Richard Lincoln Newton Jr. Passed away Sunday at his residence with his family at his side "Rick", "Ricky", "RL" was born October 15th 1966. The son of Richard L Newton and Nancy (Clarke) Lewis he grew up in Newburyport, Massachusetts until the age of 13 years. He then moved to Malden Bridge with his mother and sisters Sarah and

Amanda and spent the rest of his life in various residences in the New Lebanon, Malden

Bridge, Canaan and East Chatham areas in Columbia county, New York.

Rick graduated from New Lebanon High school and attended HVCC for a short time. He then began his career in Construction obtaining his first job with Jay Moore; and then later for Bernie Meyer. Eventually Rick teamed up with lifelong friend Al Gilligan to form Alrich Construction. This endeavor lasted a few years and then Rick began working with another close friend Chris Calyer, for Calyer Construction. Rick then spent his time working with both Chris and Al. He was often referred to as " Macguyver" because he understood how things worked and could rig or fix anything.

Rick met his wife Irene at one of his best friend's wedding in 1989. They reunited four years later and were married in the North Chatham Methodist Church on July 20th, 1996. Rick and Irene stayed in the Columbia County region renting a few places before ultimately buying land in East Chatham. The land had a stream across it and true to form- Rick built the bridge and then their home in East Chatham where Rick lived until he died.

Besides work and family Rick was an active member in the East Chatham Fire Company where he held many titles including First Lieutenant. He was an active member there for 10 years. In 2016 Rick and firefighter friend Dave Shea decided to open a restaurant together. ECFC Station 2 was a product of their hard work.  Today ECFC is a successful restaurant located near Rick's home.

Two of Rick's other passions were his camp on Sacandaga Lake and White tail deer hunting. Rick was known as "the mayor " up at camp as he often helped his neighbors.  He enjoyed boating, water skiing, playing cards and just hanging out with his Sacandaga friends. Rick was also an avid hunter. He was the first person to kill a black bear legally in Columbia county and he did so with a bow and arrow. He had many hunting buddies- Lee, Dan, Al, Eric,

Tony, Kevin, Andy and Bulent to name a few. He was an avid outdoorsman.

In addition to his wife Irene of 22 years, Rick leaves behind his three beloved children-

Madison, Sydney and Graham, his mother Nancy, Irene's parents Irene and Vincent Calyer and Nick and Jodi Baumkirchner, his sisters Sarah  (Mark) Scolforo and Amanda (Wayne) Delmonte and their families, sister in law Meredith (Lou) Fagan and their family as well as many other aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, family and friends. Calling hours will be Thursday 4-7pm and a Funeral Service will be Friday at 10:00am from the Wenk Funeral Home Chatham, For those who wish, memorials may be made to the East Chatham Fire Company 14 Frisbee St. East Chatham, N.Y. 12060. For on-line condolences,visit wenkfuneralhome.com