Susanna I. Jacob, 82

Susanna Irma Jacob, a tailor, ceramic artist, friend to animals, and involved parishioner at St. Therese de Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, died at Southampton Hospital on Sunday of pneumonia. She was 82 and had been hospitalized on and off since a traumatic fall in September.

Ms. Jacob, who was known as Irma, used her knowledge of nature to aid injured animals, rescuing wildlife such as a lame fawn or lost swan, and caring for birds and cats until they could be freed or adopted.

In the 1980s, Ms. Jacob taught ceramics in her home studio, providing a guiding creative hand to students and firing their artwork in her kiln.

From the 1960s through the ’80s, she also put her artistry to work at St. Therese, where she created decorations for the church and costumes for pageants and plays. She also repaired upholstery at convents to make a nicer residence for the nuns.

Ms. Jacob was formally trained as a professional fashion designer and tailor, creating original clothing for special events, including wedding gowns and communion finery. Later, her daughters were lucky enough to grow up in lovely outfits made to order at home.

A daughter of Matthias and Helena Blum, she was born on Feb. 25, 1934, in Rittersdorf, Germany, a centuries-old village surrounded by a stone wall, where the church was the center of the community. In the 1950s she fell in love with an American airman, Kenneth F. Jacob. They eloped and traveled to and around the United States, eventually settling in Montauk at Camp Hero, and then in Hither Woods.

Mr. Jacob survives, as do the couple’s two daughters, PJ Delia and Maureen Jacob, both of Montauk. A grandson also survives.

A wake will be held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton from 3 to 6 this afternoon. A service will be held at St. Therese tomorrow morning at 10:30, with burial to follow at the Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk.