Toni Lind

Toni Lind of Springs, an artist who was committed to working with the underprivileged and those with special needs, died at home on Friday, not far from her favorite swimming spot at Maidstone Park. 

“She survived many health issues in recent years and bravely persevered with strength and grace in the face of difficult challenges, inspiring those who knew her,” her family wrote. She was 72. 

She was born on Christmas Day in 1944 to Raymond and Jessie Spicer Zerner of Laporte, Pa. Her childhood summers were spent in Bermuda with her grandmother Lilias Burtenshaw, who ran a well-known guesthouse, Salt Kettle, a painting of which by Winslow Homer hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Lind attended high school in Sullivan County, Pa., and went on to graduate from Penn State University. She met her future first husband, Erik Lind Sr., while studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. They traveled through Europe together and lived for a time on a kibbutz in Israel. 

Ms. Lind moved to Springs in 1969 and eventually earned her master’s degree in teaching at Southampton College. She raised her two sons, Erik and Rune Lind, on what became a sort of family compound on Sandra Road. Her sister and brother-in-law, Amy Zerner and Monte Farber, lived next door, and for a time her mother lived with them. Later, Ms. Lind’s sons each lived with her while their sons were infants, Erik with his wife, Karen Pettit Lind, and their son, Blair, and Rune with his wife, Heather Steele Lind, and their son, Magnus.

A talented artist and painter, Ms. Lind created personal mixed-media assemblages from found objects. She loved swimming at Maidstone Beach in Springs, her favorite spot, and at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, and was proud of having once trained for and completed a triathlon. 

Ms. Lind was very close to her mother, a children’s book illustrator, and in 1996 collaborated in writing “The Great Bible” activity book with her for Waldman Publishing. 

She enjoyed working with children and was a teacher for Head Start in East Hampton for 17 years. She also spent several years as a psychiatric rehabilitation case manager for the Suffolk County Department of Social Services in Riverhead. For the last three years, Ms. Lind served as a social services coordinator for St. Michael’s and Windmill housing in East Hampton, helping residents navigate their home and health needs and linking them to necessary services.

In addition to her sister and her sons, Erik Lind of New Zealand and Rune Lind of Springs, Ms. Lind is survived by a brother, Peter Zerner of Winston-Salem, N.C., her two grandsons, and a granddaughter. 

A service will be held on Saturday at noon at the Springs Presbyterian Church, where the family will gather afterward.

Her family has suggested memorial contributions to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach 11978.