Firefighters put out transfer station fire

BY WILLIAM J. DOWD

A fire burned in the transfer station’s yard waste pile, but the Marblehead Fire Department controlled it quickly on Aug. 2.

The fire broke out around 9 p.m., Chief Jason Gilliland told the Marblehead Current. No one was hurt. Gilliland attributed

OBItuARIEs

Mary Katherine ‘Midge’ Dobbins, 81

Mary “Midge” Dobbins, a longtime resident of Marblehead, passed away on July 24 in Salem. Midge was born April 2, 1942, in the Panama Canal Zone to the late Harry and Irene (Hammerstrom) Dobbins. Her father was a civil engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, and his assignments took the family to many parts of the country. Midge and her family eventually moved to Mobridge, South Dakota, where she graduated from Mobridge High School. After high school she attended the St. Elizabeth’s School in Lincoln, Nebraska, graduating in 1963.

With her RN in hand,

Kim Kuei Lim Kwong

On May 30, Kim Kuei Lim Kwong of Marblehead passed away after a long illness, with her loving husband, Sun Hon “Sam” Kwong, by her side.

Born in Medan, Indonesia, on June 13, 1941, Kim was the daughter of Sim Long Lim and Lin Nio Oei. Prior to their deaths, Kim’s parents sacrificed and supported her desire to emigrate to the United States in 1963, escaping the turbulent political environment to

George Kenneth Osgood III, 54

George Kenneth Osgood III, age 54, formerly of Marblehead passed away peacefully on March 22, at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, surrounded by his loving family after a courageous second battle with cancer. Born in Williamsburg, Virginia, he was the son of George K. Osgood Jr. and Georgina T. Smith.

Ken was a graduate of Marblehead High School, class of 1987, and Northeastern University, class of 1992, where he majored in civil engineering and graduated cum laude. After graduation, he accepted a position with Peter Kiewit and Sons and had an the spark to “spontaneous combustion” from dry grass and summer heat.

“It was rolling when we got here,” Gilliland said. “But we got it under control.”

Gilliland said crews with front-end loaders were breaking up and putting water on the smoking brush pile’s hotspots.

“We are soaking it all down,” he said. “It was nothing like the size of last year’s.” returned to Marblehead and nursing permanently, working in the Boston Medical Center operating room. She retired from nursing in 2019.

The fire comes nearly a year after the town battled a blaze that erupted in transfer station brush piles. That fire was so intense it damaged windows of an abutting industrial complex. Gilliland believes that fire was set.

Midge moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to work in the emergency room at Grace New Haven Hospital. From there, she moved to Brookline, as an operating room nurse at the then Peter Brent Brigham Hospital, moving to Marblehead in 1972.

Midge worked for several years as a manufacturer’s representative for several medical device companies, moving to Westport, Connecticut, for two years. She pursue education and freedom secured by the blessings of liberty in America. Through outreach services of the Methodist Church, Kim received sponsorship and support from Rev. Charles Thompson and family in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

She worked her way through college and earned a bachelor of science in biology from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia, where she established lifelong friendships.

Following graduation, her close friends Tina (Bias) Blood

Midge loved Marblehead and after many years of moving with her family and during her early nursing career, she considered Marblehead her home. However, the wanderlust instilled in her as a child while moving with her family never left her, and she continued to travel throughout Europe, the Caribbean and the United States. She was an enthusiastic sailor and would go from Brookline to Marblehead to sail on the orange Town Class “The OJ” and then the yellow 210 “The Top Banana,” both of which she co-owned with several of her friends. When she moved to Marblehead, she began sailing in the Wednesday night series and the Saturday Races on friends’ boats.

Midge will be remembered by and Allen Blood introduced Kim to New England, and she fell in love with Massachusetts. Deciding to reside on the North Shore, Kim began her professional career as a medical technologist in the labs at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester and New England Baptist Hospital in Boston.

Kim was an avid gardener, lover of Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream and Sam’s authentic Chinese cooking. Kim was an active member of St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir. She also achieved her high aspiration her many friends from work and Marblehead for the many years they worked with her, sailed with her, skied with her, the trips they took with her, dinners at Sophie’s Café, meeting her as she walked around town with her dogs and as she sat on the State Street Wharf with her dogs, greeting old friends and making new ones. She was a generous and caring person who will be missed by many.

