Benjamin A. Smith, 85, Operated Point Way Inn

Benjamin Anthony Smith died April 7 from complications following hip surgery in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 85 years old.

He was born May 20, 1920, the son of Abbott Metcalf Smith and Catherine Anthony of New Bedford. He attended Friends Academy in Westport, and Deerfield Academy where he was followed by two of his sons.

He was graduated from Yale College in 1942. He enlisted in the Navy and served in North Africa and Bermuda in World War II, after which he returned to Yale for his law degree. While at the university he was a member of the Yale Glee Club and the Whiffenpoofs a cappella singing group. The social ease and bonhomie of the Whiffenpoofs influenced his style throughout life.

After graduating from Yale Law School he practiced law for 20 years in Providence, R.I., where he was a member of the art club and the Agawam hunt club. He was an active member of the English-Speaking Union.

He subsequently practiced law in New York city and Boulder, Colo.

He had a lifelong love of boats and in 1978 moved to Tortola, British Virgin Islands, to run a charter sailboat agency. In 1980 he converted a former whaling captain's house in Edgartown into the Point Way Inn, which he ran successfully until his retirement in 1999.

In his later years he was an enthusiastic English croquet player, founding the Edgartown Mallet Club and participating in many United States Croquet Association events.

He is survived by three sons, Benjamin Anthony of Boulder, Colo., Llewellyn Gibbons of Brooklyn, N.Y., and John Hearn Tucker of Larchmont, N.Y. ; two daughters, Sarah Millee of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Carol Gutwein of San Diego, Calif.; a stepdaughter, Marni Katona of Virginia; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service and interment will held at the family mausoleum in the New Bedford Cemetery on May 19.