David “Rusty” Tilton of Warwick, NY, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on February 21, 2025, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital after a courageous four-month battle with leukemia. He was 53 years old. Rusty left this Earth on what would have been his father’s 88th birthday. Our only consolation is that we felt Dave’s presence when Rusty transitioned peacefully to Heaven and into his father’s loving arms.
Born in Franklin Lakes, NJ, May 28, 1971, he was the son of the late David Tilton and Gail (Turner) Tilton.
Rusty was a PE and co-owner of Hudson Valley Bridge Construction. He graduated from Roger Williams University and received a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Columbia University. Rusty excelled at anything he put his mind to: renovating an old barn on his property into a man cave, creating a driving range and installing a 250-foot zipline in the backyard, building a sunbathing dock for the turtles on their pond, logging thousands of miles on his bikes to prepare for his many mountain biking adventures from Vermont to Utah, and in his minimal free time, you’d find him detailing every inch of his car or one of his many mountain bikes to perfection.
Twenty years ago, Rusty envisioned, created and constructed not only the pool, but designed the surrounding pavers and retaining walls all on his own to make his backyard oasis. His pool area became the center of many family parties and became lovingly known as Camp Tilton. But it didn’t stop there, after a long day of swimming Rusty always insisted that we rally and make our way to the fire pit that he created with David and Sean to have smores and beers. These were the simple things that gave him such pleasure.
Rusty was the rock of his family and took care of everyone and everything. He was kind, generous, brilliant and humble, and a good friend to all. Of all his accomplishments, he was most proud of his sons David and Sean who brought him so much pride and joy. He was a hands-on dad in every way, teaching them everything from splitting firewood to making maple syrup. He instilled in them a love of nature and enjoyed biking and hiking with his family and dogs in Wawayanda State Park and traveling to beautiful locations for family vacations and adventures.
Rusty is survived by his wife of 22 years, Tricia (Rowe), sons David and Sean (Warwick), his mother Gail (Cape Cod, Mass.), his brother Scott and wife Lea (San Diego, Calif.), his sister Kimberly Ebeling and husband Chris (Wellesley, Mass.), his mother-in-law Anne Rowe and husband William Condon (Freehold, NY), his sister-in-law Colleen McDonald and husband Glenn (Summerville, SC), and many nieces and nephews.
Memorial visitation: Friday, March 21 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick, NY.
Celebration of life: Saturday, March 22 at 12 p.m. at the Warwick Conference Center in the Mulder Chapel, 62 Warwick Center Road.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, PO Box 22324, New York, NY 10087 (lls.org).
Funeral arrangements were made by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick, NY. To send an online condolence, visit lsvpmemorialhome.com.