addition to Santa Fe, Mr. Wit split his time between New York City and East Hampton, where he owned a house for 40 years on Cross Highway, to which he added a tower that was controversial. At one time, he headed Watchdogs of the North Fork, an advocacy group to stop commercial development. He also planted specimen trees and acres of wildflowers, and harvested vegetables and honey. He loved riding his red tractor, his family said.

Mr. Wit attended Buckingham Browne and Nichols, a day school in Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and the Yale Law School, where he was on the Law Review.

He was born in Newton, Mass., on Sept. 6, 1928, to Maurice Wit and the former Martha Basist. He and Phillip, his older brother, grew up in Newton and nearby Brookline, where they were known as Big Moose and Little Moose. During the Korean War, he served as a Navy captain aboard the battleship U.S.S. Iowa.

Described by his family as “an ardent Republican, a loyal American, and a true patriot who deeply loved his country,” Mr. Wit drafted and sent a bill to the Supreme Court that would have given people the right to vote in cities where they owned second homes. His family described him as an eccentric dresser, and said he was an outstanding cook and baker. He will be remembered for his “acerbic wit, sense of fairness, brilliant mind, outspoken opinions, sensitivity, and kindness to others,” they said.

On Sept. 16, 1999, he and the former Susan King were married in Santa Fe. He had been previously married to Louise Untermeyer Frankel, Joan Rosenthal Sovern, and Judith Ginsberg Wit.

In addition to Susan Wit, his wife of 15 years, he is survived by a son, David Wit of Larchmont, N.Y. A daughter, Hannah Wit, died before him, as did his brother. His family listed other primary survivors as Simon, Clare, Simone, and Clark Ginsburg; Greg, Enna, Noah, Kevin, Jennifer, Jake, and Ryan Roggin; Kurt and Jimmy Serrano, and Jesse, Keri, Luke, Ciara, Aibhlin, Rowan, and Nora Ryback.

A graveside service took place yesterday at the Santa Fe National Cemetery, where Mr. Wit was buried. Donations have been suggested to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society 100 Caja Del Rio Road Santa Fe, N.M. 87507.

Alan York, an optometrist with a practice in a building he owned at 1 Main Street in East Hampton Village and a founding member of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, died on Nov. 29 at Southampton Hospital. He was 89.

He counted among his patients the artist Willem de Kooning, with whom he spent hours discussing the old masters while watching him paint. Understanding how de Kooning painted helped him make glasses suitable for both his close-up and faraway work.

Dr. York’s interests were wide-ranging. In 1960, for example, Guild Hall in East Hampton mounted an exhibit of his collection of political buttons, banners, and other items, which included material associated with George Washington and contained buttons or medals for every presidential election from Andrew Jackson’s in 1828 to John F. Kennedy’s in 1960.

His collections also spanned Irish Temperance Movement medals, material from the British abolition movement, Jewish Holocaust currency, and antique eyeglasses.

He loved classical music and was a former chairman of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons cultural education committee and Guild Hall’s film committee. He also served at one time as the president of the East Hampton Rotary Club.

After the death in 2013 of Harry Carson, who ran a Saturday morning Shakespeare discussion group at the Amagansett Library, Dr. York was among a group of members who carried on in his place.

He was born on May 9, 1925, in Brooklyn to Peter York and the former Selma Ablemar and attended Erasmus High School there. He received his undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College, and another degree from New York University. He also studied at the Illinois School of Optometry and was an Army veteran.

It was at N.Y.U. that he met Claire Fisher, whom he married on June 22, 1952. Shortly after that, the couple moved to Sag Harbor and then to East Hampton, living on Sherrill Road for many years. Ms. York died in 2011.

He is survived by a son and a daughter, Steven York of Sherman Oaks and Barbara York of East Hampton.

His funeral was on Dec. 2 at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.

Dr. York’s family has suggested memorial donations to Elsa’s Ark, P.O. Box 2900, East Hampton 11937 or to the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, 44 Woods Lane, East Hampton 11937.

Frederick Joseph Knapp, a singer and musician who had a career in industrial shows and, with his wife, the former Penny Leka, later founded a company that trained businesspeople in public speaking, presentation, and dress, died of a heart attack in Northport on Nov. 13 at the age of 84. The couple recently sold a house in East Hampton they had owned for 24 years.

