Longtime St. Thomas resident Charles E. Tilton, an architect who designed many houses on the island, died in his sleep Jan. 28 in Ridgefield, Conn., at the age of 94.
Tilton and his wife of 62 years, Dorothy, first came to the island in the late 1950's and built a house overlooking the ocean in Estate Frydenhoj.
They became fulltime residents of St. Thomas in 1970 when Tilton retired from the New York City architectural firm that bore his name.
In 1995 they moved to Connecticut, where Mrs. Tilton died the following year.
Among the St. Thomas houses that Tilton designed in the 1960's was the Skyline Drive home of novelist Herman Wouk, one of the best known private residences on the island.
Ardent convervationists, Tilton and his wife were active here in the Conservation Society and the Navy League. They also were adventurous travelers, journeying to the polar region of Antarctica, crossing the Sahara Desert and visiting the Galapagos Islands long before those locales became popular tourist destinations.
Born May 26, 1905 in New York City, Tilton was a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Columbia University School of Architecture.
He is survived by three sons, Charles E. Tilton Jr. of Sunnyvale, Calif., Curtis A. Tilton of Ridgefield, and Thomas V. Tilton of Coto de Casa, Calif.; eight grandchildren and one great grandson.
Burial will take place in the spring in the family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.
Contributions in Tilton's memory may be made to Meals on Wheels, 25 Gilbert Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
