Jeremiah J. Desmond

Jeremiah Edward Joseph Desmond, a dentist who had lived in Montauk for 40 years, died at Southampton Hospital on Sunday. He was 96 and had been ill for a month with a bone infection.

Dr. Desmond began his dental practice in Tarrytown, N.Y., and later practiced upstate, in Flushing, and in Montauk. 

He loved to write poetry and to paint, his family said, and enjoyed creating limericks highlighting the special qualities of his six grandchildren.

Born on Oct. 4, 1917, he grew up in New Haven, Conn., the son of Richard William Desmond and the former Ellen Bourassa.

He attended James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, and went on to Fordham University and then the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons School of Dentistry.

Before establishing his practice, he served as a captain in the United States Air Force, stationed in Tripoli, Libya, and later at St. Andrew’s Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.

In 1944, Mr. Desmond married Eugenia Quinn, who died in 2011.

The couple’s six children survive. They are Mary Celeste Howard of East Hampton, Jeremiah Desmond and Thomas Desmond of Montauk, Kathleen Carney of Scottwick, Mass., Eugenia O’Connor of Upper Nyack, N.Y., and Dr. Richard Desmond of Flushing.

A sister, Mary Desmond of Saybrook, Conn., also survives, as do his six grandchildren.

Dr. Desmond was cremated. His ashes will be buried at Calverton National Cemetery. A funeral service will be held at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, where he was a member. The Rev. George O’Neill, Dr. Desmond’s nephew, will preside.

The family has suggested memorial contributions to the Long Island Chapter of the National Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Association Long Island, at 105 Maxess Road, Suite S124, Melville 11747.