Robert (Bob) Conway died Jan. 11 at Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge, N.J. He was 96 and had been a former longtime resident of Chilmark.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to the late Eugene and Henrietta Conway, he grew up in Roselle, N.J., graduating from Abraham Clark High School in 1940 and Admiral Farragut Academy in 1942. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy aviation division during World War II.

He graduated from Rutgers University in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

He married Phyllis Hutchison in 1949 and raised a family in Roselle and Basking Ridge, N.J. He worked in the family commercial printing business in New York city for 40 years and then retired to Martha’s Vineyard in 1986, having spent summers in Chilmark for more than 20 years before that.

Bob felt like he stepped into paradise during the almost 30 years he spent in retirement on the Vineyard. When he wasn’t sailing his own boat on Quitsa and Menemsha ponds, he was crewing for friends on their boats in the Sound. His home was near Stonewall Beach where he enjoyed flying exotic kites, taking icy swims before breakfast and raising his vast collection of international flags up a huge hilltop flagpole. Not a fan of hats, he befriended many dermatologists in his later years as a result of his excessive frolicking in the sun. A connoisseur of local foods, he was a frequent visitor at Chilmark Chocolates to satisfy his craving for dark chocolate, Poole’s Fish Market in Menemsha for briny clams and oysters on the halfshell, the Home Port Restaurant for takeout chowder by the quart and sunset dinners at a windowside table in the dining room, lobster roll Tuesday nights at the Chilmark Community Church, and State Road Restaurant for fine dining. At home in the evenings on Parker Road, he loved to kick back with a game of horseshoes against his grandchildren and blast off fireworks for them after dark.

He turned his hobby of refinishing furniture into a cottage industry by becoming the Chair Doctor in Chilmark. He restored countless antique wooden chairs (many of them found at the Chilmark dump) and nimbly rewove the seats by caning or rushing techniques. Some went back to their original owners while others found their way into local antique shows or the Chilmark Flea. His wife Phyllis ran the popular semiweekly attraction for 14 years while he helped with parking. Things went smoothly for years at this gig until the day Bob stumbled backwards on a tree root at the Flea, hit his head on a rock and suffered a concussion and temporary amnesia just as his family was leaving for the noon ferry.

One of his many passions was music, especially listening to pipe organs and harps. He was partly responsible for the design of the new pipe organ that was installed in 2012 at the Chilmark Community Church. He also delighted in attending local chamber music concerts, complete with harpsichord, in the summer and the Boston Symphony Orchestra performances the rest of the year.

He was predeceased by Phyllis in 2012. Three years and one particularly bad winter later, at the suggestion of his daughter, Bob moved back to Basking Ridge at age 91 to live in a retirement community near two of his four children and his first great-grandchild. Although the transition was hard at first (he drafted his obituary as soon as he got there), he soon became active in the community, his former church, and the performing arts scene in the area, including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and New York City Ballet.

He is survived by his four children: Janet Conway Heslin, Robin Conway Morley, Betsy Tine-Jimenez, and David Conway; six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren; his loving companion Nancy Heller; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 1 at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church. Interment will be at the Chilmark Cemetery on Monday, March 30 at 2 p.m.