Ella Adele King, who turned a late-in-life crocheting and crafting hobby into a business selling her handmade goods at craft shows, died on May 3 in hospice care in Port Jefferson. Formerly of Sag Harbor, Amagansett, and East Hampton, she was 76 and had been ill for three months with cancer and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
She most recently lived in Centereach, where she and her husband, Robert Facchini, were known for their elaborate Halloween displays and homemade popcorn balls for the children of the neighborhood. With a talent for cake decorating, she also made wedding cakes for members of her family.
While living in East Hampton from the late 1960s to 1987, she worked as a housekeeper at the 1770 House.
She was born in Southampton on March 3, 1948, to Austin Sterling King and the former Harriet Quinn, and attended school in Sag Harbor.
In 1964, she met John Specht, with whom she would have six children. They later separated. He died in 2019.
She married Mr. Facchini in June 1993. He survives and lives in Centereach.
Ms. King’s six children also survive. They are Ella Specht and Glenn Specht of East Hampton, Joe Specht of Painted Post, N.Y., Celina Maltese of Centereach, Robert Specht of Wayland, Mass., and Eric Specht, most recently of Pennsylvania. She leaves 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Ms. King was cremated. A celebration of her life is to be planned in the future.
