Michael D. Farrell, Well-Known Bartender

Michael Damien Farrell, a longtime bartender at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett and at the Blue Parrot in East Hampton in the 1980s, died of Alzheimer’s disease on May 12 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. He was 78 and had been at the center for three weeks at the end of a long illness. 

An East Hampton resident since the late 1960s, Mr. Farrell was born in Garden City on April 9, 1940, one of three children of the former Mary Mullaney and John Anthony Farrell. He grew up there, graduating from Garden City High School and going on to receive a B.A. in liberal arts at Hofstra University.

On Oct. 19, 2005, he and Sharon Losee of Babylon were married on St. John in the Virgin Islands. Ms.  Farrell said her husband was famous for telling jokes and “he mesmerized you with his stories.”

He loved East Hampton and the East End, she said, although he used to spend winters in the Caribbean and traveled widely, to Spain, England, and Ireland, among other countries. 

In addition to his widow, a sister, Ellen Tobin Farrell of East Moriches, and a brother, John Anthony Farrell of upstate New York, survive.

Mr. Farrell was cremated. There will be a celebration of his life from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Ashawagh Hall in Springs on Friday, June 8, to which all will be welcomed.