Marie J.F. Esposito

Marie Judith Fenley Esposito of Montauk, who was introduced to the hamlet as a teenager in 1955 when her grandfather built a house on East Lake Drive, died on June 21. She was 76.

Mrs. Esposito was born in Oceanside on Sept. 17, 1939, to the former Catherine Kelly and John Fenley. Her parents had six children, and the grandparents’ Montauk house had room for everyone. They would visit on weekends and during the summer.

She graduated from St. Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Centre and attended the Katharine Gibbs School in Manhattan before her marriage, on Sept. 17, 1960, to Louis Thomas Esposito. For more than 30 years, the couple lived in Oceanside, where she looked after their three children and worked as a medical assistant to an orthopedic surgeon.

Her extended family convened in Montauk every November, with upward of 50 people, to celebrate Thanksgiving. Her daughter, Catherine Esposito Koslow of Weston, Fla., said her mother was famous for “tossing the first Thanksgiving roll,” announcing to all that the meal could begin — and “always with her signature left hook.”

A voracious reader, Mrs. Esposito was also described as “the original Tiger Mom,” a woman who loved her family with a passion that knew no bounds. She took great pride in looking after her children, husband, and later her beloved grandchildren.

Her husband of 55 years, Louis Thomas Esposito, survives. In addition to her daughter, she leaves two sons, John Esposito of Montauk and Joseph Esposito of Bethpage. Six grandchildren survive as well, as do four siblings, Jacqueline Fenley and Kathleen Fenley Rieflin, both of Connecticut; Betty Fenley Grande of Montauk, and Patricia Fenley of Medford.

Memorial services were held on Monday at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk.