Vernal H. Lafoe, 88

Vernal Harold Lafoe, a former resident of East Hampton, died of cancer on Sept. 17 at the Hospice of Citrus County in Lecanto, Fla. He was 88.

One of six children, Mr. Lafoe was born on June 7, 1926, in Brownington, a small town in northern Vermont, to Harold and Pearl Lafoe. In 1944, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Navy and served with the Seabees, the Navy construction battalion, in the South Pacific.

He was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 550 in East Hampton, where he and his wife, Alice, settled soon after the war’s end. His daughter, Kathryn Augustine of Bay Shore, believes that a sister of his, Greta LaMonda, was already living here at the time,

Mr. Lafoe worked as a dairy farmer at the old Dune Alpin Farms in East Hampton, and later at Schwenk’s Dairy, before retiring in 1983. His daughter described him as a jack-of-all-trades.

The Lafoes moved to Inverness, Fla., not long after he retired.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Lafoe is survived by three sons, Vernal C. Lafoe, Scott Lafoe, and Perry Lafoe, all of Florida. He also leaves a sister, Dooreen Roberts of Florida, and a brother, Louis Lafoe, who lives in Louisiana. Nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren survive as well.

A celebration of his life was held on Friday at the Charles E. Davis Funeral Home in Inverness, Fla. Burial with full military honors followed at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla.