Frances Starr Todd
Frances Starr Todd, a teacher and philanthropist who spent summers in East Hampton, died on Aug. 28 at home in Far Hills, N.J. She was 73 and had cancer.
She was married to John Todd, whose grandparents were among the first families to build summer houses on Dunemere Lane in East Hampton. The couple lived there for a time, her daughter, Mary Starr Todd Ganzenmuller, said. She later lived on Buell Lane in a house that became a gathering place for several generations of the family.
Mrs. Todd was a volunteer at the Y.W.C.A. in New York City, teaching women “workplace readiness.” She also taught young women who were returning to school for General Educational Development degrees and at Columbia’s School of General Studies.
Born on May 28, 1941, to Louis and Abbey Starr, she graduated from Foxcroft School and Columbia University. She will be remembered as “a strong advocate for the importance of learning, especially for young women returning to school,” her family said. “She was a patient but demanding teacher, with a quick mind and definite opinions, but always ready to listen and try new approaches.”
An enthusiastic painter, her subjects were golf courses, beaches, and landscapes around East Hampton, and she sold her work at Guild Hall’s Clothesline Arts Sale. She was a member of the Maidstone Club, the Ladies Village Improvement Society, and Guild Hall, and she volunteered with the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons.
Other cultural and community organizations she was committed to included the Metropolitan Opera, the Lower East Side Girls Club, Poets and Writers, Harlem Academy, and the River and Plains Society. She attended the East Hampton Presbyterian Church and the Lamington Presbyterian Church in New Jersey.
“Her passion for art and music was contagious, and she was more than generous in sharing those loves with others. This was exemplified in her hands-on support for causes she believed in, always focusing on making a difference in the lives of those she benefited,” her family said.
Mrs. Todd’s husband died in 1988, as did a brother, Dillwyn Starr.
In addition to her daughter, who lives in Oldwick, N.J., she is survived by a son, Christopher Bray Todd of Peapack, N.J., and five great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions can be made to the L.V.I.S. at 95 Main Street, East Hampton 11937, or the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, P.O. Box 901, Wainscott 11975.