Wilbur M. Twombly

STERLING---Wilbur M. Twombly, 89 years old, of Sterling, MA died Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at the Rose Monahan Hospice Home in Worcester. He is survived by his son Michael D. Twombly and his wife Roxane of Andover. MA; 3 daughters Susan E. Twombly of Nashua, NH, Deborah J. Twombly and Patricia A. Cooper both of Salem, MA; 9 grandchildren Jason Twombly, Tyler Twombly, the late Tara McKenzie, Shane McKenzie, Chad McKenzie, Dana Storer, Jesse Cooper, Caitlin Cooper Villatoro and Evan Cooper; and 8 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife of 54 years Edna M. (Wallen) Twombly in 2016 and his brother Ralph Twombly in 1971.

Wilbur was born in North Conway, NH on August 2, 1929, son of Ralph and Harriet (Seavey) Twombly and had lived in Sterling, MA area since 1975. He graduated from Kennett High School in Conway, NH. Wilbur was a U.S. Navy Korean War Veteran, having served on the USS Rochester CA 124, known as “The Gray Ghost”. He went to work in 1948 as a locomotive fireman on the Portland Division of the B&M Railroad in North Conway, NH, later becoming a locomotive engineer, running trains for many years before finishing his 40-year career with B&M as the Trainmaster at Fitchburg, MA. Wilbur went on to work another 2 years as an commuter rail engineer for Amtrak in the CS-1 Zone, where he was a member of BLET LD-57, finally retiring at age 60 after 42 years total service. Wilbur loved North Conway, NH and the White Mountains where he was born and returned often to camp and fish for Brook Trout. His love for the mountains stems in part from the 8 years he lived on Mt Willard in the Mt Willard dwelling of the Maine Central Railroad in Crawford Notch from 1940 until 1948 with his mother Harriet and his step father O. Douglas. Macomber who was the Mt Willard section foreman.

Wilbur was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and attended the Kingdom Hall in Leominster, MA where he served faithfully as an elder for many years.

A memorial service will be held at the Leominster, MA Central Kingdom Hall located on 1275 Central Street, Leominster on December 22, 2018 at 2:00 pm. Burial in Hillside Cemetery, Sterling, MA will be private.

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