Jane Crabtree Stark, 90

Long-time Aquebogue resident Jane Crabtree Stark died on March 14 after a short illness. She was 90. Stark was the widow of Judge Thomas Stark, who predeceased her in 2014.

Stark was born in New York City and raised in Bronxville, N.Y. A graduate of The Ursuline School and the College of New Rochelle, she received a master of arts degree in English literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. From 1981 to 1983, she was a lecturer at Suffolk County Community College.

After moving to Riverhead upon her marriage in 1954, Stark was involved in many local causes. She was active in the establishment of East End Arts in the years after its founding in 1972. In 1977, when the Riverhead School District was operating under an austerity budget, she co-founded Riverhead Music Boosters to help support band, chorus, and orchestra programs in the schools. She was a host and organizer for The Fresh Air Fund.

Early in her husband’s career she was involved in his political campaigns for town and state offices, and she took a keen interest in his many notable cases.

A long-time member of the North Fork Country Club, Stark was an avid golfer and bridge player. She loved boating on the Peconic Bay and gardening at her home in Aquebogue. A lover of the arts, she enjoyed attending theater, opera, and ballet performances. She was known among family and friends as a gracious and welcoming hostess and was enthusiastic about her grandchildren’s and nieces and nephews’ accomplishments.

Stark was a member of St. John’s parish, where for many years, well into her 80s, she served as a lector.

She is survived by her daughters Elizabeth Stark Dugan of Chevy Chase, Maryland (John), and Ellen Gaynor Stark of New York City; sisters Judith Duffy of Bronxville, N.Y. and Claire Crabtree of Detroit, Michigan; and her grandchildren Claire Dugan and Jack Dugan. Her sister Elizabeth Richard of Riverhead predeceased her.

A funeral mass will be held at St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church in Riverhead on Friday, March 20 at 1 p.m. The Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home, 406 East Main Street, Riverhead, N.Y., is handling the arrangements, but the family is not holding a public wake in light of the current public health situation.

Donations can be made in her name to the scholarship fund at The Ursuline School in New Rochelle, N.Y. via ursulinenewrochelle.org/JaneCrabtreeStarkMemorial or by mail at The Ursuline School, 1354 North Avenue, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10804