Obituaries

John Leo McGuirk Jr. enjoyed a good party and "welcomed anybody and everybody" to his front porch on the corner of McGuirk Street and Newtown Lane in East Hampton Village, "especially on Friday nights," his children said.

Robert W. Fischer, who lived in Montauk where he ran a fence installation business, died in an all-terrain vehicle accident on May 20 in Albany, N.Y. He was 57.

Longtime readers of The Star may remember the many letters to the editor written by Larry Darcey of Sag Harbor over a 20-year span (at least). Mr. Darcey, who was 90, died on July 7 at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook.

Rick Murphy, a former executive editor of The Independent newspaper, died unexpectedly late Tuesday at Southampton Hospital after being hospitalized on Friday and having a heart attack. Mr. Murphy’s career as a journalist included a stint as a cartoonist for The Sag Harbor Herald and as a reporter at The East Hampton Star. An obituary for Mr. Murphy will appear in a future edition.

Glenn Walter Haab of Springs, a former charter boat captain in Montauk and longtime softball league umpire in East Hampton, died on Monday at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. He was 71.

Barbara Cosgrove Proferes of Sag Harbor, a nearly lifelong resident who established Christy’s Liquor Store in the village with her husband in the mid-1940s, died at home on July 2. She was 90 years old and had been in declining health.

Jessica Chew Martin, who grew up in Montauk and lived in Larkhall, Scotland, with her husband, Robert, and three youngest children, died there on April 1 of complications related to Covid19. She was 42.

Robert John Buckley of East Hampton, a former Chicago police officer, died of cardiopulmonary arrest on June 25 at the Westhampton Care Center. He was 86.

Robert Miller, a lifelong Springs resident, died at home on Neck Path on June 30. He was 90 and had been ill for six months. Mr. Miller maintained landscapes for Montauk Point State Park and at the estate of Dennistoun M. Bell overlooking Gardiner's Bay. He also cleaned and did maintenance work for the Springs Presbyterian Church, where he was a deacon elder and member of the choir.

Merrall Topping Hildreth, a descendant of a Hildreth who settled on Long Island in the 17th century, died gently at home in Sagaponack on July 5, his daughter, Deborah Hildreth Phelps of Columbia County, N.Y., said. He was 96 and had been in the care of East End Hospice for less than two weeks.

Elizabeth Regan, a dedicated homemaker, mother, wife, and community member, died at home in Mamaroneck, N.Y., on June 23. A longtime year-round resident of East Hampton who, with her husband, kept the Mamaroneck apartment to visit relatives nearby, she was 88.

June Paler of Wainscott died of cardiac failure last month at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She was 83.