Obituary

Enrique "Ike" Kilayko, obituary

Mon, 12/15/2014 - 10:00pm

RACKLIFF ISLAND — Enrique "Ike" Kilayko, of St. George, Stuart, Fla. and formerly of Weston, Mass., died Dec. 13, 2014, at his home on Rackliff Island. He was 76.

Kilayko was a founder of Liquid Metronics Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based designer and manufacturer of electronic astatic diaphragm metering pumps used in industry and water treatment systems. He founded the company with two partners in 1972, after the three left the Precision Chemical Pump Corp. in Waltham, where he began his career as a design engineer in 1960, rising to chief engineer in 1963.

In 1961, Kilayko was awarded the first of 14 U.S. patents for his design of a chemical pump valve that worked across a wide range of liquid pressure. His subsequent patents awarded during the following 40 years prior to his retirement in 2001 were related to metering pumps, valves and components.

LMI was founded with nine employees. By 1989, when Kilayko's partners decided to retire and the company was sold to the Milton Roy Co. Inc. in Ivyland, Pa., the company had 200 employees. Kilayko remained vice president of engineering under the new ownership.

Born in the Philippines, Kilayko came to the U.S. in 1958 as a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where he took his degree, a Masters of Engineering, in 1960.

Kilayko was an avid enthusiast, in industry as well as in leisure. He was an active member of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, serving as Northeast regional vice president of the national organization in the late 1980s. He owned 11 different Mercedes-Benz automobiles over the years, not all at one time. "I'm not a collector," he insisted. He was a driver.

Kilayko participated in road rallies, races and events throughout the Northeast, including at race tracks such as Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., and the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. His favorite among the 11 Mercedes he owned was a 1988 560 SEC, the company's flagship automobile, which he owned for 18 years.

His enthusiasm carried over into powerboats. He owned several vessels over the years ranging in size from 10.5 feet to 39 feet in length. He was a founding member of the Rackliff Island Yacht Club in Spruce Head (St. George).

Kilayko also was a life member of the Instrument Society of America.

He is survived by his wife, Doris, of St. George; his son, Mark J. Kilayko of Barrington, Ill., his wife, Susie, and grandchildren, Caroline and Christopher; his daughter, Christina K. Haufler of Acton, Mass., her husband, Glenn, and grandchildren, Sam, Jamie and Ashley; and two sisters, Carmencita Maalat and Millie Kilayko, both of the Philippines.

A memorial mass will be held Friday, Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. at St. Bernards Roman Catholic Church, 1512 Broadway in Rockland. A reception will follow at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home's 104 Limerock reception center, also in Rockland.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Ko-Wal-Lin Hospice, 170 Pleasant St., Rockland, ME 04841.