A. Philip Dinkel Jr., Phil to his friends and family, the owner of the Montauk I.G.A. for almost 30 years, died on Aug. 23 in Easton, Md., at the age of 89. A veteran of the Army, he lived a life devoted to service; to his country, his community, and his family. “Phil was a valued contributor to the communities in which he resided,” the family said, “in both volunteer and elected positions.”
Mr. Dinkel moved to Montauk in 1967. In the decades since, he served as president of the Montauk School Board, Commissioner and first assistant chief of the Montauk Fire Department, and captain of the Montauk Ambulance Company. He was active in the Lions Club as well.
The son of Adolph and Anna Dinkel, he was born and grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y. He and his future wife of 68 years, the former Diane Williams, were ninth graders together at the New Hampton School, a prep school, who connected, according to family lore, when she sold him a ticket to the school’s Valentine’s Day dance.
In 1956, after he graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and Iona College in New Rochelle, achieving degrees in both science and the arts, and completed two years of Army service with the Signal Corps, the couple married, and moved to the tiny town of St. Michael’s (pop. last year, 1,003), on Chesapeake Bay. There, Mr. Dinkel became chairman of the zoning board of appeals, president of the town board, and a Fellow of the Maryland Municipal League, not to mention coxswain in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. He worked during those years as a layout designer for The Tred Avon Times.
Mr. Dinkel always enjoyed spending time on the water with his family, sailing “as far north as Nantucket and as far south as the Bahamas and British Virgin Islands,” they said. He also loved a good game of golf or pool, and maintained a lively curiosity about the latest technology. He had some “unexpected” interests as well, relatives recalled. “He was a member of a celebrated all-boys choral group in prep school, swam on the Lafayette College record-breaking swim team, played a jovial Santa at the firehouse, entertained as a clown in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, and even raced barrels on horseback in the Montauk Horse Show.”
The Dinkels retired in 1996 and returned to live in their first home, St. Michael’s. Ten years later, they moved to Easton.
Mr. Dinkel is survived by his wife, and by their son, Ross, and his wife, Shellie, of Topsail Island, N.C., and by their daughter, Sally, and husband, John Eiler, of Weston, Conn. He also leaves seven grandchildren: Brian, Keri, Sara, Anna, Jonathan, Ashley, and Adam; six great-grandchildren, Harlyn, Camden, Delaney, Addison, Rory, and Dylan; and his nieces and nephew, Gail, Betsie, Lee, and Jimmy, and their children.
No formal services were held. At the family’s suggestion, memorial contributions may be directed to the Montauk Lighthouse, P.O. Box 868, Montauk 11954, or to a favorite charity.
