Richard Joel
Richard Joel, loving husband and father, advertising educator and arts supporter, long-term resident of Tallahassee Florida and Highlands North Carolina, died of natural causes in his sleep on April 15, 2013, at his home at Westminster Oaks in Tallahassee. He was 96. For 85 years opera was his passion. It started at the age of 11 when he attended a Metropolitan Opera performance of Norma in Atlanta, and until the very end, he would tune in daily to satellite radio to listen to Met opera broadcasts.
Richard Joel was born December 31, 1916 in Athens, Georgia. He was a member of ODK and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA degree from the University of Georgia and later earned a Master's degree from the University of Wisconsin. During WWII he served in the Air Force and after that he embarked on an academic career as a professor at Emory University where he founded and directed The Advertising Institute. He later taught at Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Wisconsin, and finally the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he chaired the advertising department in the College of Communications. He retired as Professor Emeritus of advertising and was named by UT one of the outstanding professors of the year. After that he returned to Tallahassee where he became a consistent supporter of music at The College of Music at FSU.
He also pursued his hobby as an amateur actor. He was a five-time winner of the best actor award at Tallahassee Little Theater. He worked actively with community theaters in all the cities where he served as a university professor. At Florida State he was president of Phi Beta Kappa, he was active on the Artists Series Committee, and he served on the board of the Tallahassee Little Theater.
While at UT he was on the board and served as public relations director of the Knoxville Opera. At the same time he served as national president of both the Alpha Delta Sigma advertising fraternity and the American Academy of Advertising. For three summers early in his career he worked with Clyde Bedell, internationally recognized advertising practitioner and author, whose text book he assisted in writing and editing.
In Knoxville he became a good friend of Robert Lyall, then general director of the Knoxville Opera Company and later director of the New Orleans Opera. For the next 25 years, Richard would travel annually to New York with him where he assisted in auditioning over 3,000 opera singers. They would also squeeze in as many Metropolitan Opera performances as their schedules would allow.
While at UT he and his wife Edith were attracted to the climate and natural beauty of Highlands, NC, where they began spending a portion of each year over 35 years ago. Together they became actively involved in local theater and art functions. Inspired by the exposure to the opera talent in New York and elsewhere, Richard Joel, at 75, created Bel Canto, a musical concert which brought some of the most talented voices in the country to Highlands. His wife Edith actively supported the initiative to become a fund raiser for the Bascom-Louise Gallery where she was serving as a docent. For fifteen years, until the age of 90, Richard relied on and guided a steering committee made up of some of Highlands' most civic-minded and loyal supporters of the arts. Bel Canto became a highly anticipated event which sold-out annually. As chairman he identified and attracted the talent, he helped create the program, he drew on his advertising experience and originated the publicity by writing the articles for local publications. In addition he handled the ticket sales while overseeing the steering committee for effective implementation of his vision. After he turned over the position as chairman, his successor observed that it took three people to accomplish all the tasks that Richard had done himself for fifteen years. When he attended the 20th annual recital as chairman emeritus, the fund raising had not only been used to purchase numerous significant pieces for the permanent collection at the Gallery, but had been broadened to include music and choral programs in local schools and the community child development center. Truly a lasting legacy.
In addition, during the years in Highlands he was very active in the local theater. He was well into his eighties when he played his last lead role -- in "The Sunshine Boys." And until his last summer in Highlands he continued his decades long volunteer work with Mountain Findings, a fund raising endeavor supporting numerous area charities and needs.
Richard Joel is survived by his daughter Madge Joel Ringbakk and her husband Chuck of Tavares, Florida; his son Richard Raymon Joel and his wife Elaine of Tavares, Florida; as well as two grandsons Rick Ringbakk and Jeremy Joel both of Los Angeles, California. He was married to his beloved Edith for 59 years until her death in 2001.
Richard Joel was not only a university professor. He was for so many a Life teacher. For his 90th birthday his daughter contacted a number of his former students, many by then also retired. She received dozens of responses telling in moving detail how much he had meant to them in and out of the classroom and how they had kept up over the decades. His passion for the arts and opera in particular has demonstrated that age is a state of mind. By following his bliss and engaging life fully, his Journey became a rich beacon for all who had the privilege of knowing him.
In six words:
NINETYSIX YEARS
NO FEARS
OPERA EARS
An announcement about a musical memorial service at Westminster Oaks will be made later. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The Salvation Army @ 1-800-725-2769 or Macular Degeneration Research @ 1-800-437-2423
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Since Mr. Joel's passing I have taken it on myself to make sure he is remembered at the University of Tennessee College of Communication and Information, and particularly by those who receive the scholarship bearing his name. As a member of the CCI Board of Visitors, I attend the annual scholarship banquet, and I seek out the Richard Joel Scholarship recipient. I tell them about the man I admired so much, and I get an email address to send them a copy of "What I've Learned in 37 Years as an Advertising Teacher," the lecture he gave the John M. Lain Kappa Tau Alpha lecture in the 1980s. It is still one of the best pieces of commentary on advertising study I've ever read. A great man, and my mentor.
