Ben Moore, one of the first architects to set up shop on the Vineyard and a champion of affordable housing, died on May 10 at his home in West Tisbury. He was 82.

A lifelong summer resident of the Island, Mr. Moore moved to West Tisbury in the mid-1970s after starting his career in Boston. He arrived with his wife Paddy Moore and their six children, looking to both escape city life and make an impact on the Island.

Mr. Moore graduated from Yale University and the Yale School of Architecture. He specialized in building homes that were traditional on the outside yet modern on the inside, and worked his way up the ladder by word of mouth, designing homes for both locals and summer people, including Cyrus Vance and Robert McNamara.

He designed the original West Tisbury Library, remodeled Grange Hall and Chilmark Town Hall, Alley's General Store, and the police station in Vineyard Haven, to name a few of his public projects.

In 1993, he offered his services at half price to recipients of affordable housing lots from the Vineyard’s various programs. He was also a member of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s housing task force, the historic commission in West Tisbury, and worked with Habitat for Humanity, even traveling to Jonestown, Miss. to help supervise a group of students building houses during their spring break.

“They were so acknowledging and appreciative,” he said of the community in an interview with the Gazette. “They put on a big potluck dinner every week in the gym. The local women prepare these wonderful local dishes. Catfish, grits, fried chicken.”

Mr. Moore was a fixture on the Island, the expanse of his wide forehead eclipsed only by his wide smile. His Island roots were deep. His father, Maxwell Moore, also an architect, was a longtime resident of Harthaven.

He also fit the Island mold as an outdoorsman, ice skating during the winter of '78 all the way from Aquinnah to Edgartown, pond by pond, with his son Max, cousin Stan Hart, Mike Jacobs and Nat Benjamin.

In 2011, he began to notice some issues with memory loss and was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. He faced the diagnosis with typical resolve and optimistic spirit, helped by his wife, family and friends.

“I wasn’t actually scared, and I thought this is not a trip I want to be on, but I am, so let’s find out how to deal with it in whatever way is possible,” he said in an interview with the Gazette.

Mr. Moore will be remembered by the homes and buildings he designed, as a mentor and father figure to many, and his long legacy of serving the Island.

There will be a funeral service on June 30 at 2 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury. A celebration of life will be held on Sept. 22 at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury.

A full obituary will appear in a future edition of the Gazette.