Basil Welch, a quintessential Island character and longtime Chilmarker, died on Sept. 24. He was 87 and was a poet, woodcarver, photographer, fisherman and hunter. He served as Chilmark cemetery superintendent for many years and was known for his humorous written accounts in the annual town reports. “There have been burials again this year, all loved ones — young and old. I don’t think it is necessary to count them. Just one is too many,” he wrote in 1987.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, Oct. 3, at Abel’s Hill Cemetery at 11 a.m. A complete obituary will be published in the Friday Gazette.