Eileen Ceceil Crichton, whose nickname was “Sunny,” of Montauk died on April 24 at Southampton Hospital. She was 78.
Born September 23, 1936, in Manhattan to Mildred and James McCann, she grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens. After graduation from Bryant High School in Queens, she worked as a model for a short time. She then worked in night clubs and restaurants in various capacities. Her last career was as a dog groomer.
In 1958, she married Robert Cantrell. They divorced in 1966, and she married Alva H. Crichton in 1967. They lived in Manhattan and built a home in Montauk in 1979, and moved there full time in 1989.
Ms. Crichton traveled to Europe on vacation six times and took her mother one time and drove her throughout Western Europe. She and her husband traveled by car throughout Scotland and Ireland, the countries of their ancestry.
Survivors said Ms. Crichton enjoyed going to Broadway theater productions as well as the ballet and opera. She enjoyed going to lectures and exhibits at various museums. She was a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
In the Hamptons, she did volunteer work at the East Hampton Medical Center, the Siena Spirituality Center in Water Mill, and at the Animal Rescue Fund in Wainscott. She was an amateur artist and belonged to the Montauk Artists Association and exhibited her paintings in Montauk.
Ms. Crichton is survived by her husband, Alva; two stepchildren, Dawn Redden and husband Bruce, and Stephen Crichton and wife Jennifer; step-grandchildren, Bruce and Amber Redden, Stephen, James, Rachel and Jacquelin Crichton; and step-great-grandchildren, Michael Tully, Peyton and Joshua Redden. She is also survived by a brother, James McCann of Shelter Island; nephews, Jamie and Douglas McCann; an aunt, Amelia McCann; an uncle, Ronald McCann; and cousins, Linda McCafery, Thomas McCann and Raymond McCann.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Her ashes were interred at Calverton National Cemetery. A memorial Mass will be held at a later date at St. Therese Church in Montauk.