Francesca M. Padilla

When she was just 16, Francesca Mercer left home in Hillingdon, England, to see the world. Her travels took her throughout South America, then to Miami and New York City, and eventually to Sag Harbor, where she settled in 1992 and established herself as a self-employed hairstylist.

Frankie Padilla, as she was known by her married name, died at home on Division Street in Sag Harbor on March 3 of lung cancer, having been diagnosed eight months earlier. She was 51. A memorial gathering, at which her ashes will be scattered, will be held at Long Beach in Noyac on June 10 at 6:30 p.m.

Ms. Padilla was born on Dec. 20, 1965, in Hillingdon, a suburb of London, to Raymond Mercer and the former Daphne Ashdown, both of whom still live in England. Her five siblings, Lesley, Suzanne, Danielle, Martine, and Gary, all live there as well, in Middlesex County in the southeast.

After arriving in New York City Ms. Padilla obtained a cosmetology degree before starting work. Friends recalled her as possessing “a chemist’s understanding of hair color, a surgeon’s precision cut, and a therapist’s ear.” She had a large and loyal clientele, a personal fashion sense, and an irreverent English sense of humor, they said.

Her marriage to Mauricio Padilla ended in divorce.

Foremost, her friends said, was her devotion to her son, Amaro, 11, who now lives in Sag Harbor with his father.