Kevin M. Jenkins

Kevin M. Jenkins, a resident of East Hampton for the past three months, died on July 31 in transit to Southampton Hospital after a motorcycle accident. Previously a resident of New York City, he was 26.

A chef at Almond in Bridgehampton, he was born on March 3, 1982, in Fairfax, Virginia, to Kevin N. Jenkins and Kimbell Ann (née O’Brien) Crosen, both of Virginia.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by a fiancée, Erin McQuail of East Hampton. Ms. McQuail is pregnant with Mr. Jenkin’s son, Harrison Kevin Jenkins, expected to be born in September.

Carolyn Liot, Ms. McQuail’s mother, said that Mr. Jenkins was very excited to be a father, and even read more baby books than Ms. McQuail.

The couple had lived with Ms. Liot a couple of summers ago when Mr. Jenkins first worked at Almond. He went on to work at The River Cafe in Brooklyn, but after finding out that Ms. McQuail was having a baby, Mr. Jenkins and Ms. McQuail decided to return to the East End, where Ms. McQuail grew up, to raise their child, Ms. Liot said. Mr. Jenkins was slated to become Almond’s chef de cuisine in the fall.

Mr. Jenkins’s father, Kevin N. Jenkins, said his son’s fiancée adored and loved him, and he had more friends than could be counted. “If you met my son, and you spent 20 or 30 minutes with him, you would be best friends with him,” he said. He added that his son could have become a stand-up comedian, saying “He was just a warmhearted person that could make you laugh.”

After high school, where Mr. Jenkins played baseball, basketball and football, he picked up cooking and stuck with it. He went to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, taking the skills he learned there with him to restaurants such as Almond.

Ms. Liot pointed out that Almond closed its doors Monday so the staff could mourn Mr. Jenkins and attend the funeral at Yardley & Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. Almond also catered the funeral, actually serving pasta with white wine cream sauce that Mr. Jenkins had prepared himself before he died, his family noted.

Jason Weiner, the executive chef and co-owner of Almond, said that Mr. Jenkins might have appeared to be a “tough guy,” with his baggy clothes and tattoos, but he was really the sweetest guy one could meet. Mr. Jenkins got along with everyone at the restaurant, even if they didn’t speak the same language, Mr. Weiner said. Mr. Jenkins was also a “pro,” and the first one in and last one out of the kitchen, he said.

“He was serious when he needed to be, but he kept us all loose with his joking around,” he said, adding that Mr. Jenkins had a vibe and energy that was infectious.

A second funeral will be held on Thursday, August 7, at 2 p.m. at the Bethel Evangelist Lutheran Church, 8713 Plantation Lane, in Manassas, Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Trust Fund of Harrison Kevin Jenkins, P.O. Box. 646, Wainscott, New York, 11975.