Major General RICHARD S. KEM

 
Major General  RICHARD S. KEM  
Richard S. "Sam" Kem, a retired two-star general who served at top levels in the U.S. Army Europe and the Army Corps of Engineers, died of complications from hip surgery on April 1, 2016. Sam Kem was a native of Richmond, Indiana, the son of a local dentist. He graduated from Richmond Senior High School in 1952 and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point that July, graduating in 1956. He received a master''s degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and received another master''s degree in international affairs from George Washington University. He was also a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS. and the Naval War College at Newport, RI. After his military career, he worked as the Director of Public Works for Arlington County from 1990-2004. His first wife, Ann Callahan Kem, whom he married in 1960, died in 2003. He is survived by his wife, Adelaide (Ann) Mary Kem, whom he married in 2004; three children by his first wife, Michelle Kem of Falls Church, VA, Army Brigadier General John Kem and his wife Martha currently stationed at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and Steven Kem and his wife Gretchen of Ashland, OR; and step-daughters Deborah Brown of Minneapolis, MN, Suzanne Brown of Ocean Beach, Australia; three brothers and four grandchildren-Katy, Rob, James, and Kahlil. Services and burial at a future date at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his honor to: Food Pantry, Our Lady Queen of Peace, 2700 South 19th St., Arlington, VA 22204.