NEWBURYPORT — Beyond his terms as mayor and city councilor, Alan Lavender was involved in an array of local causes, from manning the table at the library’s used book sales to selling hot dogs at high school football games.

He served with his wife, Betty, on the board of the Friends of the Newburyport Public Library and wrote brain-teaser puzzles for the library’s monthly newsletter.

Erford Fowler, Lavender’s friend and neighbor for more than 30 years, said he never saw Lavender get mad.

“He was one of the kindest, nicest people anyone would ever want to meet,’’ Fowler said Tuesday, just hours after Lavender was killed in a plane crash. “You can’t say enough about him.’’

Fowler said Lavender made a name for himself as city councilor, in part, by advocating for residents at a housing complex flooded by a water main break. He helped speed up repairs, Fowler said, and attended to their concerns.

As a neighbor, he never passed by without a friendly hello, Fowler said, even if he was in a rush.

About two years ago, Fowler saw Lavender beginning to assemble the pieces of an aircraft in his yard. It would take him a year to complete, eventually outgrowing the confines of his quarter-acre yard.

Lavender had loads of technical know-how and ability, Fowler said, and was captivated by the joy of aviation.

“He was thrilled’’ about getting his plane aloft, he said.

Lavender spent his early years in Thomaston, Maine, according to a 2002 Globe story. When he was in seventh grade, he moved with his family to Barrington, R.I., where his father accepted a teaching job. After graduating Barrington High School in 1961, he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 1965 and a master’s degree from Boston University in 1972. Starting in 1965, Lavender worked as an engineer for a number of manufacturing companies. He had lived in Newburyport since 1973.

Police Lieutenant Matthew Simons said he always enjoyed bumping into Lavender and his family while they were strolling downtown in the summer. Lavender always cheerfully reminded him that he had appointed him to the police department as a rookie officer in 2002, upgrading him from reservist, Simons recalled.

Simons said Lavender loved sailing and was often on the water. And he had recently rekindled a youthful love for aviation, one that he had set aside while working as an engineer, raising a family, and holding elected office.

“His wife told me that he was into aviation very early on life and then kind of fell out of it for a period of time,’’ Simons said. “As time went on, he kind of found his love for aviation again and wound up building a plane and flying it.’’

Eric Moskowitz can be reached at eric.moskowitz@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeMoskowitz.