1 Photo
Ethelle “Tommie” Crawford Fountain of Westhampton died on January 31, 2017, in Minnesota. She was 91.
Born and raised in Louisiana on the family farm, she lived in Westhampton for 70 years and was a longtime member of the Beach United Methodist Church. Active well into her 80s, she could often be seen taking a stroll around the block, helping out at church events, walking on the beach or browsing at the farmers market. Survivors said, Mrs. Fountain didn’t want to miss out on anything. She diligently kept track of ‘what’s happening’ around town and was often in attendance at school plays, choral and band productions, Music on the Village Green and Lunch and Learn at the library events to mention a few. Her interests were many. A more recent one, shared by her son Ralph, was the quest to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station on its regular trips across the night sky. She took great delight in the beauty of a sunset, the magic of a full moon rise at the beach, knowing the status of the beach plum crop and searching for migrating monarch butterflies in the fall at the end of Dune Road.
Mrs. Fountain, known as Ethelle in Louisiana, was the daughter of the late Walter Clifton and Ida Joyner Crawford of Rayville. She was predeceased by husbands Ralph N. Fountain Sr. in 1945 and Harold E. Fountain in 2003, and by a son, Ralph N. Fountain Jr., in 2013. She was the last surviving sibling of five, brothers Wilton, Aubrey and Virgil Crawford and sister Virginia Watson.
She is survived by her daughter, Kay and husband Thomas Aurand of Minnesota; and son, Clifton Fountain and wife Dorinda of Shokan, New York; and grandsons, T. Christopher Aurand and fiance Kitiya Vongkamjan of Bangkok and Kyle Aurand and wife Marielle of Lawrenceville, New Jersey; plus numerous nieces and nephews and their families in Louisiana and Florida.
A memorial service will be held at the Beach United Methodist Church in Westhampton Beach on April 8 at 2 p.m.
Memorial donations may be made to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge, Box 492, Quogue, NY 11959, or the Beach United Methodist Church, Box 1746, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.
on Mar 27, 2017