Ronald J. Humphreys, Retired Policeman
Ronald J. Humphreys, a retired East Hampton Village Police officer who was president of its Police Benevolent Association for years, died of renal failure on June 28 at Southampton Hospital. He was 71. Known as “Big Ron,” he was “always on top of the world,” his family said.
Mr. Humphreys moved with his family to East Hampton in 1967, when he joined the Police Department. After retiring in 1985, he worked as a bartender for a short time at Rowdy Hall, McKendry’s, and Wolfie’s, and then became an East Hampton Town ordinance enforcement officer. He had also been a member of the East Hampton Fire Department.
A devoted sports fan who backed the Yankees and Giants regardless of their records, Mr. Humpreys was a Lions Club Little League coach from 1976 to 1980, which, his family said, was one of his greatest joys.
Mr. Humphreys was born in Flushing, Queens, on Dec. 15, 1942, a son of Ronald C. Humphreys and the former Agnes Huggard. He attended St. Hughes Parochial School in Huntington Station and Walt Whitman High School in South Huntington, and served in the United States Army’s 18th Airborne Special Forces from 1961 to ’64 during the Vietnam War, stationed in Laos.
He and the former Mary Catherine Leonard, who survives, were married in May of 1966. Their three children, Susan M. Brierley and Amy L. Turza of East Hampton and Ronald J. Humphreys Jr. of Mastic Beach, survive, as do five grandchildren and a brother and sister, William Humphreys of Burlington, Vt., and Gail O’Connor of Selden.
Mr. Humphreys adored his grandchildren and being involved in their lives, his family said. He also touched many other lives, with some of his generosity lasting after his death. As an organ donor, he helped one recipient regain sight and another to walk again.
A wake was held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on June 29. A Mass of Christian burial took place at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton the next day, Msgr. Donald Hanson presiding. Burial followed in Most Holy Trinity Cemetery.
Memorial donations have been suggested to the East Hampton Village P.B.A., P.O. Box 1242, or the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, 1 Cedar Street, both East Hampton 11937. Another charity to which donations would be appreciated is the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, 4255 Westbrook Drive, Suite 219, Aurora, Ill. 60504.