WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Richard Joseph Kilburn, 56, of Graham, Wash., formerly of Williamstown, died Monday, Oct. 19, 2015.

Born in Somerville, N.J., on Sept. 6, 1959, a son of Catherine LaMagdeline Kilburn of Eatonville, Wash., and the late Joseph Kilburn, he graduated from Mount Greylock Regional High School in in 1976 and later went on to attend Bates Technical College, earning his license as a mechanic of heavy-duty equipment.

He served in the National Guard.

Mr. Kilburn was employed at several places during his life. Early in his adult life, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service doing trail maintenance while living in southeast Alaska. He later worked at the Sitka Pulp Mill as a crew-member on the log deck, Caterpillar Equipment, Weyerhaeuser, Kubota Tractors, LeMay Inc., and even drove an 18-wheeler for a few years hauling goods from Washington to points south and east.

A consummate mechanic, he was able to fix and get running anything he put his hands and mind to. This gift stayed with him, even as he moved away from mechanical work in later years. His ability to have a problem described and then to diagnose and suggest potential fixes to the problem was his special gift.

He enjoyed fishing, hunting, tinkering and fixing small objects and old clocks. He enjoyed history, especially the study of old trains and the mark they left on American culture. Old cars and antiques always piqued his interest. He was a consummate student and quasi collector of Saabs, which had become a passion of his in his later years, even becoming a member of a local Saab club in Washington State where he lived.   

Besides his mother, he leaves two brothers, Rex Kilburn of Kiana, Alaska, and Joseph Kilburn of Eatonville; his niece, Hanako Kilburn of Raymond, Miss., and nephews Jeremy Joseph Kilburn of Albuquerque, N.M., and Aaron Warren Kilburn of Los Alamos, N.M.

FUNERAL NOTICE — Funeral services for Mr. Kilburn will take place Monday, Oct. 26, at 11 a.m. at Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams. Burial will follow in the family plot in Scottsville Cemetery in Danby, Vt.