2006
Richard B. Pilkinton, 91, a retired senior vice president at Riggs National Bank who oversaw the business development and
special services department, died Oct. 7 at the Washington Home Hospice. He had a heart attack a week earlier while playing
tennis.
Mr. Pilkinton worked at Riggs Bank from 1948 to 1980.
Mr. Pilkinton, a lifelong Washington resident, graduated from McKinley Technical High School in 1933. He received a bachelor's
degree from Michigan State University in 1937.
After college, he was a bank examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He worked there until 1941, when he
joined the Army Air Forces. After World War II, he was assistant to the president at the Soya Corp. of America from 1946 to 1948.
He served in the Air Force Reserve until 1958.
Mr. Pilkinton was active in Washington organizations. He served on the Salvation Army Advisory Board, was a board member of
the Episcopal Church Home and was a trustee of the John Dickson Home. He was assistant treasurer of the Supreme Court
Historical Society, and he was on the finance committee of his District condominium association.
He was a member of the Chevy Chase Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of D.C., the
American Legion and the Washington Historical Society.
He was a member of Christ Church in Georgetown for 50 years and served on the Vestry as a junior and senior warden.
In addition to tennis, Mr. Pilkinton enjoyed paddle tennis, ballroom dancing and vacationing in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., and at
Squam Lake, N.H.
His wife, Florence Merrill Pilkinton, whom he married in 1944, died in 1999.
Survivors include two children, Carolyn Grave of Guilford, Conn., and Richard B. Pilkinton Jr. of Takoma Park; a granddaughter;
and a great-grandson.