Richard Coleman Haines

Richard Coleman Haines died peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, on Friday November 23rd at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  He was 82 years old.

Richard was born January 12, 1936 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania to Edgar and Mildred Haines. After completing high school in Lansdowne, PA, he attended the University of Delaware, graduating with distinction and honors with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1957.   After Delaware, Richard attended Princeton University and received a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering in 1958. 

Richard was hired by DuPont in 1958 in Newark, Delaware. Though trained as a Chemical Engineer, DuPont placed him in the nascent Data Processing team.  These were formative years in the information technology field.  Richard and his team regularly had to invent new computing capabilities that we take for granted today.  From this beginning, Richard forged a long and productive career in information technology.  He left DuPont in 1968 to join Dun & Bradstreet in New York City.  At D&B he led the company’s efforts to convert their paper-based business records, at the time one of the largest collections of data about businesses in the world, to a computer-based system.  Richard joined the publisher Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1977 as Senior Vice President of Information Systems and Operations and Distribution.  In 1981, Richard founded Arch Associates, a consulting firm focused on IT strategy and project execution.  He led Arch for more than 20 years and described those years as the ‘time of his life’. 

Richard had an uncanny ability to see the positive in this world and never let a difficult situation get him down; right up to the end. He seldom refused a social invitation, relished cooking and food, especially if it involved pork products.  Richard was a baseball chameleon, switching his allegiances from the Phillies to the Mets (when he attended their fantasy camp in Florida) and ending up with the right team, the Boston Red Sox.  His life creed was “Sometimes wrong, but never in doubt.”

Richard was married in 1960 to Denise Games. Denise and Richard lived in Nashville, TN, Newark, Delaware, Chattanooga, TN and Summit, NJ.   Denise and Richard had three children, William, Andrew and Elizabeth. Richard and Denise divorced in 1984. 

Richard married Janet Miller in 1988. They resided in Watchung NJ.  Richard and Janet retired to New Hampshire in 2005, where they built a home in the Oakledge community on Lake Sunapee. 

Richard was very involved in his church communities. In Summit, he was a member of the choir at Calvary Episcopal Church for 40 years.  He and Janet also both served on the vestry there.    After moving to New Hampshire, he and Janet joined the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew where he sang in the choir, served as warden and member of the vestry and a search committee. 

Philanthropy was very important to Richard. He and classmates from Lansdowne High School Class of ‘53 endowed a college scholarship for current graduates.  In 2013 working with the Engineering School at the University of Delaware, he endowed a scholarship specifically encouraging women in technology.  

Richard and Janet enjoyed travelling together. They toured North, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, making many new friends along the way. 

Richard is survived by his wife of 30 years, Janet Miller Haines, son William and his wife Karen, their children Sarah and Michael, son Andrew, his wife Gail and their children Madeline and Spencer, daughter Elizabeth and her children Justin and Danielle and a nephew David Miller.

In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Outreach Fund at the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew, or to a charity of your choice.

A memorial service will be held at the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew, 52 Gould Road, New London, NH, on Saturday, December 1, 2018, at 2:00PM, followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. In the spring, there will be a joyous celebration of the life of Richard Coleman Haines.