Rosemarie Duys Doane, known to many Islanders as Doody and to her family as Tante Doody, died peacefully on Nov. 30, with loved ones by her side.

Born in Mineola, N.Y., on June 18, 1931, she was a summer person until her second year when her family moved to Chilmark. Doody enjoyed 89 years of loving nature, music, animals, her family, and most everyone she came in contact with — she was a completely happy woman, a rare person who was truly satisfied with the simple elements of life, and deeply grateful for them.

Growing up on a Tea Lane Farm with her father Gerritt, mother Claire, and brothers Gerritt Jr. and Dirk Duys, they moved to Music street in West Tisbury for her teenage years. She was especially close with her mother, who taught her to play piano and violin, ride horses and knit. She graduated from the Tisbury High School in 1949 and attended Pembroke College at Brown University. After graduation, she traveled to Europe and returned a bride to Charles Merkens. She and Charley built their home and riding stable off Middle Road in the 1960s, and Doody taught many Islanders and summer visitors how to handle and care for horses, leading trail rides through the woods of West Tisbury and Chilmark at every chance.

In 1963 Doody and Charley moved their riding school to Canaan, Me., where they established a riding camp for girls during the summer months. For 23 years she was a beloved second grade teacher to the children of Cornville, Me. When her first marriage ended, she reunited with and married her teenage sweetheart, Bob Doane. They spent the following 28 years living in West Tisbury for summers and Maine for winters, moving easily between the two states, always leaving one home with the excitement of returning to the other.

At home in West Tisbury, Doody

could be seen riding her bike around Panhandle Lane, walking through the cemetery and fields, singing in the pews of the First Congregational Church, picking flowers for bouquets or berries for jams and jellies. She was also a lover of books and classical music. She was predeceased by mother, father and brothers. She is survived by many loved ones: her husband Bob, his children Linda, Cindy, Robert, and granddaughter Julia Doane; her brother Dirk’s children Traudy Bradley, Terre Young, Teddy Colanino, Tim, Tony, and Toby Duys, and their children Gerritt and Jessica Bradley, Troy DePriest, Adrienne Duys-Mendoca, Mac and Emma Young, Laurie Colanino, and Andrea, Danny, and Sarah Duys. Many still have her homemade jellies and relish on their shelves and wear her perfectly knit sweaters. She was the sweetest and most kind person who always saw the bright side of life. She will be missed by all, who will live out her example of a peaceful, gracious life.