KNOX — Thomas R. Filkins, a gentle and friendly man who was a tank mechanic during World War II and a postal carrier for most of his career, relished the role of public servant.

He and his wife, Gladys, gradually improved their lives over 64 years of marriage. He worked long hours to provide for his family and maintain the home they built in Knox, though Mr. Filkins always kept a warm humor with friends and family. He dressed as a pop star or as in a gorilla mask to trick his grandchildren for Halloween, his favorite holiday, and delivered double-take one-liners and jokes.

Thomas Richard Filkins died peacefully with his family by his side in the Community Hospice Inn at St. Peter’s Hospital on Feb. 13, 2015. He was 88.

Almost 70 years before his death, he arrived in LeHavre, France, with the 27th Tank Battalion, 20th Armored Division as an armored tank mechanic and truck driver. He trained beforehand in Waco, Texas, where, his daughter, Barbara Porter, said, he got a tattoo of an eagle on his upper arm with “U.S.” above its head and “Tom” by its talons.

Mr. Filkins was part of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, on April 29, though he was not there for long, moving on quickly to capture of the nearby city of Munich on April 30.

Driving a truck loaded with fuel to fill tanks at nighttime, Mr. Filkins worked, sometimes under fire, as enemy planes flew overhead, which the Allies referred to as “Bedcheck Charlie.”

“He went to jump to get out and his gun hung up in the door and he was dangling,” his daughter recounted one of her father’s more frightening experiences. “He managed to wiggle his way off.”

On his return to the United States, he trained in Camp Cook, in California, preparing for his role in the Pacific Theater, which ended before he left. He was discharged in July, 1946, his family said.

His war-time experiences were far from his bucolic upbringing in the Helderbergs.

Born on July 14, 1926, in East Berne, Mr. Filkins was the son of Edna (née Brannock) and Roy Filkins and the third eldest of five siblings.

His father was a carpenter who worked with his children in a local cider mill and harvesting ice from Warners Lake, his daughter said. He completed 10th grade, quitting before graduation to work at the Schenectady Army Service Forces Depot in Rotterdam as a forklift operator and truck driver, loading and unloading train cars filled during wartime.

He and Gladys Martin were married on May 15, 1948, at the Altamont Lutheran Church.

As a young man home from the war, Mr. Filkins rented various homes as he continued to work as a truck driver and forklift operator, at the Voorheesville Army Depot in Guilderland Center.

When the depot closed in the 1960s he went to work as a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service in Albany, from which he retired in 1981. His route was first in the city of Albany, then along Gipp Road in Guilderland.

“He would mention how enthused people were to see him,” said Mrs. Porter.

Mr. Filkins also worked at Picard’s Grove, washing pots and pans during the summers in order to buy land in Knox, where he and Mrs. Filkins built their home, a one-story ranch-style house on 10 acres they bought for $750. While renting in the hamlet of Knox, it took about seven years before they had paid it off, cleared the trees, and built the structure, mostly on their own.

The exposed beams in the attic showed how generous the couple was with their hammers and nails, leading to a common family joke that the house would never fall down, Mrs. Porter said.

Mr. Filkins lived the last 30 years of his life in Osteen, Florida, where he and Mrs. Filkins made their home among many good friends in a community of 275 lots for elderly people. They joined committees within the development and played an occasional game of golf, having spent their entire lives in the Hilltowns.

After the Filkinses retired, they took a long trip to see the western part of the country. Mrs. Filkins had sewn curtains to be drawn in their Plymouth station wagon as they slept in rest areas along the way.

“It was more just go and see as much as we can see, not like a real rush because, when you see something, you stop and take your time,” said Barbara Porter, their daughter. “That’s how Mom and Dad really were.”

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Mr. Filkins is survived by his children, Barbara Porter and her husband, Maynard, of Knox, and Thomas R. Filkins Jr. and his wife, Deborah (née DiCamillo), of Concord, North Carolina; his   grandchildren, Carmella Ann Skillings, Koren Lynn Hart, Erin Dale Losito, Michael John Filkins, Maynard John Porter III, and Rebecca Lynn Gentes; and his great-grandchildren, Alicia Rodriguez, Nicholas Rodriguez, Zachary Skillings, Sarah Hart, Jack Hart, Abigail Hart, Natalie Losito, Lucas Losito, Porter Losito, Zoey Filkins, Georgia Porter, Maynard Porter, and Ellie Gentes. He is also survived by his brother, Donald Filkins, and his wife, Beverly, of Guilderland.

His parents died before him, as did his wife, Gladys (née Martin) Filkins; his brothers, Warren Filkins and Myron Filkins; and his, sister Florence (née Filkins) Sarnowski, previously Glowacki.

His family thanks the Community Hospice Inn at St Peter’s Hospital and its staff for the “kind, compassionate loving care and guidance given to our family.”

A private burial for family and friends will be held at a later date in the Knox Cemetery.

Arrangements were made by the Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont, online at fredendallfuneralhome.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Community Hospice at 315 S. Manning Blvd., Albany, NY 12208.