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R. Cunningham Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc.Richard Smith Obituary
After graduating from Greenbrier Military School in Lewisburg, WV, Dick joined the U.S. Air Force, serving in the Korean War. After his service he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Youngstown University and went into a career working on jet engines at General Electric and rocket engines at Pratt & Whitney. Dick's projects with GE included the Israeli KFIR Fighter Jet and the record-setting Red Baron F-104. His work with P&W included the RL-10 upper stage rocket engines that propelled our exploration of the moon.
On April 10,1954 Dick married Margaret "Marge" Patterson of Dover, Kansas. Together they purchased a small farm where Dick's hobbies included raising livestock, gardening, restoring Chevrolet cars from the 40's and 50's, and flying remote control planes. He was a member of the East Gate Car Club and got his pilot's license for single-engine planes. After retirement from GE in 1990, Dick made a 4,287-mile cross-country bicycle trip with 3 other cyclists.
In 1994 Dick and Marge purchased a condo on the bay in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he took up rollerblading, swimming, and bicycling, and became the Director of Maintenance for their condo complex. After 55 years of marriage, Marge died of cancer. Dick then took up ballroom-dancing, where he met Martha Wilson, his partner for the last 10 years of his life.
Survivors include Martha Wilson, a son, Carl Smith (Brian Treglown) of Chicago, a daughter, Susan Munch (Mark Munch) of Houston, grandchildren Bryan Munch (Danielle), Kyle Munch (Michelle) and Cameron Munch (Fay), and great-grandchildren Daphne, Elliot, David, Thomas and Adam Munch.
A memorial service will be conducted at Cunningham Funeral Home, 2429 Wilmington Road, New Castle, PA on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 11:00 a.m. A video of the service at Cunninghams will be posted online on Oct. 6. Interment will be on Monday, Oct. 6 at Castle View Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 3010 Wilmington Road, New Castle, PA.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or online at www.cancer.org.
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Upcoming Events
Oct
4
Services provided by
R. Cunningham Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc.