Paul Fink Devoted Life to Philanthropy, Politics

Paul Fink, for many years a summer resident of Vineyard Haven, died on May 25 in Hamden, Conn., after a brief illness. Mr. Fink, who was 91 years old at the time of his death, began to visit Martha's Vineyard more than six decades ago, finally establishing himself and his family at Juniper Place in Vineyard Haven in the early 1960s.

Mr. Fink was born in Hartford, Conn., Sept. 15, 1913. Although he intended to become a teacher, he joined the family marble and terrazzo business at his father's behest, in due course starting a business of his own to manufacture advanced electronic circuitry and electric regulators.

At the age of 50 he retired from business to devote himself both to philanthropy and progressive political causes. These included the NAACP, the Encampment for Citizenship, Americans for Democratic Action and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. During the Vietnam War, Mr. Fink became convinced that the United States had involved itself in a shameful debacle. This led him to campaign on behalf of Eugene McCarthy's presidential bid, attending the 1968 Democratic Convention with the Connecticut delegation. On the Vineyard he helped to organize fund-raising events to sustain the McCarthy candidacy.

In later years Mr. Fink would often tutor inner-city children from deprived backgrounds in science and mathematics. Well into his late eighties he continued his philanthropies by participating in disaster relief and development projects organized by Habitat for Humanity and Elder Hostel.

For 35 years Mr. Fink was a member of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, where he was both an enthusiastic sailor -- racing Solings and Vineyard 21s -- and tennis player. He and his wife, Enid, along with their sons, Jonathan, Matthew and Robert, became, over the course of years, devoted Vineyarders, always seeking to steal time from their other occupations to visit the Island off-season. During the summer months their house was typically a hive of activity, with its doors flung open to friends, their children's friends -- in endless profusion -- and visitors from abroad. Mrs. Fink, who died in 1985, presided with good humor, tact and instinctive hospitality over a dinner table that never lacked for guests.

Paul Fink is survived by his sons, Robert of Orange, Conn., and Matthew of Rome, Italy, and his sister, Geraldine Wasserman of Berkeley, Calif.

A memorial service was held at Temple Israel in Westport, Conn., on June 8. There will be a private graveside ceremony in late October at the Jewish Cemetery in Vineyard Haven. In lieu of flowers or other acknowledgements, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to Amnesty International or the Gay Men's Health Crisis.