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Katharine Topping Babinski, a longtime resident of Sagaponack, died at home on March 17, in her childhood home built by her father in 1909. She was 93.
The daughter of Sadie and Robert Topping, she was born on June 28, 1922. Her family tree has roots going back to 1649 as a descendant of Captain Thomas Topping, who was responsible for purchasing much of the area east and west of Southampton. His son John lived in Sagaponack and began the early development of the area. John Topping was laid to rest in the Sagaponack Cemetery and has the oldest recorded headstone in that cemetery. Her grandfather G. Clarence Topping was one of the three founding fathers of the Bridgehampton National Bank.
Mrs. Babinski attended grade school in Sagaponack and graduated from Bridgehampton High School in 1940. She attended Green Mountain College in Vermont and later trained at the Brooklyn Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, graduating as a registered nurse. Survivors said she was extremely proud of her nursing profession, worked briefly in a hospital setting, but especially enjoyed the intimacy of a small medical practice. Her fondest nursing memories were working with Dr. Edwards in East Hampton and Dr. Halsey in Southampton.
Her future sister-in-law played matchmaker and, in 1957, she married John P. Babinski, a potato farmer from Bridgehampton. They lived in Sagaponack where they raised two daughters. Mr. Babinski died in 1998.
Mrs. Babinski was a feisty woman with exact standards, survivors said. Caregiving was her background and passion. Over the years she cared for many, including her mother as she aged; her husband, John, who suffered a stroke and for a brief period, her niece Sally Peterson.
She had a short bucket list: Mrs. Babinski wanted to see her grandson James graduate from high school and, of all things, out live her mother in years (92). She did both. She loved birds and looked forward to the spring arrival of her barn swallows and catbirds. They were faithful visitors and the catbirds ate currants and raisins out of her hand. Their arrival date was captured on the calendar from the previous years and they never failed her, arriving on schedule. Her daughter in Pennsylvania would call to tell her the catbirds had arrived and she could expect her Long Island catbirds in a few days.
Mrs. Babinski is survived by two children, Sara Babinski and Alison Froehlich; and a grandson, James Froehlich. A sister, Marie Topping Peterson and a brother, Donald Topping, predeceased her.
Mrs. Babinski will be buried alongside her husband in the Sagaponack Cemetery, not far from her childhood home. A memorial service will take place on March 26, at 2 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church.
Memorial donations may be made to the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church (roof fund) Box 3038, Bridgehampton, NY 11932, or to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850-1999.
on Mar 21, 2016