Cathy Anne Tobin

Cathy Anne Tobin, who lived on Navy Road in Montauk for the past eight years, died of complications of diabetes on Feb. 1 at Southampton Hospital. She was 12 days shy of her 48th birthday.

Ms. Tobin moved from Brooklyn to Montauk in February 2009 to live with her partner, Thomas Ferreira. She was known as Freckles to most. “Nobody knew her first name,” Mr. Ferreira said yesterday. “She was a lady with typical Irish red hair and freckles.”

She enjoyed many sunsets on the deck overlooking Navy Beach with her cats, which she fondly called “her children,” by her feet, before her illness worsened and she went into a long-term care facility in September. “Being strong-willed and Irish, she fought hard,” Mr. Ferreira said.

A Type 1 diabetic, she was diagnosed in her early 20s and underwent dialysis over the last three to four years, he said. Her illness made her unable to work in recent years, though some may remember her as a manager for Lindy’s Taxi in Montauk not long ago. She was also a breast cancer survivor.

She was born on Feb. 13, 1969, in Cashel, County Tipperary, in Ireland. Daniel and Margaret Tobin adopted her when she was 1 and brought her to Brooklyn. She attended public schools and graduated from Stella Maris High School in Rockaway Park, Queens, before going on to New York University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She became a notary public, as well.

In addition to Mr. Ferreira, Ms. Tobin is survived by a sister, Keri Tobin Gallagher of Glen Cove, and four nieces and nephews. Her parents and a brother, Barry Tobin, died before her.

Ms. Tobin was cremated. A Mass will be said on Saturday at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Glen Cove.

Mr. Ferreira suggested donations in her memory to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 26 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York City 10004, or the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 2600 Network Boulevard, Suite 300, Frisco, Tex. 75034.