Lisbon – Charles Walter Fairbanks Jr., 82, of Pinewoods Road, died Tuesday, April 17, at St. Mary’s hospital in Lewiston.

He was born in Somerville, Mass., June 20, 1924, the son of Charles Walter Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Nolan-Fairbanks. He was a 1942 graduate of Somerville High School.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps, attaining the rank of sergeant.

On Jan. 5, 1952, he married Violet L. Stone at Grace Baptist Church, Somerville, Mass.

In 1952 after his marriage, the family moved to Pueblo, and then Denver, Colo., where he worked as an engineer for Mountain Bell Telephone Co. for 35 years, retiring in 1984. He returned to Lisbon in 1987, where he worked part time for the Town of Lisbon.

He enjoyed education, and attended many schools throughout his life, including Northeastern University, Denver University, Colorado University, and numerous company related schools.

He was the inventor of the “Beep Ball,” a ball designed to enable visually impaired people to play a form of baseball. He was inducted into the Baseball and Softball Hall of Fames.

He served as a teacher for AARP, as an adult literacy mentor. He volunteered as a youth tutor in reading and math. He was a member of the Telephone Pioneers of Denver, the American Legion, and a past member of AARP. He served on the board of directors for Bellco Credit Union in Denver, Colo.

Surviving along with his wife, of Lisbon; are daughters, Cheryl Ann Autry and husband, L. Dale Autry, and their children, Jason, Laura and Daniel, of Athens, Ga., and Debra Lee Fairbanks and husband, Michael L. Dunlap, their son Russell, of Haymarket, Va.; along with numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.