Barbara Ann Volpe, 87

Barbara Ann Volpe, a retired registered nurse and volunteer for several East Hampton organizations, died on Jan. 9 in Midlothian, Va., where she had spent winters for the last five years and been living with Peggy and Kevin Healy, a daughter and son-in-law. She was 87 and had been under the care of James River Hospice. 

Ms. Volpe had worked in public health, at the Kent Nursing Home in Holmes, N.Y., the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., and as the director of nursing services for the Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, N.Y. She and her husband, Hercules A. Volpe, moved to Mako Lane, Amagansett, in 1990 from Mahopac, N.Y., where they had lived for over 30 years. They attended St. John the Evangelist Church there and took an active part in the parish community. 

Her family said she had an imposing, quiet strength and shared a love of the beach and the ocean with family and friends.

She was born on June 24, 1930, to Carl Cutler and the former Mary O’Dowd in Providence, R.I. She graduated from Classical High School in Providence, Simmons College in Boston, and trained at the Boston Children’s Hospital as a nurse.

The Volpes, who married on June 8, 1950, raised nine children in Mahopac, as well as Ms. Volpe’s sister, Jean Cutler. They bought the cottage in the Amagansett dunes in the early 1980s, which they eventually added on to and moved to year round in retirement.

She is survived by her husband of 67 years, a sister, Diane Kerr of Exeter, N.H., and a brother, Robert Cutler of Stowe, Vt., as well as her children. They are Katherine Bettin and Peggy Healey of Midlothian, Kristine Hansmann, Susan Gusamano, Rosemary Carinci, Annie Fetzer, and James Volpe, all of Mahopac, Beth Ainsworth of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., and Matthew Volpe of San Diego. She also is survived by 22 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. A brother and a sister died before her.

Ms. Volpe was cremated. A memorial service will be planned for the spring. Donations in her memory have been suggested to the Maryknoll Sisters, 10 Pinesbridge Road, Ossining 10562.