Richard E. Wiltamuth

Richard E. Wiltamuth passed away in Silver Spring, MD, on July 7, 2025 at age 86. He was a character. In his final years, he was fond of saying, "I've lived a very interesting life."

Richard (Dick) was born in Indio, CA in 1938 and was adopted shortly thereafter by Kenneth and Norma Wiltamuth in Iowa in 1939. He attended Des Moines Technical High School and Roosevelt High School in Des Moines and then Iowa State University before graduating from Drake University. He paid his own way through college by working full-time loading and unloading railroad asphalt cars and tending a high-pressure boiler. He met his wife of 64 years, Margery (nee Molden) Wiltamuth while attending Iowa State.

Dick served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, retiring at the rank of Commander. His early Navy duty included serving as a radio operator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge, where a highlight was helping with the recovery of a Mercury 7 astronaut in the Pacific Ocean. Next, he served four years in Japan, where his sons Mark and Scott were born. Subsequently, he served in a variety of roles in the Maryland area until his retirement after 20 years of service. While in the Navy, he earned a master's degree in computer and information systems from American University. He went on to teach graduate courses for 12 years as an adjunct professor at American University.

After the Navy, Dick had a corporate career working for General Electric's Space Division, Lucas Aerospace, Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute, and Orbital Sciences in computer and aerospace management roles. He retired at age 75, but retirement was anything but restful for Dick. He threw himself into his many passions with characteristic enthusiasm and meticulous record-keeping.

Dick pursued a wide variety of hobbies with remarkable depth. He enjoyed golf, fishing, bird hunting, animal trapping, and cooking. As a golfer, he maintained a single-digit handicap for several decades of membership at Argyle Country Club. He made his first hole-in-one in Japan in 1968 and his second in California at age 70. During retirement, he rekindled his childhood hobby of running a trapline by becoming a licensed nuisance animal trapper; he trapped more than 200 animals. He also developed a new passion for cooking which he pursued by training for nine months at L'Academie de Cuisine, working for fun as a line cook at an Italian restaurant, and cooking for friends and their parties. He catered friends' weddings, rehearsal dinners and cocktail parties; he asked for "payment" in the form of donations to breast cancer research non-profit organizations.

Dick particularly enjoyed hosting large 4th of July parties. The day's festivities included smoking a whole pig in his homemade backyard smoker and Wiffle ball for kids and adults in the front yard. Over the years, he smoked 25 whole pigs.

He is survived by his wife Margery of Silver Spring, MD; son Mark Wiltamuth, daughter-in-law Stacey Sapper, grandchildren Henry and Cora Wiltamuth of Wilton, CT; son Scott Wiltamuth, daughter-in-law Martha Wiltamuth, and grandchildren Mimi and Ian Wiltamuth of Seattle, WA. Dick will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.