Kenneth Edward Dame, of Eliot, Maine, passed peacefully May 2. He was 85.

Mr. Dame founded Early American Homes with his business partner and brother-in-law, Robert Raeside, in 1973. Together, they built nearly 400 reproduction colonial Raeside/Dame houses in Seacoast Maine and New Hampshire.

He dealt in antiques and collected them for almost 50 years. He specialized in 19th century, early American tin toys and was a noted expert in the field. He was generous with fellow collectors, sharing his knowledge freely and with enthusiasm. Fairness and honesty were his hallmarks.

Mr. Dame began work at age 12. He graduated from Eliot High School in 1957. He did not take another degree. For 17 years, he honed his eye for detail and design at Maurice F. Blouin's, Inc., in South Berwick, Maine. This experience proved instrumental in his development.

He loved baseball and dogs, old cars, Moxie, Bellamy eagles, Maine, Mickey Mouse, history, elephants, Westerns, and the 1940s advertising jingles of his youth. He was relentlessly self-educated. He helped others. And above all, he valued family.

Mr. Dame is survived by his wife, Meredith (Raeside); his daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Ande Stevens, of Reno, Nevada; his son, Russell, and his wife, Evgeniya, of Eliot; and grandchildren, Katherine and John.

He is pre-deceased by a brother, Donald, and three sisters, Helen Sprague, Virginia Wetzel, and Vera Dame.

Mr. Dame was laid to rest on May 15 in a private ceremony. Memorial donations in remembrance of him may be made to a charity of choice.