AUBURN – Peter J. Kolbe Sr., 59, of Sabattus, died early Monday morning, Oct. 13, after a one-day stay at hospice, with his family by his side, following a long illness at home.

He was born in Brockton, Mass., on Sept. 20, 1949, the son of Joseph and Margaret (Prehl) Kolbe. Peter attended Stoughton, Mass., schools and was a 1968 graduate of Stoughton High School.

He then joined the U.S. Navy, where he began his training in Middleton, Tenn. That prepared his service as a metal smith in the Operations Maintenance Division of the Brunswick Naval Air Station from 1969 to 1974 during the Vietnam Conflict.

His hobbies included fly fishing, which he loved, and tying his own flies. He also loved playing his guitar, and taught his sons to play.

He was a union member of Local 6 of Bath Iron Works and had been employed as a first class welder at the shipyard, until his illness in 2004.

Peter will always be known as a conversationalist who was never lost for words.

Survivors include his parents, Joseph Kolbe of Stoughton, and his mother, Margaret Small of Randolph, Mass.; his wife, the former Pauline Girardin, whom he married May 14, 1974, of Sabattus; four sons, Peter J. Kolbe Jr., Derrick W. Kolbe, Raymond J. Kolbe and Alex A. Kolbe, all of Sabattus; one brother, Joseph W. Kolbe and his wife, Heather, of Arlington, Mass.; two sisters, Linda M. Irwin and her husband, George, of Goose Creek, S.C., and Donna M. Manning and her husband, Raymond, of Adair, Iowa; three grandchildren, Peter J. Kolbe III, Jonathan Kolbe and Alexa A. Kolbe.

Also surviving are many nieces and nephews.