Beatrice Bellinger Self, a longtime resident of Edgartown and Chappaquiddick, died July 31 at Cove Meadow, her Chappy home, after a period of declining health. She was 89.

Born Dec. 24, 1918, in Summit, N.J., she was known by her friends as Bea. She lived most of her early life in Woodside, Long Island, N.Y., and summered at Oak Beach, a barrier beach of Great South Bay, Long Island.

It was this early experience that attracted her to the Cape Pogue section of Chappaquiddick in 1943, where she and her husband summered for the next 21 seasons. Subsequently, they moved across the pond to Cove Meadow, a 70-acre expanse on the west side of Cape Pogue Pond, where they spent most of their retirement years together. Bea was an excellent surfcaster and water-skier, and water-skied nonstop from Shear Pen Pond at Cape Pogue to Edgartown Outer Harbor numerous times.

Bea was a 1940 graduate of Columbia University School of Nursing, where she was president of her class. With World War II looming, she became the nurse in charge of the Medical Center Blood Bank, and it was here that she met Ed Self as a result of a postgraduate thesis he was preparing on blood substitutes. They were married in 1941 upon the completion of his six-year surgical residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York city.

After the war, Bea and Ed settled in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., where they raised three children. The loves of Bea’s life were her husband and family, and her many interests included needlework, garden green-housing, curling, bridge, opera, reading, entertaining and travel. She and Dr. Self traveled extensively to Europe, the Far East, South Pacific, Asia, Mexico, and much of the United States, including Alaska. Their most memorable adventure was a two-month train trip from London, across Europe, Poland, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and finally to Hong Kong.

Bea was a past president of the Junior League of Westchester County, the Garden Club of Martha’s Vineyard, the Chappaquiddick Island Association and the Chappaquiddick Beach Club, as well as a member of the Edgartown Yacht Club and a founding member of the Royal Chappaquiddick Yacht Club. She served as a volunteer at the Edgartown Second Hand Store for more than 20 years. She was also a life member of The Trustees of Reservations.

Mrs. Self was pre-deceased by her husband, Dr. Edward B. Self, in 2002.

Survivors include her brother, Frank Howard Bellinger of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; three children, Karen S. Osler of Plymouth and Cape Pogue, Dr. Edward B. Self Jr. of Ridgewood, N.J., and Cape Pogue, and Judy S. Murphy of Chappaquiddick and Cape Pogue; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

A private service for immediate family will be held at Cove Meadow, with private interment next to her dearly loved husband at the Chappaquiddick Cemetery.

Donations in her memory may be made to Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, Wakeman Conservation Center, 57 David avenue, Vineyard Haven MA 02568 or the Vineyard Nursing Association Inc., Development Office, P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs MA 02557.