Daisy Jacobs, 86, Homemaker and Artist

Daisy Mercado Rodriguez Jacobs, a longtime East Hampton resident and an artist, died on March 24 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. She was 86 years old and had congestive heart failure. 

She was born June 10, 1931, in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, where she grew up, the daughter of Victor Mercado and the former Angela Martinez. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1947, and she lived in the New York City area for many years.

On Jan. 21, 1950, in New York, she married E. Moise Rodriguez. They had three children, all of whom survive: Diane O’Donnell of East Hampton, Debra Torres of New Orleans, and Richard Rodriguez of Huntington.

 The couple divorced in 1959 and she began seeing Raymond Jacobs, who had lived in East Hampton and stretched canvases for Willem de Kooning, Ms. O’ Donnell said last week. The couple had two children: Schuyler Jacobs, who lives in Tampa, Fla., and Erik Jacobs, who died in December. The couple eventually separated and Mr. Jacobs has since died.

Ms. Jacobs moved to Springs full time in 1964. A painter in the 1960s and 1970s, she had many friends among East Hampton artists, including Willem and Elaine de Kooning. A strikingly attractive woman, she also modeled for many artists.

 Although she saw herself primarily as a homemaker and mother, she took jobs working in retail in East Hampton after they were grown. She also loved to cook and entertain, and she threw many parties, her daughter said.

Ms. Jacobs remained in Springs until the 1980s, when she moved to Tampa. She returned to East Hampton in the 1990s, moving in with Ms. O’Donnell and sharing her Cedar Street house for 28 years. She loved her garden there and would spend several hours a day working in it during the growing season.

 Family was important to her, particularly in her later years, when she enjoyed an unusually large extended family, including 21 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. In addition to her children, Ms. Jacobs is survived by a brother, Eddie Mercado, who lives in New Jersey. 

A wake is planned at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. She is to be buried on Saturday after a Mass at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton at 11 a.m.

The family has suggested donations in her memory to the East Hampton Village Ambulance, 1 Cedar Street, East Hampton 11937.