In addition to her parents, Midge was predeceased by her brother, Michael, and her sisters, Betty Saltzman and Barbara Erpelding. She is survived by her nephews, Nicholas Erpelding and his wife, Dana, and children, Maya and Alex, of Colorado; and Matthew Erpelding and his daughter, Louise, of Idaho; her nieces, Katherine Erpelding, her husband, Eddie Svetich, and daughter, Shylah, of Colorado; and Daria Dobbins Saltzman of Washington; and her brothersin-law, Larry Saltzman and Alan of becoming a United States citizen, witnessed by her dear friends Tina and Al.

In 1981, she met Sam at a restaurant and fell in love, beginning a marriage of more than four decades. Together, they shared happiness in retirement, traveling to many countries in the world. In all her endeavors, Kim was a purveyor of joy and smiles, and she genuinely loved others. She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Sam; her good friend Rebecca Tantama, and many surrogate family members that affectionately refer to her as learn how to accommodate their disabilities. He trained and hiked with fellow amputees, including a summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Fire Chief Jason Gilliland said crews with front-end loaders were breaking up and putting water on the smoking brush pile’s hotspots.

GILLILAND

Erpelding of Colorado. She is also survived by her godchildren, Keene Allen of Massachusetts, Taylor Allen and her son, Maurice; Abigail Allen, Woody Allen and his son, Peter, of Connecticut; Morgan Allen, Talbot Allen and his son, James, of Florida.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, Aug. 25 at 11 a.m. in the Arland Dirlam Chapel at the Waterside Cemetery in Marblehead followed by a procession to her grave site. At the family’s request, there are no visiting hours; however, a reception will follow the services at the Masonic Hall, 62 Pleasant St. in Marblehead.

In lieu of flowers, due to the great joy Midge’s many dogs gave to her over the years, contributions may be made in Midge’s memory to the animal rescue organization of your choice.

For further information, visit MurphyFuneralHome.com or call 978-744-0497.

“Auntie Kim” — sons, daughters and grandkids of close friends that consider her and Sam family.

A graveside service will be held at Waterside Cemetery, 294 West Shore Drive, Marblehead, on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Kim Kuei Lim Kwong’s name to West Virginia Wesleyan College, 59 College Ave., Buckhannon, WV 26201; and St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, 67 Cornell Road, Marblehead, MA 01945. For online guestbook, visit ccbfuneral.com.

and friends, and many family vacation trips.

illustrious career for the next 30 years. Some of his notable projects included work on the Queensboro Bridge in New York, Third Harbor Tunnel in Boston, the New L in Chicago and finally for Kiewit Offshore Services, Ltd. in Ingleside, Texas. There he rose to the position of area manager responsible for on-shore modules and renewable energy markets, client relations and project execution. He enjoyed his career immensely, relishing the challenges, responsibilities, world travel and management.

While his initial cancer in 1992 left him an amputee, he believed in living life to the fullest and was active in several clubs and associations. He was a motivational speaker and very active in the San Antonio Amputee Foundation. He loved to ski and helped other amputees

In his youth, Ken enjoyed motorcycles and continued riding throughout his life. He obtained his pilot’s license and belonged to Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) with dreams of owning his own plane and home with a hangar. He had a passion for speed and belonged to the San Antonio Ferrari Club where he drove his own car and participated on Ferrari Day for many years at the Circuit of Americas Track. He also loved volunteering on Ferrari Kid Days for children with disabilities.

He leaves his wife of 26 years, Barbara Schnitger Osgood, a fellow engineer and mother of their two children Marlena and Colleen, all of whom he loved and adored. Ken especially enjoyed family weekends, visiting their San Antonio apartment, his Texas family or inquiries should be sent to notices@marbleheadnews.org. Submissions should include the name of the funeral home serving the deceased’s family, along with a daytime phone number for a person to contact, in case we have any questions about the obituary. Photos, preferably in JPEG format, are welcome. Photos should be of high enough quality to reproduce well in print. Generally, an image file created by a digital camera or smartphone will be fine; images copied from websites will not.

In addition to his parents, he also leaves his sister Vanessa Kersker (husband Michael, son Michael), two brothers, Nicholas (wife Caralee, children Ava, Anna and David), Patrick (wife Jodi, sons Patrick Jr. and Harrison), stepsisters Michelle Franciose (husband Paul Schimmel, sons John and Alex), Stephanie Hadden (husband Bruce, daughters Jacqueline and Caroline), stepbrother Mark Smith (wife Tammy, children Kaitlyn and Marcus) stepmother Marie Osgood, stepfather James Smith, sister-in-law Monica Schnitger (husband Shawn Burke) and many friends and associates.

Ken inspired us all with his positivity, optimism, perseverance and determination. He will be dearly missed. Celebrations of life were held in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Marblehead. The Marblehead Current publishes obituaries online for free and in its print edition for a flat fee of $200.