Faith (Haskell) Tompkins

MILLBROOK — Faith (Haskell) Tompkins, 99, died peacefully on March 8, 2016, in her chosen winter home of Man-O-War Cay, Abaco, Bahamas. At her side were her son, John Tompkins; her dear friend, Thérèse Balagna; her loving caregivers, Ivamae and Roy  Russell; and her faithful poodle, Susie. She was buried on the island next to her late husband, Jack.

Faith was born on July 31, 1916, in Sioux City, Iowa, and raised by her adoring parents, Winifred (Paine) and Albert McClellan Haskell in a farming  region around Huron, S.D. 

She had two brothers, George Paine Haskell  (born 1915) and Albert “Mac” McClellan Haskell (born 1924).

Faith completed two years of college before moving to New York City to work in an advertising agency. There she met Canadian-born John Carlton Rainsford “Jack” Tompkins, who was working for his father at the Herald Tribune. They  married in October 1939, honeymooned in Mexico and had their first child,   Douglas Rainsford Tompkins, in 1943 before Jack left to serve in World War II. A lifelong pilot, he flew daring glider missions for the Allied Forces.

Their second child, John Carlton Tompkins, was born in 1947. Later that year they moved to Millbrook and eventually bought a beautiful but run-down rural property known as Butternut Farm. Faith would live there for  the rest of her life.

Jack became an accomplished dealer of early American antiques. Faith worked as an interior decorator and antiques dealer, owning her own shop in town.  The couple often collaborated on projects. 

They enjoyed a vibrant social life, leading many community activities, and were members of the Millbrook Golf & Tennis Club and the Millbrook Hunt. As congregation members of St. Peter’s Lithgow Episcopal Church in Millbrook, they started an annual  antiques auction to raise funds for the church.

They enjoyed travel and flew in their own small plane to visit friends, family and new places all over North and Central America.

In 1977 the couple sailed their boat, “Magic,” to the Caribbean, landing at Man-O-War Cay. They fell under the spell of this charming island, built a  cottage and spent winters there. Faith became an active member of the community, volunteering in the elementary school. She established the Lorraine Lee Scholarship Fund to assist Man-O-War students to attend college.  

Jack died in March 2003 and was buried in the local cemetery.

Faith spent half the year in Millbrook and continued her annual late-fall migrations to Man-O-War until her final days. 

This remarkable woman, known  for her endless optimism, will be sorely missed by many.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Winifred Haskell; her older brother, George; her husband, Jack, and her son Douglas Rainsford Tompkins (who died on Dec. 8, 2015). 

She is survived by her brother, Mac Haskell; her son, John Tompkins and his son, Kito Sosnowitz; her daughter-in-law, Kristine (McDivitt) Tompkins; her granddaughters, Quincey Tompkins Imhoff and her husband, Daniel, and Summer Tompkins Walker and her husband, Brooks Walker III; and her great-grandchildren, Gardner Imhoff, Willa Faith Imhoff, Brooks Walker, Della Walker and Susie Kate Walker; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was loved and sustained by friends far and wide. Faith was eternally  grateful for and often referred to her longtime caregivers, Judy Mathers and Ivamae Russell, as her “best friends.”

A memorial service at St. Peter’s Lithgow Church in Millbrook has been planned for Saturday, April 30, at 10 a.m. Everyone is welcome.

 In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Faith Haskell Tompkins Fund of the Marin Community Foundation, Novato, Calif. Funds will be distributed to a variety of her favorite charities.