George Ward Jr.

George Ward Jr., a former Sag Harbor police officer and 29-year Fire Department volunteer, died at his home in the village on Jan. 8 at the age of 75. Death was attributed to B-cell lymphoma.

Mr. Ward had an innate knack for things mechanical and, after graduating from Pierson High School, he began working for the garage business his father had started, Ward’s Garage, and also worked from 1970 to 1979 as a policeman. He later switched to a garage in Southampton.

He was born at Southampton Hospital on Feb. 24, 1941, one of two sons and four daughters of George Ward Sr. and the former Julia Buttonow of Sag Harbor. His brother, Donald, died before him.

On May 5, 1963, he married the former Carol Vernon; the couple had known each other from a young age. When their two children were grown, they moved to Daytona Beach, Fla. A few years after the 2006 death of his wife, Mr. Ward sold their Florida house and moved to Corbin, Ky., where his son, George William Ward, lives. After that he came home to Sag Harbor.

In addition to his son, Mr. Ward is survived by a daughter, Cindy Capalbo of Sag Harbor. He leaves four sisters, Eileen Iacono of East Hampton, Miriam Guildi of Southampton, Kathleen Spalding of West Islip, and Judith Lattanzio of North Sea; two grandchildren, 14 nieces and nephews, and 20 great-nieces and great-nephews.

Ms. Capalbo said her father collected beat-up old cars, classic or not, that he would restore meticulously and then sell. While living in Florida, he was a member of several car clubs.

Mr. Ward’s family treasured him, she said, as did his many friends and his comrades at the Sag Harbor Fire Department, who helped get him home from Kentucky when he was already ailing. “The last-moment memories that were carried with George in his passing live on in the hearts of his firemen brothers, who enjoyed his visits to the department and were by his final resting bed,” she wrote.

The family received visitors at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor on Jan. 11 from 4 to 8 p.m., with a walkthrough by the Sag Harbor Fire Department Honor Guard. A funeral Mass was said on Jan. 12 by the Rev. Manuel Zuzarte at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Fire Department or its Benevolent Association, at P.O. Box 209, Sag Harbor 11963, or to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.