Charles H. Deering, an Army veteran and member of East Hampton American Legion Post 419 whose pastimes included cooking, hunting, fishing, and photography, died on Dec. 22 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. He was 98 and lived in Springs.
“A hard-working owner-operator, he made his living in transportation and related trades throughout his life,” his family wrote. He enjoyed travel, wildlife, and classical and country music, and had been a member of St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Franklin Square and the Lucky Dozen Hunt Club.
Mr. Deering is survived by his children, Elizabeth Deering, Charles Francis Deering, and Alice Deering and her husband, Mark Nevin, all of Long Beach, Calif., and Jennifer Crans and her husband, Jonathan Crans, of Los Alamitos, Calif. Also surviving are six grandchildren, Natalie Linda Waldo and Jarod Steven Waldo, Jordan Delaney Nevin, Cai Alexander Deering, Cailin Ailish Clements, and Declan Aiden Crans.
His former wife and the mother of his children, Joann Deering, died before him, as did four sisters, Anne Deering, Corinne Deering, Theresa R. Deering, and Veronica Deering, and his lifelong friends Roy Beach and James J. Crimmins.
Mr. Deering was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 11, 1927, to Charles H. Deering Sr. and the former Alice J. Allen. He grew up in Astoria, Queens, and Franklin Square and graduated from Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park.
A funeral Mass is to be said on Saturday at 9:45 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Smithtown, with interment to follow at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
His family has suggested memorial donations to American Legion Post 419 at 15 Montauk Highway, Amagansett 11930.
