Sonya Scofield, 82, Montauk School Nurse

Sonya Scofield, the nurse at the Montauk School for over 30 years, died on May 25 in Orlando, Fla. She was 82.

“As with most nurses I’ve known (by the nature of the profession), Sonny had a heart of gold,” wrote Jack Perna, superintendent of the Montauk School, who worked with her for many years. “True, she seemed to have a hard shell at times, but that shell was easily cracked.”

When she was not attending to students’ aches, cuts, bumps, and illnesses, Ms. Scofield drove a school bus that her family said was “probably the quietist bus in the fleet.”

She was the first call or stop for many Montauk locals seeking advice on sutures or broken bones before making the drive to East Hampton or Southampton for further medical care, her family wrote. “Sonny was always available to the students and families in Montauk, especially back when there was no doctor’s office in Montauk,” Mr. Perna said. “People would bring their children to her home for emergencies or just to get more information. Sonny’s door was always open. Even after she retired, before she moved away, Sonny took time to help anyone who needed her; time of day or night didn’t matter.”

Ms. Scofield graduated as a registered nurse from the Brooklyn Hospital School of Nursing in 1954 and began her professional life as an obstetrics nurse at Norwalk General Hospital in Connecticut. She went on to work at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson before marrying Alexander Joyce and settling in Montauk.

When school was out for the summer, she worked at the Montauk Medical Center. She also did private-duty nursing in Southampton and Montauk, and later worked at Pfund’s Hardware in Montauk and the Montauk Corner Store.

Ms. Scofield was a member of the Montauk Community Church, the Montauk PTA, the Montauk Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, the Montauk Bowling League, and the Sag Harbor Ladies Golf Club. She had also worked a truancy officer. Her family said she enjoyed woodworking, sewing, knitting, golfing, dogs, music, and joking. “She had a trademark sense of humor and a laugh that will be remembered by many,” they said. 

She retired from the Montauk School in 1999 and moved to San Diego and later to Oviedo, Fla., to be near her daughter Marty Joyce of Carlsbad, Calif., and then her daughters Marylou Anconau of Jupiter, Fla., and Judy Ciesla of Oviedo. In California Ms. Scofield was activities chairwoman for the Rancho Carlsbad Ladies Golf League, with whom she earned a coveted hole-in-one trophy, and was the 2010 ladies league champion.

She was born in Jamestown, N.Y., on June 21, 1933, to George M. Scofield and the former MaryLouise Hull-Potter. She grew up in Port Jefferson and Walden, N.Y., and spent summers in Chautauqua, N.Y.

Ms. Scofield was divorced from Mr. Joyce, who died in 1987. In addition to their daughters, she is survived by her brothers, Douglas Scofield of Ridge and William Scofield of Port Jefferson. She also is survived by four grandchildren and was looking forward to the birth of a great-grandson.

Private services were to be held in California and Florida. Some of Ms. Scofield’s ashes will be dispersed in Chautauqua in August.

Contributions have been suggested to the First Methodist Church of Oviedo, attention Military Support Group, 263 King Street, Oviedo, Fla. 32765.