Frederic D. Mascolo, better known to all on the Vineyard as Trader Fred, died on August 30 at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

He was 65 years old and had been battling a terminal illness for many years.

A lawyer by education and a salesman by personality, Mr. Mascolo opened his first store, Trader Fred’s, on Upper Main street in Edgartown in 1982, and eventually ran nine stores in the New England area.

In a May 2023 interview, Mr. Mascolo explained his shift from the legal world to a purveyor in discount goods this way: “As a lawyer you deal with everybody’s problems for the rest of your life and I didn’t want to do that,” he said.

Instead, he helped Islanders find deals on everything from tube socks to fishing gear, beach umbrellas and waders.

“The whole store is based on an old-fashioned concept, a trading post,” he said in the May 2023 interview. “We sell everything.”

For a time he was also the Island’s premier cigar seller. His high-profile customers included President Bill Clinton during his Vineyard vacations.

Mr. Mascolo also worked in real estate, purchasing Jane Brown Associates real estate agency, and served on the Edgartown planning board. On occasion he acted in the television series The Defenders and The Switch, with his friend Jim Belushi.

This summer, while residing in the Henrietta Brewer House, he hosted a steady stream of well wishers.

“Everyone, in every aspect of my life, has come back to help,” he said. “You couldn’t put a price on that.”

A celebration of Mr. Mascolo’s life will take place at a future date.