Napoleon (Nap) Pinckney died at home in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, Nov. 13, a month and a half after his 90th birthday.

Born in St. Matthews, S.C. on Sept. 24, 1920, to James and Earth Liu Pinckney, the family moved three years later, along with the new baby, David, to Pittsburgh and eventually to New York city. As a George Washington High School graduate, Nap went on to attend Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Ga., on a basketball scholarship. Midway through, Sergeant Pinckney left to spend four years in Europe as a tech fourth grade in the 1,328th Engineer Construction Battalion, receiving an American Theatre service ribbon, a European African Middle Eastern service ribbon with a bronze star, a Good Conduct and a World War II Victor medal.

Back in the States, Nap finished at Morris Brown, and using the Gl Bill he enrolled at Illinois University at Urbana-Champlain, where he received a master’s degree in bacteriology and parasitology. Three years at Albany Medical College followed, before funds ran out.

Nap returned to New York city to teach microbiology at a private vocational school for laboratory technicians, where he met his wife-to-be, Lorraine (Lorrie). First his student, she later became his assistant who typed exams and helped set up practical exams. They were married on May 19, 1963.

In 1965, Nap began to teach microbiology, parasitology and clinical chemistry in the biological sciences department at New York City Community College (CUNY). As associate professor, he also was made the evening administrator for the department, again with Lorrie working as his assistant.

In August 1963, the newlyweds took their first vacation together on Martha’s Vineyard and fell in love with the Island. They moved from a midtown high rise in New York city to Syosset, N.Y., in 1971, but the Long Island home provided a poor substitute for the Vineyard. After five years of renting on the Island, the Pinckneys finally bought land and built their house, with long-range retirement plans in mind.

Nap retired in 1970 from CUNY, but they had to wait until Lorrie was hired by Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Visiting Nurse Service in 1996 to make the final move to the Vineyard. Oil painting, bluefishing, tending his one and a half-acre property, putting up a rental home, and finally illness, filled Nap’s remaining years.

Nap is survived by Lorrie, his loving wife, of 47 years. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother, Dr. David Pinckney, and one of his nephews. Three nephews remain, living throughout the U.S.

A private service was held at the interment at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Oak Bluffs on Nov. 17, with full military honors offered by the Veterans of Martha’s Vineyard.

Memorial donations may be made to the Vineyard Nursing Association, P.O. Box 399, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.