Sandra Joy Fryman

Sandra Joy Fryman, who lived in East Hampton with her husband, Norman, died on April 27 at Stony Brook University Hospital after a long illness. She was 85.

Mrs. Fryman was described by her family as blessed with a sharp and self-deprecating sense of humor, an infectious laugh, and an innate compassion and generosity. Her “spirit, curiosity, attention to detail, judgment, and boundless optimism  affected and changed the world around her,” they said, adding that it was a gift and a responsibility which she left to her children and grandchildren.

She was born on April 6, 1932, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to Benjamin Lustig and the former Pauline Cohen, and graduated from Myers High School there. As a student at Pennsylvania State University she met Norman M. Fryman,; they were married on Dec. 2, 1951, in Wilkes-Barre.

Relatives said Ms. Fryman was a devoted reader, moviegoer, and television-watcher, well-informed and good with number and word games — crosswords, Scrabble, backgammon — and clever and inspiring in writing to family and friends.

The Frymans lived for a time outside Philadelphia, raising their children there before moving to New York City. Their first house in East Hampton was in Wainscott, which they outgrew after six years. They moved to Quarty Circle in East Hampton about 23 years ago. After Mr. Fryman retired, the house here became their year-round home.

Her husband survives. She leaves three children, James Fryman of New York City, Shelly Leiweke of East Hampton, and Pamela Grossbard of Los Angeles; six grandchildren, and a sister, Sue Goldstone of Naples, Fla., by and to whom she was beloved. Her caregivers during her final illness, Nichelle Roachford and Sherry Allen, became a treasured part of the family, they said.

Mrs. Fryman’s life was celebrated during the Friday morning service at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons. Burial followed at the center’s cemetery, Shaarey Pardes Accabonac Grove, in Springs.