Priscilla Barstow (West) Summers of Williamsburg, Va., and Edgartown, passed away peacefully on Jan. 14, 2026, in Williamsburg. She was 100.
Born on Dec. 29, 1925, she was the daughter of the late Percy D. West and Mildred B. West of Edgartown, and the sister of the late Robert (“Bob”) D. West.
After graduating from the Edgartown schools, Mrs. Summers attended Boston University, and began her career with several Boston publishing companies. While working at a Boston advertising agency, she met her future husband, James I. Summers. Together they raised four children.
During the years the family lived in Nahant, and later Swampscott, Mrs. Summers devoted herself to raising her family while pursuing many lifelong interests. She was a knowledgeable gardener, an avid golfer, a talented painter, and an accomplished floral designer.
Later in life she returned to Martha’s Vineyard and lived in her childhood home on Atwood Circle in Edgartown, a house built by her grandfather and father in the 1920s. While modernizing the home, she also transformed the surrounding property with her artistic landscaping. Her house and gardens were frequently featured in charitable home and garden tours.
Another of her great passions was antiquing. She opened and operated an antiques shop in West Tisbury with her cousin-in-law, Claire West, and her daughter-in-law, Julie Summers, and later assisted with the management of All Things Oriental in Vineyard Haven.
Mrs. Summers loved to travel, and explored much of the world with family and close friends, visiting Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, and the Far East, including China and Thailand. Among her most memorable adventures was a close encounter with a charging water buffalo in Bali — an experience she escaped unharmed but enjoyed recounting for years afterward.
She loved the ocean and sailing, and found great pleasure in birdwatching, nature, and long walks along South Beach and Quansoo Beach. She was also known for warmly welcoming friends and family into her home and preparing memorable gourmet meals. Few things made her happier than looking out over the ocean with a plate of littlenecks and oysters, enjoying the sea air and the view she loved so much. She had a deep affection for dogs and, over the course of her life, had many beloved companions. Her home was always happily open to the dogs of friends and family as well.
Mrs. Summers was a parishioner of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown and Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. She was an active member of many organizations, including the Edgartown Golf Club, Edgartown Yacht Club, the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club, Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Eastern Spray Garden Club of the Massachusetts North Shore, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital Visiting Ladies Association, and the Essex Institute in Salem.
Above all, she will be remembered as a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend whose warmth, generosity, and zest for life enriched all who knew her.
She was predeceased by her daughter, Elizabeth (Beth) Summers. She is survived by her daughter, Susanne C. Summers of Newport News, Va.; her sons, James I. Summers Jr. and his husband, David Lampariello, of Truro, and Daniel E. Summers and his wife, Susan, of Newport News, Va.; her grandchildren, Elizabeth Summers of Covington, Ky., Caleb Summers and his wife, Colleen, of Eastside, Wash., and Christan Summers and her husband, Ivan Martinez, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and her great-grandchildren, Luna and Coco Martinez, and Seamus West Summers, Eolande Summers, Nimue Summers, and Odin Summers.
Interment will take place at New Westside Cemetery in Edgartown on May 15.