Anna Frances Sterling was a very kind woman who lived a simple life, appreciative of everything that was done for or given to her, her family said. Ms. Sterling died at home on Lincoln Road in Montauk on July 19. She was 86 and had been in declining health.
Ms. Sterling retired to Montauk in 1990. She had a great imagination, her family said, always engaging her seven grandchildren with songs and stories. She spent time traveling with her husband and their lifelong friends. She also liked to read. In her later years, outings were to the Montauk Library, St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church, to which she belonged, and to the I.G.A.
Her greatest loves were her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, her family said, as well as ice cream and “salties,” snacks like potato chips and popcorn.
She was born on April 26, 1937, in Washington, D.C., to Walter and Anna Seitz. After she and George W. Sterling were married on Dec. 17, 1955, the couple lived in Falls Church, Va., but Ms. Sterling and her husband raised their five children on the Delmarva Peninsula — in Salisbury, Md., and Seaford, Del.
A funeral Mass was said on Monday at St. Therese. Ms. Sterling is survived by three children, Holly MacCoy of Salisbury, Annie Joyce of Montauk, and George W. Sterling Jr. of Boulder, Colo., and their spouses. She leaves her grandchildren, Katie Purse, Marcy Pentoney, Peter S. Joyce, Shelby Joyce, Trey Sterling, Sydney Gisler, and Claire Sterling, five great-grandchildren, and a sister, Deana Stoneman of Maryland.
Her husband died before her, as did her daughters Laura Sterling and Sue Kerscher, and a son-in-law, Michael MacCoy.
Her family has suggested memorial contributions to East End Hospice, at eeh.org or P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978-7048.