Paul and Elsie Haber Were Tisbury Residents

The Gazette this week received news of the death of Paul Haber on Dec. 13, 2002, and of his wife, Elsie Haber, on Jan. 27. Both were longtime residents of Vineyard Haven.

Mr. and Mrs. Haber started visiting the Vineyard in the 1930s, sometimes sailing from New York in a small catboat with a tarp thrown over the boom for shelter. In those earlie days Elsie and Paul were also well-known on the tennis circuit. In the 1940s and 1950s, they often visited the Island with their daughters, Ann and Jane, renting a variety of homes.

Being high school teachers in New York city, the Habers had time to enjoy Island summers fully. Their activities circled around sailing, tennis and music. Finally, in the 1960s, they bought their own home in Vineyard Haven and retired. They could often be found out in Vineyard Sound in their Boston Whaler, reeling in fluke after fluke. They loved being on the water and made such a study of fishing that they excelled at it. They could also be seen driving around town in their Sout, the Nut Hatch. Their skills and interests included vegetable gardening, which they did with a passion equal to fishing. They often shared their bounty of vegetables and fish with friends and neighbors.

Mr. Haber's death followed a lengthy illness. Mrs. Haber, vigorous until her death, had been planning to go to an Elderhostel program in the spring and to take an Alaskan cruise in the fall.

In addition to their two daughters, Ann and Jane, they are survived by three grandchildren, Mark, Lisa and Jeffrey.