Ron was a man of many interests. As a teen in his native town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, he excelled at varsity football, basketball, and baseball, attending the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship. After serving in the Army, Ron completed his education at East Tennessee State University where he met his wife of 59 years, Anne Bowles Kilbourne. Together, they began careers as school guidance counselors. As a Master’s graduate of the College of William and Mary, he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He was a founding member and steering committee president of the Fairfax County Guidance Association. Ron cherished his vocation for the opportunity it gave him to help so many young people set a course for successful lives.
Ron had a lifelong interest in jazz music (including a stint in broadcasting), stock market speculation, and politics. He enjoyed reading books on a wide range of topics and encouraged others to educate themselves through reading. In his thirties, Ron was taking his family on a Sunday afternoon drive when, on impulse, he stopped to talk to a man he saw training thoroughbred horses in a pasture. That day began a second career in breeding and racing horses which lasted for the rest of his life. As owner and operator of KilBurn Stud, he bred and raced horses for over forty years, bringing scores of winners to the track in West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He was a board member of the West Virginia Horseman’s Benevolent Protective Association and was a founder and President of the Virginia Horseman’s Association. Ron had a meticulous interest in the science and craft of horse-breeding and treasured the many meaningful friendships it brought into his life.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Teddy Elisha and Pauline Rebecca Kilbourne and his brothers, Martin Van Buren and Gary Lee Kilbourne. He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 59 years, Anne Bowles Kilbourne, his only child, Michele Kilbourne Chambers and her husband Marc, his grandsons Ian Kilbourne Chambers and Seth Oman Chambers, his sister Teddy Lou Kilbourne Blann and her husband Larry, his sister-in-law Yvonne Swaim Kilbourne, and his nephew, Todd Lee Kilbourne.
A Celebration of Life will take place at Dumfries United Methodist Church at a future date. A graveside inurnment service will be conducted at the family cemetery in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, also at a date to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, charitable donations can be made to Dumfries United Methodist Church, 3890 Cameron Street Dumfries, Virginia 22026 or to VITAS Community Connection at www.vitascommunityconnection.org.
