Kenneth Black, 83; helped preserve legacy of lighthouses

Through three decades devoted to collecting and restoring lighthouse artifacts, Kenneth Black helped to ensure that the lore of the beacons did not fade as they were automated, sold to private investors, or demolished.

"The lighthouse is the symbol of security, and they are things of great beauty and romance," Mr. Black told the Globe in 1994.

Mr. Black, a leader in the effort to save lighthouses and the founder of one of the first lighthouse exhibits in New England, died Sunday in Penobscot Bay Medical Center Hospital in Rockport, Maine. Known as Mr. Lighthouse, he was 83. His health had been failing over the past several years, according to longtime friend Tim Harrison.

Mr. Black began collecting his artifacts within a foghorn blast of the famed Boston Light. As the Coast Guard commander of Boston Harbor's Point Allerton site in the 1960s, he was stationed in Hull.

After becoming commander in Rockland, Maine, he set up an exhibit at the station, but his collection outgrew the building. Eventually, the Maine Lighthouse Museum was established in 2005 on the waterfront in Rockland, Maine, to house the artifacts, which include the largest collection of lighthouse lenses in the nation.

He rescued hundreds of pieces, from massive foghorns to mundane charts to vestiges of the days of Joshua James, the nation's most celebrated lifesaver. James was credited with saving hundreds of lives off the coast of Hull in the 19th century.

Many of Mr. Black's bells, horns, lifesaving boats, and other memorabilia had been slated for the junkyard.

In June, an exhibition hall in the Rockland museum was named for Mr. Black, who lived in Union, Maine. As part of that recognition, he was hailed on the floor of the US Senate.

"Exemplifying the best of Maine's can-do spirit, Ken meticulously went to great lengths, literally piece by piece, to seek out, collect, and store these maritime marvels," according to the citation by Senator Olympia J . Snowe, Republican of Maine.

Mr. Black also received a letter of congratulation from President Bush.

Mr. Black "felt it was vital to save lighthouse artifacts to help future generations learn why lighthouses and the people who kept them played such an important role in the development of our nation into being a world leader," said Harrison, who is president of the American Lighthouse Foundation. "He was definitely our leader, our hero."

Mr. Black knew more than anyone about the mechanics of vintage lighthouse equipment, said Harrison. He used to give a slide show called "Lighthouses are Like People: They Come in All Sizes, Shapes, and Colors," he said.

Harrison's foundation -- which oversees the Museum of Lighthouse History in Wells, Maine -- said last month the two museums would combine and create at the Rockland waterfront the largest lighthouse museum in the nation.

Mr. Black was the first person, Harrison said, to have a national newsletter about lighthouses, which ended with Mr. Black's personal comments and his signature statement, "Be neighborly."

A native of Ridgefield Park, N.J., Mr. Black joined the Coast Guard in 1941, choosing that service over the Navy after a cousin convinced him that "the Navy never gave you enough ketchup," Mr. Black told the Globe in 1973.

He served in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

While commander of Quoddy Head Station in Lubec, Maine, in the late 1950s, Mr. Black started a Coast Guard tradition by decorating the West Quoddy Light in holiday lights. After the first set of holiday lights was put up, Mr. Black received a phone call from an admiral in the Coast Guard.

"The admiral said, 'I understand you put Christmas lights on our lighthouse,' and Ken said, 'Yes, do you have a problem with that?' " Harrison recounted. " 'No, I guess not,' the admiral said and hung up."

Mr. Black was commander of the Point Allerton Station from 1965 to 1968. During his tenure, the station had the most rescues on the East Coast, as missions set local records in 1965, 1966, and 1967. He was credited with expanding a boating safety drive that cut the loss of lives. He also increased the station's fleet and helped clear the way for the construction of a new station in Hull.

In his first tribute to lighthouses, he created an exhibit at the base of the Boston Light, the nation's first, on Little Brewster Island. "Still there today," Harrison said.

Mr. Black retired from the Coast Guard in 1973. After a 32-year career and numerous awards, he still wasn't a genuine old salt. When asked after retiring whether he planned to buy a boat to remain close to the ocean, he quickly replied: "Not me. I was never that crazy about the water."

Mr. Black leaves his wife, Dorothy ; two stepsons, Joseph of Union and James of Rotonda, Fla.; and three grandsons.

A military funeral with Coast Guard honor guards will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Maine Lighthouse Museum. Burial will be private.

Globe correspondent Khristopher Flack contributed to this obituary.