Chuck Jones
Friend
April 10, 2019
Well done and well lived, RJ. Thank you for all the great marketing and creative education I received at UT, and for your many years of friendship.
Gary Hoyt
December 24, 2013
A great teacher. A great husband. A great man. And a great friend. So sorry he is gone.
Chuck Jones
September 17, 2013
Dick was a great teacher at the University of Tennessee, inspiring us to not be satisfied with just an OK performance but to be the best. Truly a person who always had class and strove for excellence in every pursuit.
Nelson Hurst
July 25, 2013
I am so glad I had a chance to visit with Mr. Joel this past year for a couple of times and many phone conversations in between. It was great to see him after 50 years. He was a great professor . . . and more recently a good friend.
Charles Wilson
May 20, 2013
Madge, Chuck, Dick and Elaine, our deepest sympathy. What an honor to know this wonderful man. He made a difference in our world. love, from Carole & Joe Terry
carole terry
April 27, 2013
Richard Joel was my favorite professor at FSU. He made it possible for me to get a part time job in the Advertising Department at the Tallahassee Democrat. I graduated in 56 and had a successful career in Advertising. My deepest sympathy.
Richard Hancock
Richard Hancock
April 25, 2013
Dick....am so sorry to hear about your Dad...What a deep loss to you and your family. Prayers and love to all of you.
Bonnie Harris
April 23, 2013
A real gentleman. He will be missed both at FSU and the halls of Westminster.
Bill Neel
April 23, 2013
Please accept our sincere condolences.
Steve Edwards and family
April 23, 2013
Truly, quite a man. We know you will miss him as will the many people inrelation to his involvement in his interests. Love to you and yours.
tony wallick
April 20, 2013
Dear Madge and Dick, I was saddened to see that your father has passed away. One of the last Argonnians is gone. Our families shared a lot together. When I think of living next to ya'll I think of us running around the neighborhood on summer nights catching fire flies and making forts of pine straw in your front yard in the fall. Also, your dad taking us to school and waiting patiently if we were late in coming to the car. He certainly had lots of accolades and I know you will miss him greatly. Love, Laura McCulloch McManama
April 20, 2013
I am so sorry for your loss. Your family is in my prayers.
Sandy Keeler Powell
April 19, 2013
Madge and Chuck,
Much love and sympathy. He was a darling man and will be greatly missed.
Love,
Sherry
Sherry Andrews
April 19, 2013
There is no way to value what Richard did for music- Probably wouldn't be a Knoxville Opera Co. without his support!
His BelCanto concerts in NC benefited the art gallery, schools, and interest in music. I am blessed to have known and worked with him.and will always think of him when I hear any aria from Norma- his favorite.
Brenda Maupin
April 19, 2013
Dick, I'm so sorry to hear about your father's passing.
Chip Mitchell
April 19, 2013
My heart goes out to the family during this difficult time. It was a pleasure to have known the Joel family when I was growing up.
Barry Campbell
April 19, 2013
Please accept our sincere condolences.
Steve Edwards and family
April 19, 2013
Richard--My great, dear friend and supreme opera mentor--what am I to do without you? When I now listen to "La Boheme" or "Norma" or any opera by Verdi, Rossini, or Donizetti, I will strain to continue to hear this incredible music through ears made more sensitive and appreciative through the vast knowledge you imparted to me and to remember the musical wisdom you shared with me on the many divas and divos who translated these classic works into indescribable, sonorous beauty. Thank you for your friendship and companionship during the wonderful times I spent with you.
Donna Cay Tharpe
April 19, 2013
I remember seeing Richard at my audition for Knoxville Opera. He took a photo, which was something that had never happened in any other audition, and this made him memorable. I got the job in Knoxville singing Gilda in Rigoletto, and became better acquainted with Richard, and over the years he was often there to cheer me on in performances. Thanks, Richard, for everything you've done to promote opera in this country. Your contribution of time, energy and boundless love and enthusiasm has been a meaningful contribution to this very difficult art, and makes us all realize that without our audience, we are nothing.
Joyce Guyer
April 19, 2013
R.I.P.....god speed.Thinking of you all.A musical memorial will be so wonderful to celebrate your dad's spirit and musical love.
Love,Cathy and Beau
Catherine Moore
April 19, 2013
may god bless you at this time miss him Teresa mills
teresa mills
April 19, 2013
It was such a joy and privilege to have been his friend. Richard Joel was a charming, sweet man, as well as a brilliant one. Bill and I met in his class in 1958, and we were married 52 years. He was a wonderful teacher, too. He will be sorely missed.
Eloise Mills
April 19, 2013
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