Richard 'Digger' McMahon, owner of Barrister's, dies

Richard “Digger” McMahon, the owner of Barrister’s Restaurant on Main Street in Southampton Village, had two families, according to his wife, Margaret.

One family was made up of Margaret and their two sons, Kevin, 30, an employee of the Southampton Golf Club, and Richard, 24, a first lieutenant in the 118th Military Police Battalion—all of whom were at his bedside when he lost his battle with cancer on Thursday, November 5, one day after his 61st birthday.

His other family included his friend and business partner, Mike Ferran, and the staff at Barrister’s Restaurant, which the two men opened together in 1979.

“He would say that Barrister’s was his second family, and he would laugh, because he had an ever-changing staff of people, and he felt very strongly about them and cared for them, because they were all kids,” Ms. McMahon said in a telephone interview Tuesday evening. “Sometimes he was a father figure to them. Most of the time, he was a good, square boss.”

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on November 4, 1948, to Patricia and Richard H. McMahon Sr., he attended Watkinson School in Hartford, Connecticut, before going on to attend Southampton College.

At Mr. McMahon’s wake at O’Connell Funeral Home on Monday, Mr. Ferran said being business partners is “like being married,” and, in such a close relationship, he saw all sides of Mr. McMahon’s personality.

“He was a calm, deliberate, thoughtful person, and a loyal friend,” said Mr. Ferran, adding that he took care of most of Barrister’s finances while Mr. McMahon took charge of the many other aspects of running a business. “He was always very positive and always thought everything through.”

Even though neither of the partners hails from Southampton—they met at Southampton College in the 1970s—Mr. Ferran said that Mr. McMahon focused much of his efforts at Barrister’s on serving the locals.

“He always wanted to cater to the local people because he thought it was very important to stay open 12 months of the year,” said Mr. Ferran, adding that the establishment, known for its cozy, friendly atmosphere, stayed open during many blizzards and hurricanes.

Although running a restaurant requires a practically endless commitment of time, Ms. McMahon said that her husband was happiest eating meals she made at home.

“He liked to stay home and eat my fare, like steak, pot roast, barbecue,” Ms. McMahon said. “There was nothing he liked more than being home with his family and having a nice meal. And a big, fat dessert.”

Mr. McMahon’s son Richard, who is on compassionate leave from his service at Guantanamo Bay, said this week that he, his brother and his father shared a favorite pastime: duck hunting.

“We did a lot of duck hunting at Taylor’s Creek in Southampton,” Richard said, adding that they started hunting when he was 16. “We used to go out early in the morning before the sun was up.”

Richard also appreciated how his father supported his decision to enlist in the military. “As a father, he was worried about it, but he knew that it was what I wanted to do, and he wasn’t going to stop me or persuade me against doing it,” he said.

Ms. McMahon noted that her younger son’s lifelong dream had been to join the Army. Her older son, Kevin, was in the U.S. Army from 2001 to 2004 and served in Iraq in 2003. To honor his years of service, he received a proclamation from Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley at the village’s Veterans Day parade on Wednesday and was a featured speaker at the Veterans Day services held later at Veterans Memorial Hall on Pond Lane in Southampton.

Mr. McMahon’s nephew, Trevor McMahon, remembered his uncle this week as “larger than life.”

“He had an amazing sense of humor, and he could find humor in life’s worst tragedies,” he said. “He could always make you smile no matter what was happening.”

Mr. Ferran had no trouble remembering how he and Mr. McMahon met and started what became a Southampton Village Main Street mainstay, famous for its burgers and two-for-one prime rib nights. Mr. Ferran recalled how he and Mr. McMahon had crossed paths on the Southampton College campus.

“Our serious major was partying,” Mr. Ferran joked.

The men worked at a few local restaurants, including the Driver’s Seat, and eventually decided that they wanted to buy Barrister’s Restaurant, which had been open for about 18 months. They bought it and turned it into a thriving business.

“The guy before wasn’t very hands-on, but we were able to revive it,” Mr. Ferran said. “We went in and did everything. We tended bar, I cooked, and then our duties moved into different directions.”

Ms. McMahon said that although that period of her husband’s life was hectic—the two had married only about one year before Mr. McMahon began running the restaurant—he still had time for his family. “He balanced the business as well as he could when he was a young man,” Ms. McMahon said. “It’s a crazy business.”

In addition to his business and family obligations, Mr. McMahon also found time to serve Southampton Village as a member of the Christmas Tree Committee, as vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the village’s Zoning Boards of Appeals.

“He was always smiling and happy, hopeful,” said Dick Micallef of Southampton, who served on the Christmas Tree Committee with Mr. McMahon. “He was very community minded and always made sure to give back.”

Ms. McMahon said that her husband was on the Zoning Board of Appeals for 20 years, and made it his goal to protect Southampton’s wetlands, marshes and waterways.

“He was very busy with the restaurant, but he was very interested in Southampton,” Ms. McMahon said. “He wanted to see what was going on in town, see what people were building, and adding to their houses.”

Recently, Mr. McMahon and Mr. Ferran decided it was time to move on and announced in August that they were putting Barrister’s up for sale. Both men wanted to retire, they said, and Mr. McMahon said at the time that he’d been ill.

Mr. McMahon is survived by his wife, Margaret K. McMahon; two sons Kevin J. McMahon and 1st Lieutenant Richard H. McMahon III; a brother, Andrew J. McMahon of Petaluma, California; and two sisters, Patricia M. Alvord of Blumfield, Connecticut, and Marjorie M. Helfet of Kentfield, California.

Mr. McMahon was cremated, and a funeral mass was held Tuesday at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Roman Catholic Church on Hill Street in Southampton Village.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The Nature Conservancy would be appreciated by the family.