Mary Margaret Hostetter Sherrill, an artist and preservationist who was descended from a long-established East Hampton family, died on Oct. 14 at her home in Mount Pleasant, S.C., surrounded by family, of metastatic lung cancer. She was 78.
Mrs. Sherrill, a 12th-generation member of the Edwards family who was known as Peggy, was the daughter of Samuel H. Hostetter and Lillian Edwards. According to several genealogies of East Hampton’s early residents, the first Edwards here was William Edwards, who arrived around 1650.
She was creative in various fields, among them painting, sewing, knitting, and needlepoint. Her intricately detailed work earned her membership in the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, which preserves, studies, and recreates art from 1750 to 1850. She decorated boxes, trays, and chairs and made many gold-leaf works using the methods and patterns of early American designers. Her gold-leaf trays and reverse paintings on glass were featured in a show at the Amagansett Library in 2017.
She also created no fewer than five dollhouses for the Ladies Village Improvement Society fair raffles. In 1999, she was appointed chair of that year’s donation from Deborah Ann Light of the Octagonal Dollhouse, which is fully electrified and on view year round. “She was well known for her extraordinary handwriting, creativity, and unique needlepoint canvases capturing the East End,” her family wrote.
A passionate advocate for historic preservation, Ms. Sherrill was active in the L.V.I.S. as a member of the board of directors and chair of the committee that managed the society’s original office and its eventual renovation and expansion. She was active also in the redesign of Herrick Park and the long-established literary society known as the Ramblers, and was a member of the American Association of University Women. She was the historic site manager for Home Sweet Home Museum beginning in 1984, was a board member of the East Hampton Historical Society, and was a trustee of Clinton Academy.
Born on Aug. 4, 1941, in Hanover, Pa., Mrs. Sherrill spent many childhood summers in Amagansett, in a cottage on Gardiner’s Bay that was a former seine house for the family’s ocean trap business. They called it the Lobster House.
She attended Eichelberger High School in Hanover, finishing in 1959, and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in art education. Later, she went to work for the Institute of Life Insurance in New York City.
In 1966, Ms. Sherrill married her first husband, Dr. Benjamin Dale Tarr, a veterinarian, and they moved to East Hampton full time. They later divorced; Dr. Tarr died in 2005. Ms. Sherrill met Edwin (Ed) Sherrill Jr. in 1984, and they married in 1986. Mr. Sherrill, who survives, was a longtime East Hampton Village trustee.
The Sherrills loved to travel. Mrs. Sherrill treasured the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, where they enjoyed sailing. They visited many places in Europe and had “an unforgettable adventure” in the Galapagos Islands, her family said.
An experienced and dedicated sailor, Mrs. Sherrill joined the Devon Yacht Club in 1978. She also was a devoted member of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir and played handbells. The Sherrills moved from East Hampton to Mount Pleasant in 2017, but still came back to East Hampton in the summertime.
In addition to her husband of nearly 33 years, Mrs. Sherrill leaves two daughters, Alicia Tarr Love of Dallas and Paige Tarr Koches of Mount Pleasant, and a stepson, Linus Z. Sherrill, of Ballston Lake, N.Y. She also leaves two sisters, Elizabeth Hostetter of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Ann Diefendorf of Shelter Island Heights, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Another stepson, Edwin L. Sherrill III, died in 2009.
A memorial service will be held at a future date in East Hampton. Messages to the family may be sent care of J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Home, online at jhenrysturh.com. Donations in her memory may be sent to the East Hampton Historical Society, 101 Main Street, East Hampton 11937.
