Queenie L. Bagnall, 75, Was Town Hall Stalwart

Queenie L. Bagnall of Edgartown died Monday, Jan. 13, at her home on Teaberry Lane. She was 75.

Mrs. Bagnall was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Feb. 2, 1927, the daughter of Lewis Wing and Myrtle Stone.

She had lived in Chicago during the 1940s and for a time in Canada and Europe and then Cambridge before settling on Martha's Vineyard in 1968.

She worked as a secretary for the Edgartown selectmen's office for 12 years; previous to this she had worked for the former Mental Health Center in Edgartown, now part of Martha's Vineyard Community Services.

On the occasion of her retirement from service to Edgartown, town administrator Peter Bettencourt had words of praise for Mrs. Bagnall. "Queenie has a wonderful demeanor for the public and other employees of the town," Mr. Bettencourt told the Gazette in 1997. "It was because of her calming effect that it ran so well. People might be upset about the issues of the day, but she could calm them down. It helped."

Mrs. Bagnall was graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in art. Art remained an interest throughout her life; at her retirement she told the Gazette she planned to work in stained glass, to draw and to paint in both watercolors and oils. She also avidly enjoyed gardening, reading, old movies and shopping at the A&P.

She is survived by two sons, Donald Bagnall of Woodbridge, Conn., and Paul Bagnall of Edgartown; two daughters, Gina Lincoln of Niantic, Conn., and Noel Bagnall of Edgartown; and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18. Donations may be made in her memory to Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557, The Visiting Nurse Association, P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or to the Vineyard House, P.O. Box 4599, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.