Hazel M. King of Vineyard Haven died Monday at Falmouth Hospital. She was 78.

She was born in Vineyard Haven on August 21, 1928, the daughter of Manuel and Mary DeCosta King. She attended Tisbury schools.

Hazel was a Carmelite nun for 25 years serving in New York city and Ireland. She returned from Ireland to the Island to take care of her ailing father for whom she cared until his death. She worked with her identical twin, Hilda, at the lunch counter of the steamship Islander for many years as well as working at Takemmy Laundry. She was an active communicant of the Good Shepherd Parish of Martha's Vineyard. She was also a lover of animals.

Survivors include a sister, Madeline Coburn of Berryville, Ark.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents; by her siblings, Theresa Holstrom, Elizabeth (Betty) Furtado, Hilda Duart, Katherine Barry, Patricia Mills-Fulsom, Donald King, William King and Manuel Canha; and her godson, Peter J. Duart.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Augustine's Church, Vineyard Haven at 11 a.m. today. Interment will follow in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Vineyard Haven.

Donations may be made in her name to the MSPCA, P.O. Box 2097, Edgartown, MA 02539. Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Oak Bluffs.