Thomas J. DeMont Jr. of Oak Bluffs, one of the country’s top scrimshaw artists, died on Dec. 15 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston following a stroke. He was 70.

Tom was the son of the late Thomas DeMont Sr. and Adeline Metell DeMont. He was born on the Vineyard and attended Island schools. You could find Tom setting up pins in the bowling alley or playing his guitar and singing in local pubs and coffee houses in Boston, where he attended the Massachusetts School of Art, majoring in art education. After college, Tom taught art in the Walpole school system for four years until he returned to the Vineyard. He became interested in scrimshaw in 1977 when a friend handed him a piece of ivory on which Tom etched a ship and sold the next day, starting a career that has lasted over 40 years. In 1978 he opened his own gallery known as the Edgartown Scrimshaw Gallery, which drew Island residents and visitors as well as his many friends from all over the world. Here Tom not only displayed his own work but the work of other top scrimshaw artists from around the country.

Tom was one of those exceptional artists who used fossilized bone and antique fossil ivory and ancient ivory from woolly mammoths which were found in Siberia, Canada and Alaska. He had handcrafted beautiful pendants, cuff links, bracelets, knives, and exceptional pieces for Nantucket baskets as well and custom pieces on walrus and elephant tusks and sperm whale teeth. He also carved beautiful custom ivory watch faces, and was known for his exquisite whale carvings on wood which graced the walls of his gallery and are hanging in many Island homes. He had a passion for the art of scrimshaw, oil and watercolor painting and for relaxation. When he was not working, you would find him either on the Island golf courses or playing in Vero Beach, Fla.

He is survived by his sister, Rita DeMont Bean and her husband, John, of the Vineyard and Vero Beach, Fla.; his nieces, Rita Bean and Kim Leonard of Provincetown, Deborah Gantz and her husband, Larry, of Taunton; his grand-nieces, Adeline Gantz and Olivia Bean; nephew, John Bean, of Braintree and his wife, Robyn Houston Bean; and grand-nephews, Nick and Jake Bean.

There will be no service at this time, but a celebration of his life with family and friends is planned for some time later.

Donations in Tom’s memory may be made to the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School Art Department, P.O. Box 1150, West Tisbury, MA 02575.