Obituaries

Keith Sonnier, one of a handful of artists who, starting in the 1960s, radically redefined the boundaries of sculpture, died on Saturday at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital after a long illness. He was 78.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Donald Francis Fromm, a former captain on the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson Ferry, died of brain cancer on June 27 at home in Shoreham. The Amagansett summer resident was 68 and had been ill for four weeks.

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

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.

Maria Whelan, a longtime advocate for children and families in the Illinois educational community, died of a heart attack in Chicago on June 10. Formerly of East Hampton, she was 69 years old.