Phyllis Hayward Chase died of natural causes on Jan. 28 at Windemere Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. She was 93 and was the widow of David E. Chase.

She was born Nov. 5, 1928, in Medford, the elder of two daughters of James Stickney Hayward and Hellen Perthel Hayward. She later moved with her family to Cambridge. At age 14, she was sent to care for her ill and widowed grandmother in Tilton, N.H. She became a straight-A student at the local high school. She worked part time at the Rexall Drug Store and delighted in serving at the soda fountain when the Tilton Academy boys came in. For financial reasons, she didn’t think she could go to college. The drugstore owner’s wife facilitated scholarships and student loans for Phyllis to attend Bates College in Lewiston, Me.

There she met her beloved husband David. They married the year he graduated and lived in an off-campus apartment, as female college students weren’t supposed to marry in 1950. While he worked at a Lewiston bank, Phyllis completed her education with a 4.0 grade point average.

Upon her graduation, they moved to New York city. Phyllis worked as a lithography studio technician while David worked on Wall Street. They enjoyed weekends exploring the city at theatre and opera rehearsals and taking picnic baskets to share at the ends of various train lines. Dave took courses with the U.S. Power Squadron and achieved junior navigator status.

The couple bought a Columbia sloop and named her Princess. They lived on their boat for several years and sailed the inland waterway to Palm Beach, where they worked at a hotel, he as a night auditor and she as a bartender. In the 1960s, they returned to Martha’s Vineyard and worked in Edgartown for the Convery family. Dave was a boatyard manager and sailing instructor at the Harborside Inn for 41 years and Phyllis was the housekeeping manager at Carol Apartments. They later shared their galley apartment with a succession of Siamese cats, most of whom were also named Princess — which was David’s affectionate nickname for Phyllis herself.

Phyllis was a faithful member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown, where she served as the director of the altar guild for many years. She was a consummate seamstress and cook who often invited Dave’s friends, sailing students and neighbors home for supper. Her recipes in church cookbooks were highly anticipated. She served her prized baked goods to neighbors and friends at home, at church and at the Edgartown Senior Center, where she also taught the classic Chinese version of mahjong.

After David’s death, she played mahjong with her neighbors and cribbage with her landlord, traveled to visit friends in Arizona and Florida, made a nostalgic day trip to Tilton and continued a quiet but active life. She baked at Morning Glory Farm’s kitchen before moving to Woodside Village. Her final years were spent at Windemere, where she played a mean game of solitaire and where the remarkable staff became her attentive and cherished family.

Phyllis was predeceased by her husband David and her sister Wenda Amaral of Mims, Fla. She is survived by several nieces and nephews.

At her request, a service will be held on All Saints Sunday, Nov. 6 after the 8 a.m. morning prayer, in the memorial garden at St. Andrew’s.

Donations can be made to St. Andrew’s Church, P.O. Box 1287, Edgartown, MA 02539 or Windemere, P.O. Box 1747, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

For online tributes and more information please visit chapmanfuneral.com