Bernard Kilbreth

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has received word of the death of retiree Bernard E. Kilbreth Jr. on May 29, in Augusta, Maine, after a long illness.  He was 80.
 
Bernard was born on September 26, 1928, in Lewiston, Maine, and was the son of Bernard Everett Kilbreth Sr. and Gertrude Eva Morgan. He went to Livermore Falls grammar school and Scarborough High School. He was a graduate of Sheepshead Bay Maritime Training Center and served in the Merchant Marines through World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Bernard began his career at WHOI in 1973 aboard the Knorr as an oiler.  In the course of his career, he worked on the Atlantis II, Oceanus, and Lulu until he retired as chief engineer in 1985.

Bernard was a member of the Waterville American Legion Post 78. Playing music was his passion, he performed with the bands “Crimson,” “The Old Timers” and “Silver and Gold.”

He is survived by five children: a son, Kim D. Kilbreth and his wife, Gladys, of Wareham, MA; Bernard Everett Kilbreth III and his wife, Bonnie, of Stuart, FL; Michael A. Kilbreth and his wife, Karin, of Augusta, ME; John F. Kilbreth and his wife, Carol of Washington, DC; and Cheryl A. Hawkins and her husband, Carl, of St. Petersburg, FL; 17 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren; and his former wife, Carol Kilbreth of St. Petersburg, FL. He was predeceased by a grandson, John Alan Kilbreth.