Richard Travis Atkins III, 65, of Commonwealth Avenue, Newport, RI, died peacefully Sunday, September 23, 2012 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA surrounded by his loving family. Mr. Atkins was born on April 7, 1947 in Newport, RI. He was the son of the late Dr. Richard T. Atkins Jr. and the late Jane (McGlennon) Atkins. He was raised in Old Greenwich, CT where he spent many summers competitively swimming at Rocky Point Beach Club. He was a 1969 engineering graduate of the Citadel in Charleston, SC where he was also a collegiate swimmer. One of his proudest achievements was earning a Master’s of Science degree in technology management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988. Mr. Atkins had a 36-year career as an electrical engineer and project manager at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, RI. After his retirement from NUWC in 2005, Mr. Atkins worked at Purvis Systems in Middletown, RI. He authored several technical articles for Byte Magazine during the microcomputer revolution. Mr. Atkins had a life-long involvement in community service in Newport, including 20 years as a volunteer at St. Joseph’s of Cluny School, as a Red Cross water safety instructor, and many years as the assistant to the Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 1, Newport. He was also a longtime member of the Newport Ski Club, served on the Brenton Point Commission, and is a past President and Vice-President of the Castle Hill Association. He was well known throughout Newport for hosting an annual Halloween Haunted House at his home on Commonwealth Avenue. He was married to Mary Ellen (Woods) Atkins for 41 years and was the proud father and grandfather of two sons, R. Travis Atkins and his wife Tara (Curtis) of San Mateo, CA and Olen Atkins and his wife Ellen (Voll) and their two children, Finnian and Adeline of Oviedo, FL; two daughters, Meganne Atkins and her fiancT Scott Spitler of Washington, DC, Maryellen Atkins and Timothy Brown of Newport, RI. He also leaves behind two sisters, Susan Rogers of Scarborough, ME and Alice “”Nancy”” Holt of Sebago, ME and two brothers, William Atkins of Tampa, FL and Benjamin Atkins of Sandisfield, MA and numerous brothers and sisters-in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends who lovingly knew him as Uncle Travis. A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Thursday, September 27, 2012 at St. Mary’s Church, Spring Street, Newport at 10 a.m. Burial at St. Columba Cemetery in Middletown, RI. Visiting hours will be held on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 in the O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home, 465 Spring Street, Newport from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Travis’ name to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, P.O. Box 66, Newport, RI 02840. Tags: 1969
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