Southampton dentist Peter L. Eckerson, 79
Dr. Peter L. Eckerson died of cancer on Dec. 3, 2011, at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook. He was 79.
Newsday's obituary for Dr. Peter L. Eckerson
Credit: Handout
A memorial service will be held in Southampton on April 9 for Peter L. Eckerson, a dentist and a sailor who, despite losing the use of his legs, built a custom sailboat -- complete with a dental chair -- and practiced dentistry on Fisher's Island off the Connecticut coast and in the Caribbean.
Eckerson, 79, died of cancer on Dec. 3 at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook.
Born in New York City, he grew up in Beechhurst, Queens, played football at Xavier High School and graduated from Queens College, where he ran track and had a summer job as a lifeguard at Jones Beach.
He then went on to Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he earned his DDS degree and met his wife, Joy, who was a dental hygienist. They later divorced.
After graduating, he joined the U.S. Navy Dental Corps, serving on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
Eckerson, who had the nickname "Painless Pete," had spent summer vacations in Southampton while in college, and after getting out of the active Navy -- he had a reserve commission as a lieutenant commander -- he and his wife moved to Southampton, where he set up practice on North Main Street and later in his house on Wickapogue Road.
He developed multiple sclerosis was forced to use a wheelchair most of his adult life. Still, in 1979 he had a custom sailboat, Mistress, built in Taiwan and logged 50,000 miles at sea, going from Sag Harbor to the Caribbean a dozen times and practicing dentistry on his boat.
When at home, he sometimes surf fished in the Atlantic using a special chair mounted to the rear of his Jeep.
Eckerson was also a model ship builder, crafting replicas of 18th century schooners.
He is survived by his former wife, Joy Frankenfield of Orefield, Pa., and two nephews, Dayton Eckerson of Silver Spring, Md., and Lloyd Dyer of Los Altos, Calif.
The memorial service will take place 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary R.C. Church in Southampton Village, followed by a reception at Fellingham's Restaurant in the village.
A military service will be held April 10 at 11 a.m. at Calverton National Cemetery.
'Success is zero deaths on the roadway' Newsday reporters spent this year examining the risks on Long Island's roads, where traffic crashes over a decade killed more than 2,100 people and seriously injured more than 16,000. This documentary is a result of that newsroom-wide effort.
'Success is zero deaths on the roadway' Newsday reporters spent this year examining the risks on Long Island's roads, where traffic crashes over a decade killed more than 2,100 people and seriously injured more than 16,000. This documentary is a result of that newsroom-wide effort.
