Updated: Tuesday, August 3, 1999 - 3 p.m.

ED Note: The exact cause of death has not been announced. An autopsy was being performed to determine the cause and it will likely be weeks before a final cause is listed. For now, we know that he collapsed at the scene, likely of a medical problem, officials said.

Courtesy Kingston Freeman Newspaper

MOUNT MARION -- Kenneth F. Clinch, a retired IBM employee and a longtime member of the Mount Marion Fire Department, died Friday, July 30, 1999, after collapsing at the scene of an auto fire. He was 52.

An area resident since 1966, he previously lived in Lynn, Mass.

He was retired from IBM-Kingston and was the owner and operator of 21st Century Fire and Ambulance in Mount Marion. A past chief of the Mount Marion Fire Department, he held several line offices, including assistant chief, lieutenant and captain. He served as chairman of the board of commissioners of the Mount Marion Fire District and was a past president, treasurer and board member.

He was a member of the IBM Quarter Century Club. He was a member of the Plattekill Reformed Church and served as elder and deacon.

He was an umpire for the Mount Marion Athletic Association Little League.

He was born June 12, 1947, in Lynn, Mass.; a son of the late Hiram Clinch and Betty Colpitta Clinch.

Services will be 11:00 AM Wednesday at the Seamon-Wilsey Furneral Home, corner of John and Lafayette streets, Saugerties (NY).

Friends will be received at the funeral home Monday 7-9 PM and Tuesday 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM. The telephone number of the funeral home is (914) 246-5111.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Mount Marion Fire Co. or the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.