Donald L. Filkins

GUILDERLAND — Donald L. Filkins, a family man who served in the Navy and who helped build Interstate 88, died peacefully with his family by his side, at St. Peter’s Hospital on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016. He was 81.

“He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather,” said his wife, Beverly.

Born in East Berne, Mr. Filkins was the son of the late LeRoy and Edna (née Brannock) Filkins. His father, a carpenter who built houses, died when Mr. Filkins was a young man. His mother, a homemaker, did other families’ laundry and cleaning. They raised five children — four boys and a girl; Mr. Filkins was the youngest.

In 1954, when he was 18, he left Berne-Knox, earning his GED later, to join the United States Navy. “He was eager to join,” said his wife. He was on active duty for four years and also served in the reserves, she said.

“He was a radar man on the USS Adirondack, a flagship that led other ships. They went to the Caribbean and Rome, Italy,” Mrs. Filkins said. “When he met me, he was eager to get out.”

The couple met at a square dance at Pat’s Ranch. “We liked one another right away,” said Mrs. Filkins. “We started dancing that night.”

Together, the couple raised five children — a boy and five girls — five being a magic number for their family. Mrs. Filkins, like her husband, was the youngest of five children.

Their marriage lasted 57 years, ending only with his death. For most of that time, they lived on Warners Lake Road in Berne. Six years ago, they moved off the Hill to Mrs. Filkins’s hometown, Guilderland, so she could more easily take her husband to doctors’ appointments as he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr. Filkins was a member of Local 106 Operating Engineers. “He loved to run heavy equipment,” said his wife. When he was helping to build I-88, he operated a pan scraper, which she described as “a huge, huge earthmover with tires bigger than a car.”

Mrs. Filkins took their children to see their father at work. “We had picnics in our car to watch him,” Mrs. Filkins said.

Later in his life, Mr. Filkins worked for the University at Albany in the grounds department, doing maintenance and mowing lawns. He retired from that job after 15 years.

The center of his life, though, was his family. “He was a loving father. He was a homebody; he didn’t like to take trips” said his wife. “He liked his kids around all the time.” The couple has 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren with a ninth due soon, she said.

When their daughters were younger, Mrs. Filkins said, they frequently had their girlfriends over to the house. “He took them out to get night crawlers and did lots of things with them,” she recalled. “He was a teaser. They loved it. They said he was like a second father to them,” Mrs. Filkins said of her daughters’ friends. “He was a wonderful father.”

Mrs. Filkins describes herself and her husband as opposites. “I like to socialize, and he didn’t,” she said. “Opposites get along,” she went on, describing the strength of their marriage. “We never yelled or swore at one another or called each other names,” said Mrs. Filkins, concluding, “We never went to bed mad.”

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John L. Filkins is survived by his loving wife, Beverly; his five children, Don Filkins and his wife, Linda, Laurie Farrar and her husband, Kevin, Mary Swint and her husband, Mike, Paula Filkins-Bordis and her husband, Jim, and Julie Taber and her husband, Randy; 11 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

His brothers — Warren, Myron, and Thomas Filkins — died before him, as did his sister, Florence Glowacki-Sarnowski.

Calling hours were held on Monday, Feb. 1, at the Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont. Online condolences may be made at www.fredendallfuneralhome.com.

His family would like to thank St. Peter’s Hospital and staff for the kind, compassionate, loving care and guidance given.

Memorial contributions may be made to Community Caregivers, 2021 Western Ave., Suite 104, Albany, NY 12203, attention: Honorarium, or to the Town of Guilderland Senior Services, Post Office Box 339, Guilderland, NY 12084.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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