Richard T. Wilton II of Edgartown and formerly of Wellesley died on August 19. He was 66.

He loved and deeply cared about many things, including our planet, the creatures that visited his deck, gathering knowledge of just about everything, humor and, most of all, his family and friends. All things really, really mattered to Richard and during the brief time he had on this planet he really, really wanted to talk about everything, often with an urgency and need to share what he knew, what he thought and how much all matters, no matter how great or small, really, really, do and should matter.

He was born in Wellesley on August 11, 1957 to Miriam Mae Kuusisto Wilton and Richard Rhodes Wilton. It was August of 1957 and his mother soon called him her Little Sputnik. Similar to the famous satellite, 1957 launched Richard’s lifetime fascination with the cosmos, a need to gather knowledge with purpose and to communicate what he knew before his time ran out.

He loved and cared about so many things; it’s impossible to list them all. He loved playing sports, starting with Little League, leading to softball later on and he also managed several teams — usually at the same time. He was a pretty good basketball player, too. He loved, loved, loved his hometown teams — the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics — his movies and television shows. And he loved, loved, loved talking to people about all of it.

Richard also loved reading, whether newspapers, histories, guidebooks, fantasy, science fiction or NFL draft reports. It didn’t matter what the content was; he just accumulated and retained data and information at stellar proportions. But his purpose in all of this amassing of knowledge was to share it with his biggest love, the people in his life.

His experiences in life included the more traditional to the less than what his family would have wished for him, but he always orbited through them, gathering information and relating, sharing it. He was his family’s life traveler in many ways, encountering things they would not want to themselves, enjoying or struggling through it all and remaining their brother and friend. His family and friends are very grateful Richard included them in his orbit.

He lived what turned out to be his final 28 years on Martha’s Vineyard with his mother Miriam. His family hopes Richard knew how very much Miriam loved him; they shared a bond of love that started with her Little Sputnik, never faded and never burned out. She loved and deeply cared about him unequivocally. His family is forever grateful that he cared for their mother during her final years. Richard’s life’s orbit involved love, caring about things and, yes, struggles. He was there for his mother and he experienced and did many of the tasks his family wasn’t prepared to do.

Among those saddened by his death and already missing his phone calls are his sister and brother in law Marilyn C. and Thomas C. Hopkins of Vineyard Haven; his sister and brother in law Melissa M. Wilton and Martin L. Leonard of Holliston, nephew, niece in law and grandnieces Leif D., Lea Cardona, Ligaia and Lanna Sage Hopkins of Bangkok, Thailand and Vineyard Haven; and his cousin Stephen Kuusisto of Syracuse, N.Y.

The Edgartown Free Public Library was very important to Richard and his family asks that memorial contributions be made there in his honor. Questions can be directed to the library at 508-627-4221.

A visitation with remembrances will be held on Saturday Sep. 9 from 10 to 11 a.m. at Chapman Funerals and Cremations in Oak Bluffs, with interment to follow at New Westside Cemetery in Edgartown.

Visit chapmanfuneral.com for more information and online condolences.