Rick Martel, former Southampton Town councilman, dies at 66

Rick Martel, a former Southampton Town councilman, small business owner and fixture in Hampton Bays youth sports, died Thursday. He was 66.

Martel died on Thursday at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, his son Dan Martel said. A cause of death has not yet been determined, he added.

Born in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn to Marylyn and Wilfred Martel, Rick  moved to Hampton Bays at age 13 with his mother, siblings and grandmother, Dan Martel said. That year, he walked into Skidmore’s Sports & Styles and asked for a job. He spent his entire working life there and became a partner in the business in 1980, Dan Martel said.

Martel was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Southampton for 48 years and ran the youth leagues in baseball, basketball and hockey in Hampton Bays, his son said. Throughout his career, he also served on the board of the Hampton Bays Chamber of Commerce and was the president of the San Gennaro Feast of the Hamptons, according to a Southampton Town statement.

Dan Martel said his father’s upbringing in hard times shaped his life and commitment to service.

“When he was able to help any of the kids of the town, whether it be somebody who needs a baseball glove, or a little extra help, he was always happy to help out where he could,” Dan Martel said. “He never wanted anybody to have food scarcities. He donated to as many of the local food pantries as possible, and he always wanted the kids to have an easier way about it than he did.”

In 2019, Martel was elected to the Southampton Town Board as a Republican. He served from 2020 to 2023. He returned to the board in March 2025 after winning a special election to fill the term of a departing councilman but lost his bid for a full term later that year.

As councilman, Martel worked with organizations to help ensure access to food and medicine during the pandemic, advanced legislation to prohibit peddling and soliciting on local roadways and helped plan for the creation of a public park at the former Bel-Aire Cove Motel property in Hampton Bays, town officials said. Last year, he co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution pledging the town board to model civility and respect following politically motivated assassinations. ­­

“Every once in a while, in our positions, we need to let the public know that there is a calming effect with this board, that civility is something we all should be striving for,” Martel said at the time. “And it’s really necessary, not only in town government, but in all our lives.”

Martel is survived by his wife, Deborah; sons Dan Martel (Kaitlyn) and Rick Martel (Hannah); and a grandson, Daniel George.

A wake will be held on Wednesday, July 1, from 7-9 p.m. and Thursday, July 2, from 3-9 p.m. at American Legion Post #924 in Hampton Bays. A funeral Mass will be held celebrated on Friday, July 3, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Rosalie’s Church in Hampton Bays.