Linda Hubbard Berry died at her home in East Quogue on December 23, 2016. She was 68.
Born Linda Jean Hubbard, the oldest of six children, on April 24, 1948, to Eugene and Marge (Smith) Hubbard, at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, her family’s roots on Eastern Long Island, on both sides, can be traced back to the 1600s. Her grandparents, Norman Hubbard and Louise (Swezey) Hubbard, purchased the then West Bay Bathing Beach, later named the Swordfish Beach Club, soon after the Hurricane of 1938. It remained in the family until 1985. As a result, she became an accomplished swimmer and diver.
She was one of the first, and for many years, the only woman to work on a commercial fishing dragger, her father’s, the “Susan W” out of Shinnecock, starting back in the 1950s. Along with marriage, and raising her two boys, she then “worked the bay” commercially, running eel pots, fykes, and pound nets from Moriches Bay to Shelter Island with her father on their boat the “Busy Bee.”
Family and friends remember Ms. Berry for her welcoming, comfortable home, a shoulder to lean on and whoever was at the house was welcomed to stay for supper. She will also be remembered as a good friend with a heart of gold, a positive, kind, honest woman always ready to lend a hand, and equally as ready with a good practical joke.
An avid crocheter, practically everyone she knew received at one point, or occasion in their life, a blanket made by her. Although faced with health challenges in recent years, she remained positive.
Ms. Berry is survived by her husband, Freddy Berrato of East Quogue; her father, Eugene Hubbard of Quiogue; her sons from a previous marriage to Frank Berry of Southampton, Eugene Berry and fiancée Beth Green TerVeen, and Christopher Berry and wife Nickcole and their children, Chelsea Rose, and Jacob. She is also survived by her siblings, Donald Hubbard of South Carolina, Janet Hubbard Booth and husband Lloyd of East Quogue, Diane Hubbard Bennett and husband David of North Carolina, Benjamin Hubbard of East Quogue, and Karen Hubbard Golding and husband Noal of Calverton. She was predeceased by her mother, Marge Smith Hubbard; a sister-in-law, Rose Kollhop Hubbard; and nephew Norman Hubbard.
A funeral service took place on December 30, 2016, at the Westhampton Beach Presbyterian Church on Quiogue. Her ashes were scattered at the Swordfish Bridge.
Memorial donations may be made to Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, 102 Old Riverhead Road, Hampton Bays, NY 11946, online at southamptonanimalshelterfoundation.com.
on Jan 2, 2017