Tovish once told The Boston Globe he knew what he wanted to do in life when he completed his first sculpture, the newspaper reported Sunday.

"The revelation that changed my life took place in WPA art school when I was about 16," he said in a 1968 interview. "As I finished my first piece of sculpture, I knew what I wanted to do."

Seventeen years later, he detailed to the newspaper how his life was haunted by dark images that tended to find their way into his sculptures.

"I've been happily married to the same woman for 38 years, our kids are wonderful, our new studios have plenty of space, we're doing all right financially," he said in 1985, "and yet -- and yet, I'm haunted by these dark images."

Tovish died of complications of a stroke at the Montebello on Academy retirement home Jan. 4.

The Globe said he is survived by a son, two daughters and a granddaughter.