Richard Underwood

1929 - 2025

Underwood, Richard T.

Richard Tillman Underwood age 95 of Hamilton passed away Monday, April 14, 2025. Richard was born July 18, 1929 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Tillman and Mabel (Everman) Underwood. Richard was united in marriage to Peggy King on May 3, 1958 and is survived by his wife, his two daughters Karen Underwood Kramer (Dave) and Gayl Underwood (Rick Stempfley), his grandson Alexander Richard Hoelle, and his sister Faye Underwood Hardert, all of Hamilton. He also leaves behind a niece Linda Hardert McGuire, special nephew Michael Hardert (Trudy) and nephew Scott Hardert and their children and grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents. The depression and the 1937 flood in Cincinnati were prominent issues when he was young. One of his earliest memories was climbing out of the second-story window of their home in Northside into a boat and leaving their possessions behind. The family moved to a farm in Colerain Township where he grew up and went to Colerain High School. After graduation, he attended Miami University where he majored in Electrical Engineering and belonged to Lambda Chi Fraternity. He was drafted into the Navy for the Korean conflict and was stationed for part of his tour in Guantanamo Bay. After he left the Navy as a First Class Seaman, he started several businesses including Underwood Motor Sales on Route 4 in Hamilton. In 1955, Richard opened his first pizza restaurant in Hamilton on Route 4 appropriately named Richards Plaza Pizza, and in July of 1956, he created the Richards Famous Italian Steak Sandwich. That year he also opened a second location at the corner of Main and D Streets on Hamilton's West Side. In 1969, he built the current Main Street location of Richards Pizza. In 1976, Richard was honored as Restauranteur of the Year by the Ohio Restaurant Association. Throughout his life, he and Peggy enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and the world, skiing every winter in Colorado and boating and fishing in Florida. But his main passion was developing many businesses and real estate ventures throughout his life, as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs and volunteering with SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). Richard served on many boards and volunteered for several organizations in the Hamilton area throughout his life including the Jaycees, the Optimist Club, the Couples Club, and Hamilton Rotary Club of which he was a lifelong member, joining in 1971. As part of the Rotary Club, Richard and Peggy hosted many visitors through Rotary's Group Study Exchange program from Japan, Italy, Taiwan, and Sweden and remained friends with Rotarians from many countries. During Richard and Peggy's travels around the world, they would attend Rotary meetings in other countries. Richard and Peggy were active members of the Springdale Nazarene Church where they volunteered and supported the mission trip program and missionary work around the world and were members of a very special Sunday school group. The family would like to sincerely thank the wonderful and caring staff at StoryPoint Senior Living Community in Fairfield Township who compassionately helped dad through the last difficult part of his life, and Queen City Hospice for providing support and additional care the last few months. Special thanks to Christy at Elder Care Connections for her invaluable advice when many difficult decisions needed to be made. A Celebration of Life Ceremony will be held on Sunday, April 27, 12 noon at Richards Pizza, 417 Main Street, Hamilton with a memorial service at 3:00. The restaurant will be closed to the public until 5:00 PM. Private interment will be held at Rose Hill Burial Park. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Springdale Nazarene Church 11177 Springfield Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246 to support their mission projects. Online condolences may be left at www.weigelfuneralhome.com.