Mr. Knapp left a Sears management program in the 1960s to take roles in industrial television and film commercials. He was the M.C. or lead in over 50 Broadway-style shows, and introduced  new Buicks and Fords to dealers, including Lee Iacocca’s first Mustang and Honda’s first car in America.

While working with Ford, Mr. Knapp jumped on a suggestion from an executive to establish a consulting firm. Frederick Knapp Associates, which was based on Madison Avenue, trained some 31 top executives from 29 countries and 64,500 managers over the next 31 years. The company worked with AT&T, John Deere, Bacardi Rum, Nabisco, and Philip Morris, among others.

Mr. Knapp and his wife, a violinist, met in New York City and were married on Dec. 18, 1965. They enjoyed working together in the consulting business but also entertained on cruise ships from time to time. “We were so happy together, we didn’t want to be apart,” Mrs. Knapp said.

He was born on April 9, 1930, in Superior, Wisc., to Frederick D. Knapp and the former Helen Haremza. A brother, Robert Knapp, and a sister, Larraine Hurd, died before him. He grew up in Shell Lake, Wisc., and went to the University of Wisconsin, where he received a degree in economics. He also did postgraduate work there and at Columbia College in Chicago. He had served as an Army officer during the Korean War.

Mr. Knapp joined Sears, Roebuck & Company, working in Wisconsin before he was selected for the management program at Sears headquarters in Chicago. He then moved to New York City to pursue singing and acting.

He was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the American Society of Training and Development.

At the age of 49, Mr. Knapp began to experience problems with his sight, and in 1992 he became legally blind, though he maintained peripheral vision. He served two terms as the president of the Blinded Veterans Association.

A service will be held at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan, of which he was a member, on Jan. 10 at 2 p.m., followed by a reception. His ashes are to be buried at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Ill.

Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Guide Dog Foundation, 371 East Main Street, Smithtown 11787, or to Pianofest, P.O. Box 639, Hudson, Ohio, 44236.

An obituary in last week’s paper for Robert W. Mott, who was known as Buzzy, failed to include some of his survivors. In addition to his father, Harry L. Mott of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., his children, Christopher Mott of Venice, Fla., and Shelly Mott Fisher of Sarasota, Fla., and four grandchildren, Mr. Mott is also survived by his sister, June Bubka, and her husband, Tom Bubka, of East Hampton, who took charge of his care for 30 years following a traumatic brain injury in 1985, and their daughter, Jennifer Bubka of Brooklyn.

Memorial contributions have been suggested to the Amagansett Presbyterian Church’s Scoville Hall Restoration Fund, P.O. Box 764, Amagansett 11930.

Robert T. Snyder, a labor lawyer and former judge with the National Labor Relations Board, died in his sleep at his Sag Harbor house on Dec. 10, after returning from a rehearsal for the annual holiday concert of the Sag Harbor Community Band, with which he played clarinet.  He was 84 and had not been ill.

Mr. Snyder, who also lived in New York City and spent the month of January in Sanibel, Fla., “was passionate about his music, and passionate about the law,” his wife of 16 years, Elaine Congress, said.

Educated at Columbia College and the Columbia University School of Law, Mr. Snyder believed that the law was an “essential component of our democracy,” Ms. Congress said. He had also worked as an arbitrator in recent years.

Devoted to Columbia, Mr. Snyder was president of his alumni class and followed its football, basketball, and baseball teams. A memorial service will be held for him at 2 p.m. on March 28 at the Princeton/Columbia Club in New York City.

His family said he loved Sag Harbor, his second home since 1970, and was a contributor to a collection of oral histories about the village called  “Voices of Sag Harbor.”

He was born on April 7, 1930, in the Bronx to Arthur Snyder and the former Sylvia Markowitz. He grew up on Long Island at Long Beach, where he worked as a lifeguard and began playing jazz as a teenager. He had been a member of the Sag Harbor Community Band for many years, and had also participated in chamber music groups in Sag Harbor, Manhattan, and Sanibel. A sports fan, he not only followed his favorite teams but played tennis throughout his life.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Adam Snyder of Brooklyn, an 8-year-old grandson, and his son’s mother, Patricia Stegman of Brooklyn and Quogue. He also was said to be very close to a cousin who survives, Joan Snyder of Chevy Chase, Md.

