Tom Kochie captured the essence of the South Fork as a photographer, taking pictures for almost every newspaper, magazine, community theater group, musician, and arts organization in the region. As a respected painter, sculptor, and sketch artist, too, his talents extended beyond the camera.
Mr. Kochie, a resident of Sag Harbor, died on May 30 at North Shore University Hospital of complications from pancreatitis. He was 74 and had been ill since February.
A tremendous outpouring of support from fellow artists and friends across the East End followed his passing, comforting his wife of 53 years, Pat Kochie, who survives. He will be remembered for his social consciousness and generous spirit, she said. “He just loved connecting with people so much.”
Thomas A. Kochie was born on June 6, 1948, in Easton, Pa., to Thomas J. Kochie and the former Arlene Blasko. He spent his early childhood years in Hazelton, Pa., and the Chicago suburbs. The family moved to Ithaca, N.Y., in 1963, and Mr. Kochie graduated from Ithaca High School three years later.
He was also talented musically; in the early 1960s and ’70s he sang lead vocals for several bands, and he loved to play the guitar.
Mr. Kochie went on to study fine arts at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, earning a bachelor’s degree. It was in Brooklyn that mutual friends introduced him to his future wife, Patricia Mullin, and the two were married on Valentine’s Day in 1970. After some years living upstate, they moved to Southampton in 1978, and to Sag Harbor in 2017.
His artwork was featured in shows at the White Room Gallery, the Tulla Booth Gallery, Karyn Mannix Contemporary, the Gayle Willson Gallery, and Guild Hall. For many years he created illustrations and covers for the children’s newspaper The Waldo Tribune. He also made one-of-a-kind dolls, which he displayed in national and international doll shows, galleries, and museums including the Striped House Museum in Tokyo, the Stricoff Gallery in Manhattan, and the Gayle Willson Gallery.
Mr. Kochie’s varied career also included costume, prop, and set design for theater, event planning, interior and graphic design, visual merchandising for shops, and guest lecturing at Syracuse University and the Parsons School of Design. From 1988 to 1991, he was a consultant to the Pratt Institute admissions office, recruiting talented students and evaluating their portfolios.
His family wrote that he was “unbelievably creative. [He] could make art out of anything — could draw anything from memory in a matter of seconds.” He loved to dance and spend time at the beach, they said, and was a fierce Pictionary player.
Mr. Kochie was cremated. In addition to his wife, he leaves a daughter, Chanda Hall of Montclair, N.J., a son, Brian Kochie of Santa Cruz, Calif., and two grandchildren, Skye and Layla Hall of Montclair. A sister, Andrea Kochie of Ithaca, also survives.
A celebration of his life will take place later this summer in Sag Harbor. Memorial donations have been suggested to the Sag Harbor Food Pantry, online at sagharborfoodpantry.org.
