Richard Ray Bellando

April 26, 1938 - July 4, 2025

Berea, Kentucky - Richard Bellando passed peacefully at his home with his family around him around 10pm on Friday July 4, 2025. Richard was 87 years old.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Richard attended Pennington Prep School before earning a degree from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. He then went on to attend Berea College where he graduated with a degree in English literature. He later attended Vanderbilt Seminary School.

Having spent these formative years in Kentucky and North Carolina, Richard found himself in love with the mountains, the music, and the arts and crafts which were being produced around him. It is this love that would shape his life. It was in a ceramics class at Berea College that he met his wife Lila Rae Davis. The two were married in December of 1962.

Richard went on to join a folk music group called the Bingham Trio, which he started along with two other Berea College Students, named after the Berea College dorm in which they lived. They enjoyed regional success, playing well-attended shows throughout Kentucky and Tennessee in the 1960's.

Richard was later instrumental in coordinating the first Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen fair in Berea, as well as being a founder of the Berea Crafts Festival. One of his most notable ventures was owning Churchill Weavers. Richard and his wife Lila were chosen by Eleanor Churchill to take over the business in 1973. They successfully ran Churchill Weavers for over thirty years.

Richard worked for a time as Director of Berea College's Student Craft Industries, held two terms as a Berea City Council Member, and served on Berea Tourism Commission. He was a founding owner of Papaleno's Pizza Restaurant, a one-time owner of Halls on the River Restaurant in Ford, Kentucky. He also worked to help form the Kentucky Craft History & Education Association (KCHEA), which educates and preserves Kentucky Craft traditions in the region.

Richard is survived by his sister, Alice Dee Moyer and her husband Edward Moyer; his children Tara Lynn Bellando and James Richard Bellando, as well as his grandchildren Isabella, Layla, and Ollie Bellando, and his great grandson, Iris Warren Bellando.

A public memorial to celebrate Richard's life will be held in the near future.

www.davisandpowellfuneralhome.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Lexington Herald-Leader from Jul. 9 to Jul. 13, 2025.

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616 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40403

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