Willard R. "Kem" Kempton, Jr

Willard R. "Kem" Kempton, Jr.
BRISTOL - Willard R. "Kem" Kempton, 70, of 47 Crown St., died at his home Monday, Jan. 8, 2007. He was the husband of Dolores (Sklenka) Kempton. Kem was born Nov. 3, 1936, in Bristol, the son of the late Willard R. "Red" Sr. and Teresa (Bossi) Kempton. He resided his entire life in Bristol and attended E.C. Goodwin Tech as a teenager, where he learned his carpentry craft. He then served in the Army from 1957 to 1959. He worked at several construction companies before beginning his lifelong career in 1967 as the construction superintendent at C.S. Margison Construction of Farmington, from which he had several unsuccessful retirement attempts. He most recently was especially proud of his supervisory role for construction of St. Mary Church in Unionville. He was a member of Pequabeck Golf Club and also worked there as a bartender. Recently he and his wife took several long-awaited trips with his best friend, Maury Ouellette, and Maury's wife, Karen. They went to Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Las Vegas and Niagara Falls and took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. Since the birth of his grandson, Kem had looked forward to taking him on his first trip to Disney World. They were able to take that trip two years ago, and it was always a special memory. Kem was a master carpenter who could build or fix anything, and did so willingly for his friends and family. He used to say, "Rome wasn't built in a day, but I wasn't running that job." He was a diligent vegetable gardener who treated his family every summer to home-grown fried squash flowers. We will miss sharing them with him. Besides his wife of 47 years, he is survived by two daughters, Debra and her partner, Colleen, and Donna Kempton; a son, Gregory Kempton; a grandson, Brett Gagnon (the light of his grandpa's life); Brett's father, Pete Gagnon; a brother, Louis Kempton and his wife, Carol; several cousins, nieces and nephews; many friends from Pequabuck golf club; and grandpuppies Ellie, Gabby and Milo. The family would like to express special thanks to Perry and Donna, who provided care and comfort to him during his final weeks. The funeral will be held Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary Church in Unionville. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, Bristol. Friends may call at Dunn Funeral Home, 191 West St., Bristol, today from 4 to 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice, c/o Bristol Hospital Home Care, 7 N. Washington St., Plainville, CT 06062.