Thomas O. Conklin

Thomas O. Conklin was born and raised at Breeze Hill Farm in Bridgehampton’s Scuttlehole area, and after graduating from high school in 1949 and earning an agriculture degree from Cornell University in 1953, he returned home to join his father and uncle growing potatoes.

“He had a great love for the land and soil,” his wife, Margaret Conklin, wrote this week. He acquired more land in Bridgehampton and started to grade and pack his potatoes under the Tiger Spud label, eventually partnering with Cliff Foster of Sagaponack, who carried on the Tiger Spud name after Mr. Conklin retired from farming in the 1990s.

Mr. Conklin was active in the Long Island Farm Bureau and was a lifelong member of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, where he served many terms on its various boards.

He died at home in Bridgehampton on Nov. 26. He was 83 and had kidney disease for the past four years. A graveside service will be held at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.

Mr. Conklin was born on April 30, 1931, to Otis D. Conklin and the former Anna Hildreth. He attended the Bridgehampton School before going on to Cornell, and was married on Nov. 30, 1957, to Margaret White Nugent, known as Peg. They raised their four children, Diana, Thomas, Ross, and Erin, in Bridgehampton. Their sons, while not in potato farming, continue to use family farmland in the Hayground area to grow nursery stock.

Mr. Conklin could trace his family roots back several generations on the East End; his father was from Aquebogue and his mother was from Sagaponack. He was fascinated by local history and enjoyed studying local records and genealogy. His favorite ancestor, said his wife, was Josiah Kirk, who farmed land in East Hampton’s Northwest Woods and, she said, fought the town for the exclusive right to harvest seaweed from the beach in front of his property. Her husband appreciated Kirk’s stubbornness, Mrs. Conklin said.

Though he was deeply connected to the South Fork and bound to the land by the cycle of seasons, in the 1970s he discovered and fell in love with St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. It “became his paradise,” Mrs. Conklin said, and he spent as much time there as possible. The couple had a small house on the island and would take most of their vacations there, and then stay for longer after his retirement.

Mr. Conklin loved family get-togethers, “and his friends found him to be great fun in his own sort of way,” she said.

He is survived by his wife and children, Diana White Conklin of Hampton Bays, Thomas Hildreth Conklin of North Sea, Ross Nugent Conklin of Water Mill, and Erin Wells Conklin of Water Mill. He also leaves a brother, Benjamin H. Conklin of Bridgehampton, two sisters, Nancy Halsey of Greenport and Ellen Subin of New Jersey, and four grandchildren.

The family has suggested memorial contributions to the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 3038, Bridgehampton 11932, the Bridgehampton Fire Department, P.O. Box 1280, or a charity of choice.