Lifelong Sag Harbor resident Encie Agnes Babcock died at her family home on June 5, three weeks shy of her 98th birthday.
Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, on June 23, 1910, she moved at age 4 to Sag Harbor with her parents, Theresa Mary Carroll and Harry W. Babcock, and younger brother, Henry “Ben” Babcock. The house was owned then by her grandfather, Benjamin Wilbur Babcock, a pharmacist in the drugstore at the site currently occupied by the Youngblood Gallery, and her aunt Anna Babcock, who tended the big greenhouse that extended from the rear of the house to the property line.
A 1930 graduate of Pierson High School, Ms. Babcock attended Plattsburgh State Normal School and New York University. She taught business classes at Lindenhurst High School for 42 years until her retirement in 1973. A well-known figure on Main Street for some 95 years and the matriarch of the Babcock family, she was a member of the League of Women Voters, the Sag Harbor Historical Society and St. Andrew’s Church.
“We all have so many vivid memories of Encie,” said one of her nieces, Virginia Bennett. “Not only was she a great role model for us, but we really enjoyed her company. She loved beach parties, crabbing, a big lobster feed, all always filled with laughs and sometimes fueled by a few Manhattans. She leaves a big void that will be hard to fill.”
Ms. Babcock is survived by two brothers, Henry W. “Ben” Babcock of Southampton and Lyman J. Babcock of East Hampton; five nephews; nine nieces; and many grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews.
She was predeceased by a brother, Paul H. Babcock of Sag Harbor, and two sisters, Carroll Babcock Smyth and Mary Olive Babcock, both of Sag Harbor.
A graveside ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 21, at 1 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Cemetery on Brickiln Road.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to a charity of choice would be appreciated by the family.
on Jun 13, 2008