WATERVILLE – Albert K. (Bart) Leighton, 71, a resident of Waterville, died March 4, 2005, in New York City after a brief illness. Mr. Leighton was born in 1934, in Waterville, the son of Lemuel D. and Mary C. Leighton, where he attended Waterville schools and graduated from Waterville High School in 1951. He also attended the University of Maine and the Embry Riddle School of Aviation in Florida where he earned his airframe and powerplant mechanic’s license. He was a two year Army veteran, serving in Germany. Mr. Leighton graduated from the McAllister School of Embalming in New York City in 1957. He joined Redington Funeral Home in Waterville in 1962, retiring as President in 1995 after 33 years of service. He was a member of the Waterville Rotary Club for many years and also served as a member of the Waterville Airport Board. He recently earned his class B driver’s license and drove buses for school systems in the Greenville area. Mr. Leighton had a lifelong passion for aviation. He earned numerous ratings and was an accomplished seaplane pilot. He had a bit part in the Mel Gibson movie “The Man Without a Face” flying his own seaplane. Through aviation he developed many lifelong friendships in both the Central Maine and Moosehead Lake regions. Mr. Leighton is survived by his wife of 47 years, the former Jane Knowlton, of Waterville; a daughter, Martha Jane, of New York City; four sons, Michael Lemuel and his wife, Karen Dostaler, of Saco, Andrew Kearney of Dudley, Mass., Mark David of Washington, D.C., and John Dyer of New York City; a sister, Elizabeth Davis and her husband, Robert, of Holden, Mass.; and several nieces and nephews. Visiting hours will be held 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Monday, March 7, 2005, at Redington Funeral Home, 5 Park St., Waterville. Funeral services will be held 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, 2005, at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Union Church, P.O. Box 368, Greenville, ME 04441 or to the Evening Sandwich Program, care of The Universalist-Unitarian Church, 69 Silver St., Waterville, ME 04901.
ALBERT K. LEIGHTON
