Silas Axtell, 86, of Vero Beach, passed away at Willowbrook Center on April 27, 2016.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Patricia Phillip Axtell; three children, Silas Blake Axtell,II, Richard Ashley Axtell, and Paige Axtell Crosby; and by six cherished grandchildren, Edward Halton Axtell, Silas Blake Axtell, III, Alexander James Axtell, Andrew Richard Axtell, Phillip George Crosby and Elizabeth Crosby Westfeldt.
Axtell was born Oct. 7, 1929, in New york City, the son of Silas Blake Axtell and Ellen Halton Axtell.
He grew up in Washingtonville, N.Y., and graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in the Class of 1952. In 2004 he was inducted into the Kenyon Hall of Fame for soccer and lacrosse.
He sold Caterpillar heavy equipment for Foley Machinery Company in New Jersey and later was a partner in New England Equipment Company in Burlington and White River Junction, Vt. During his lifetime he restored and renovated 13 old houses in New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire, and built a new house and barn to look old on Shelter Island in New York. He was an avid skier and tennis player and spent 25 years at Sea Oaks in Vero Beach.
He will be remembered for his many talents, his work ethic, his sense of humor, his Si-isms and his love of life and family.