Sarah Vickery Hammett of East Chop and Manchester-by-the Sea, died Oct. 6, after a courageous battle with lung cancer, with her husband and three children at her side. She was 89.

Born in Boston, on April 21, 1931, to Victor Davis Vickery and Madeleine Converse Vickery, Sally was the youngest of two children. She grew up in Darien, Conn., and attended Thomas School before attending Goucher College in Baltimore. She graduated in 1953 with a degree in anthropology. After graduation, she moved to New York city to work as an administrator at the Brierly School and then in personnel at Rockefeller Brothers, working on the 56th floor of Rockefeller Center. While in New York, she was a member of the Blue Hill Troupe as well as The Canterbury Choral Society.

In 1956, she met the Rev. Robert Lee Hammett, assistant minister at St. Luke’s Church in Darien. They married on Sept. 28, 1957, and raised three children.

Sally thrived as a clergyman’s wife, first in Sharon, Conn., where she worked at the Sharon Clinic. In 1966 Bob took a teaching and chaplain position at The Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y. There they made many good friends, and Sally was an integral part of starting a children’s school. During this time she turned her love of needlepoint into a business called The Skipper’s Wife. In 1975 they moved to Middlebury, Conn., where Bob led the parish at St. George’s Episcopal Church and Sally worked at the Westover School in administration. In 1981 they moved to Needham, and Bob lead the parish at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newtonville, Sally worked at the Massachusetts Ski Club before starting Student Tours Inc., something she was extremely proud of.

In 1962 they bought a house on East Chop as a place to put down summer roots. To the end, sitting on their porch and looking out over the bluff was one of Sally’s favorite pastimes. Summers on East Chop included hot days on the beach and lots of tennis at the club up the street. Sally was a devoted tennis player, a skill she learned from her father, having watched and played in many Labor Day tournaments while growing up in Connectcut. As a teenager she cherished her summers at Camp Arcadia in Maine, and eventually worked there as a tennis counselor.

She loved to travel, a passion that began when she spent a summer in Europe with her roommates from New York, just before marrying Bob. During their marriage Sally planned trips to Europe and Israel with friends from Sharon, and she and Bob spent several summers on parish exchanges in England.

Sally and Bob moved to the Vineyard year-round in 1994 after Bob retired. She brought Student Tours along with her, and worked with her son Rob, who eventually took over the business. Sally made the East Chop house home base, where the family would gather at holidays and during the summer months. She enjoyed spending time with her seven grandchildren, who either lived next door or descended during the warm months to take in all that the Vineyard had to offer.

Expanding on her talent in needlepoint design, Sally also enjoyed knitting and quilting, and was a longtime member of a sewing group on the Island. She enjoyed antiques and had a flair for renovating and decorating houses. She oversaw the winterization and expansion of the East Chop house before moving there full time in 2009.

In 2015, Sally and Bob moved off-Island to Thirwood Place in West Yarmouth, and recently they relocated to Manchester-by-the-Sea, living in a small cottage behind the home of their son Whitney and his family.

In addition to her devoted husband of 63 years, she is survived by her three children and their families: Robert and Deborah Hammett, and their daughters Rilla and Emily; Lee Hammett Peterson and her children Gretchen Anstett and Douglas Peterson; and Whitney and Allison Hammett and their sons, Noah, Eli and Walker. She is also survived by a sister, Joan Vickery Davis, nephew Timothy Davis and niece Polly Davis.

A family service is planned for Oct. 17, and a larger, East Chop celebration is planned for the summer of 2021.

Donations be sent to The East Chop Tennis Club Youth Program, P.O. Box 489, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557, or Saint John’s Parish, 297 Lowell Avenue Newton, MA 02460.