Faith D.H. Chase

Faith Dewitt Heppenheimer Chase, a summer resident of East Hampton and a direct descendant of William Bradford of the Massachusetts Plymouth Colony, died last Thursday in Tucson after a short illness. She was 80.

Ms. Chase, a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, was active in the community, her daughter, Christina Chase Simonds of Lancaster, Pa., wrote. She was a volunteer for the Ladies Village Improvement Society, Guild Hall, East End Hospice, the Community Council of East Hampton, and Southampton Hospital.

That spirit of community service continued after she moved to Tucson, where she volunteered for the Sunrise Neighborhood Assistance Program, helping the disabled and senior citizens to live in their own homes safely and independently, the Tucson Museum of Art, and Peppi’s House, the Tucson Medical Center Hospice.

“Faith made many friends wherever she went and was loved by everyone she touched,” Ms. Simonds wrote. “She had a tenacious personality and believed life never ends, it just changes locations.”

Ms. Chase was born on Aug. 28, 1933, in Manhattan, to William C. Heppenheimer Jr. and the former Frances Ruxton. She grew up in Bedford, N.Y., attending the Rippowam Cisqua School there, and later the Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, Md. She was a graduate of Bennett College, a former women’s college in Millbrook, N.Y.

Ms. Chase’s marriage to Peter Chase ended in divorce. In addition to Ms. Simonds, another daughter, Phyllis Chase of West Hollywood, Calif., survives, as do three grandchildren. A brother, William C. Heppenheimer III, died in 2010.

Funeral arrangements have not been determined. The family has suggested memorial contributions to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.