A service was held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor on Dec. 14, followed by burial at Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor.  Contributions have been suggested in his memory to one of the organizations he supported, including Amnesty International, 5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor, New York 10001; Doctors without Borders, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, Md. 21741-5030;  Channel 13 (PBS), 450 West 33rd Street, New York 10001-2605, or the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.

Thomas O. Conklin was born and raised at Breeze Hill Farm in Bridgehampton’s Scuttlehole area, and after graduating from high school in 1949 and earning an agriculture degree from Cornell University in 1953, he returned home to join his father and uncle growing potatoes.

“He had a great love for the land and soil,” his wife, Margaret Conklin, wrote this week. He acquired more land in Bridgehampton and started to grade and pack his potatoes under the Tiger Spud label, eventually partnering with Cliff Foster of Sagaponack, who carried on the Tiger Spud name after Mr. Conklin retired from farming in the 1990s.

Mr. Conklin was active in the Long Island Farm Bureau and was a lifelong member of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, where he served many terms on its various boards.

He died at home in Bridgehampton on Nov. 26. He was 83 and had kidney disease for the past four years. A graveside service will be held at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.

Mr. Conklin was born on April 30, 1931, to Otis D. Conklin and the former Anna Hildreth. He attended the Bridgehampton School before going on to Cornell, and was married on Nov. 30, 1957, to Margaret White Nugent, known as Peg. They raised their four children, Diana, Thomas, Ross, and Erin, in Bridgehampton. Their sons, while not in potato farming, continue to use family farmland in the Hayground area to grow nursery stock.

Mr. Conklin could trace his family roots back several generations on the East End; his father was from Aquebogue and his mother was from Sagaponack. He was fascinated by local history and enjoyed studying local records and genealogy. His favorite ancestor, said his wife, was Josiah Kirk, who farmed land in East Hampton’s Northwest Woods and, she said, fought the town for the exclusive right to harvest seaweed from the beach in front of his property. Her husband appreciated Kirk’s stubbornness, Mrs. Conklin said.

Though he was deeply connected to the South Fork and bound to the land by the cycle of seasons, in the 1970s he discovered and fell in love with St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. It “became his paradise,” Mrs. Conklin said, and he spent as much time there as possible. The couple had a small house on the island and would take most of their vacations there, and then stay for longer after his retirement.

Mr. Conklin loved family get-togethers, “and his friends found him to be great fun in his own sort of way,” she said.

He is survived by his wife and children, Diana White Conklin of Hampton Bays, Thomas Hildreth Conklin of North Sea, Ross Nugent Conklin of Water Mill, and Erin Wells Conklin of Water Mill. He also leaves a brother, Benjamin H. Conklin of Bridgehampton, two sisters, Nancy Halsey of Greenport and Ellen Subin of New Jersey, and four grandchildren.

The family has suggested memorial contributions to the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 3038, Bridgehampton 11932, the Bridgehampton Fire Department, P.O. Box 1280, or a charity of choice.

Richard Douglas Carlson, a naval architect who had trained race horses and designed sailboats for ocean racing, died of  heart attack on Nov. 24 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton following a six-month illness. He was 90 and a resident of Sag Harbor.

For several years, Mr. Carlson was the only practicing naval architect on eastern Long Island, having opened a design firm on Shelter Island in 1960. He was frequently called on to measure, appraise, or survey boats, and often delivered them to new owners. He also was a founder the Midget Ocean Racing Club.

All but three of Mr. Carlson’s designs were for cruising sailboats under 45 feet. His best-known and most controversial design was called Cutlass, a 23-foot, 7-inch sloop with a unique reverse shear and transom. He would tell purchasers that he would buy a Cutlass back if they didn’t win half their races. No one ever took him up on it, his family said, and many clients became lifelong friends.

Mr. Carlson studied engineering at Cornell University and the University of Maryland. Although mostly self-taught as a naval architect, he worked with the yacht designers Philip Rhodes and M. Rosenblatt and Son before opening his own firm. Instead of searching for  clients, he would say that each boat would find its way to the right owner. He eventually decided that most Americans disliked sailboats, and found his customers in England, Australia, New Zealand, and South America.

He was born in Montclair, N.J., on Feb. 14, 1924, to Oscar Ludwig Carlson and the former Dicie Enita Cuckler. He grew up there and in Manhasset, and spent summers on Shelter Island. His parents relocated there toward the end of their lives.

