FARMINGTON – Robert L. “Buddy” Rainey, 66, of Wilton, died of cancer Saturday evening, Nov. 17, at Franklin Memorial Hospital with his loving family by his side.

He was born on Nov. 1, 1941, in Livermore Falls, the son of George F. and B. Grace (Marcotte) Rainey. He received his education in Wilton schools and was a 1961 graduate of Wilton Academy.

On May 25, 1962, he married Sharon Foster at the Wilton Congregational Church.

For over 24 years, Buddy was employed in the shipping department of G. H. Bass. He and his wife worked as a dedicated team for 45 years at the Dutch Treat Ice Cream Shop in Wilton.

His dedication to positively influencing young people in the area was evident by the young men and women with whom he worked with at the Dutch Treat and through Boy Scouts. Many of these people looked at him as a father figure and mentor, some of them were able to provide rides for him to his radiation treatments and visited with him at the hospital.

Buddy was interested in his community and was a member of the Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He was also an Explorer Scout and earned the Order of the Arrow. His interests included bird-hunting, fly-fishing, spending time at the family camps in Eustis and Weld, camping out at Dummers Beach in Weld and playing cribbage with family and friends. He was proud of his woodworking accomplishments and built his own house and a cradle for each of his children for them to use with their young ones. He loved traveling and boating and was grateful that a friend bought and restored his Penn Yann swift boat that he subsequently borrowed and took for one more spin at Webb Lake this past summer.

He was a collector of hats and certainly, friends. He will be remembered as a person who was always good to people.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Sharon, of Wilton; one son, Daren Rainey and his wife, Tammy, of Limerick and their children, Jessica and Danielle; two daughters, Shelley Finley and her husband, Steve, of Melrose, Mass., and their children, Jack and Thomas and Alison Welch of Wilton and her children, Cordell and Aidan; his mother, Grace Rainey of Victorian Villa in Canton; and his sister, Sharon Jacques and her husband, Wil, of Wilton; and several nieces and nephews.