Obituary of John C. Birkett

John C. Birkett, 71, passed away at his home on Thursday, November 12 2015. He was born August 18, 1944 to Charles Eldon and Kathryn Louise (Johnston) Birkett in Batesville, Indiana. He graduated from Wabash High School in Wabash, Indiana in 1962 after which he served in the U.S. Navy as a radar technician until he was honorably discharged in 1968. He graduated from Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana in 1971, shortly after which he started working at what is now Amphenol Aerospace as an Electrical Engineer, retiring in the spring of this year. In 1971 he also married Rena S. Dangerfield, with whom he had two children. The family moved to Bainbridge, New York in 1984. He was active in the community in Bainbrdge, where he served on the Bainbridge-Guilford School Board from 1991-2000. He will be remembered for his great love of the outdoors, animals, and particularly birds. He was also an avid amateur astronomer and photographer and loved tennis, hiking, camping in the Adirondacks and biking. Having always lived near railroad tracks, he had an interest in identifying and photographing trains. One of his favorite hobbies later in life was short-wave radios, which he used to communicate with other radio enthusiasts via telegraph key. He spent a number of years restoring the family home in Bainbridge, inspiring his son and son-in-law to take on similar projects in their adult lives. Mr. Birkett is survived by his son Nathaniel J. Tallman-Birkett, his daughter-in-law Brooke Tallman-Birkett and their children Colin, Molly, Andrew and Riley, his daughter Martha I. Birkett, his son-in-law Ronald Noxon II, his former wife Rena S. Dangerfield and his brother William Birkett. A small private memorial will be held at the family's home at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in his name to the National Audubon Society (www.audubon.org), of which he was a member for many years.