Eileen M. Grubb of Springs Dies December 21

Eileen M. Grubb of Springs died peacefully at home on December 21, due to Stage IV/small cell lung cancer, diagnosed in February of this year. She was 73.

She was described by her family as a beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, colleague, mentor and dedicated professional.

Born on July 20, 1950, in Rockville Centre to William and Loretta Warga, she was the youngest sibling to Mickey, Rosemary, and Susan. Her early years were spent in Sagaponack, having moved from Mineola in the early 1950s.

She attended Sacred Heart Elementary School in Southampton and graduated from Bridgehampton High School in 1968. Her academic journey was marked by perseverance and dedication, her family said. After marrying Dana J. Grubb of Bridgehampton in December 1968, she embarked on a path of lifelong learning and service.

Her early professional life saw her contributing to the community at both the Bridgehampton National Bank, the East Hampton 1st National Bank, and as a teacher’s aide at the East Hampton Middle School.

Her passion for education led her to return to college after the birth of her third child. At 30, she began her studies at Suffolk Community College and graduated with an associate’s degree in physical therapy in 1987. Her educational journey didn’t stop there. She earned a bachelor of science degree in physical therapy from Stony Brook University in 1991, after which she served at Southampton Hospital and then Stony Brook University.

In 2007, she went back to Stony Brook to earn her master’s degree in healthcare management. Retiring after 30 years as a physical therapist at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, she began a new venture in real estate with Town and Country Real Estate and under the mentorship and guidance of her best friend, Janet Hummel, which she was actively doing even through the past year with her cancer diagnosis. She would work as she could during her intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, keeping her sharp, active, and engaged while enjoying each day as much as possible with her clients, family, and friends.

She cherished the simple pleasures of life, her family noted. She enjoyed reading, books on tape during her long commutes to and from Stony Brook as a student, movies, music, and baking. She often could be found hiking and walking with her life-long best friend since high school, Charles Grubb, several times a week through the towns of East Hampton, Amagansett, Sag Harbor, and Bridgehampton. She was also a regular at the East Hampton Library, and would also spend many an afternoon at the Main Beach pavilion people watching, having lunch with her friends, or admiring the tides and sunsets. Her family, friends, neighbors and colleagues will remember her smile, her warmth, her generosity and kindness; everyone around her felt a genuine and sincere connection that would never fade.

Early during her diagnosis, she decided that after her death, she would enroll in and donate her body to the Stony Brook Anatomical Gift Program as her way to give back to the university. This will allow medical students and researchers the invaluable, hands-on opportunity to learn as she did while she was a student in Stony Brook’s physical therapy program.

She is survived by her children, Carrie Beth McVicker (Grubb), Dana James “Jamie” Grubb Jr., Cecilia Grubb; her six grandchildren Isabel, Alexandra, and Dana James Grubb III of Merrick, and Henry, Lucas, and Hanna Dunkleberger of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, at her request, the family kindly asks that contributions be made to the East Hampton Library (easthamptonlibrary.org) and East End Hospice (eeh.org).

Memorial services will be arranged at a later date.