Mr. Carlson designed and built his first boat at the age of 10, sailing it around Shelter Island, often with the family dog in the bow.

After serving in the Navy in Pacific Theater during World War II, he embraced his longtime love of thoroughbred horses and became a trainer and an expert on bloodlines. After three years, however, he returned to his first love, designing boats. He did nautical drawings for annual Christmas cards, which, his family said, were cherished by local sailors and displayed at marinas.

Last year, his nautical library, which contained upwards of 240 volumes, was given to the International Yacht Restoration School of Newport, R.I.

 Mr. Carlson and Joan Tyor Martines were married on Dec. 11, 1971. They had met at Storm Trysail Club races on Block Island and later moved to Sag Harbor. His first marriage to Mary Jane Zugelder had ended in divorce.

In addition to Mrs. Carlson, their daughter, Dicie Tyor Carlson of New York City, survives. A brother, Robert Carlson of Shelter Island, and a stepdaughter, Catherine Perry Martines, died before him.

A gathering of friends and relatives is planned at the Carlson residence on Division Street in Sag Harbor on Jan. 11. The family plans to disperse his ashes at sea.

A graveside service for Thomas O. Conklin of Bridgehampton will be held on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton. Mr. Conk­lin died on Nov. 26 at the age of 83.

Muriel L. Forsberg split her teenage years between Sayville and Montauk. Her father was a fisherman, and when he was working in the summer and fall, the family lived in Montauk in a house not far from the docks and she attended East Hampton High School.

It was there that she met Paul Forsberg, whom she would marry after graduating. The couple settled in Montauk off West Lake Drive. For a time, she was a cook at the Fish Tales restaurant in Montauk. Their three children, Paul Forsberg of Coco Beach, Fla., Steven Forsberg of Montauk, and Patti Ann Forsberg of Smithtown, survive. The couple divorced in 1974.

Mrs. Forsberg, known to friends as Mu, died on Nov. 6 in Indian Harbor Beach, Fla., where she had moved in the late 1970s. She was 75 and had been in declining health for the past year.

She was born in Bay Shore to George B. McTurk and the former Grace Kwaak on May 20, 1939. She retained her father’s love of fishing throughout her life, said her sister, Mary Ann Houston of Blue Point. “She loved fishing of any kind.” She also enjoyed sewing.

Mrs. Forsberg moved to Indian Harbor Beach to be close to another sister, Marjory Grant, as well as her mother, both of whom survive. Mrs. McTurk is 95. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Forsberg was cremated in a private ceremony. A memorial service will be held this spring in Montauk, on a date to be announced.

Lammott Walter Cottman, known to most as Cott, died of a stroke in New York City on Nov. 19, a day before his 72nd birthday.

Mr. Cottman was a longtime summer resident of Azurest in Sag Harbor, where he stayed with his wife and family at her parents’ house. His wife of 50 years, the former Andrea Howard, was the president of the Azurest Association off and on for many years.

Not long ago, Ms. Cottman had been ill and required a liver transplant; Mr. Cottman had cared for her during a five-year recovery. Mary Ann Whitehead, a family friend, recalled that he was very devoted to his family and generous as well as a lot of fun at the beach every weekend.

He was born in 1942 in Seaford, Del., where he grew up. He went to Howard University, which is where he met his wife. The couple had three sons, Sean Lammott Cottman of New York City, Evan Grant Cottman of Oakland, Calif., and Damon Cottman. A granddaughter also survives. Mr. Cottman’s two sisters and his son Damon died before him.

His career began at National Cash Register in New York, where he eventually became a systems analyst in 1970 and continued to hold a variety of technology sector jobs until his death.

In his free time he was musically inclined, playing piano and clarinet, then adopting the saxophone later in life. He took part in the first program initiated at Jazzmobile to develop and encourage a love of music in children and adults. The organization offers performances and education in New York City.

Ms. Whitehead recalled that he was also a runner and had completed a couple of marathons while enjoying running here, but mostly his time in Sag Harbor was for relaxation. “He was a great guy and always lots of fun.”

A memorial service was held in New York City on Nov. 30 and his ashes were scattered in Seaford, Del. The family has suggested donations to Jazzmobile, 91 Claremont Avenue, New York 10027.