Richard M. Kemplin

1930 - 2022

Richard M. Kemplin
December 11, 1930 - November 25, 2022
Poway Richard Manley Kemplin, born in Glendale California December 11, 1930, passed away in peace Friday evening November 25, 2022, surrounded by his family, at his home on Rostrata Road in Poway.
Dick was born to Richard Benjamin Kemplin and Bertha Ada Kemplin, née Rohmer and grew up in Eagle Rock. During his time at Eagle Rock High School, Dick was an athlete and budding artist whose illustrations and cartoons were prominently featured in the school's newspaper and yearbook. Little did he know that his love of art would serve him well during his retirement years.
As a child during WWII, Dick was fascinated by the history of that period and following graduation from high school Dick joined the US Navy and served honorably between 1949 and 1952. Shortly after his discharge from the Navy, Dick was drafted into the US Army following the outbreak of the Korean War. Dick was discharged in 1954 but "re-upped" and continued to serve in an Army Reserve unit until 1960.
In his own words, Dick was a lucky guy and "things just seemed to work in my favor". His first big break came when he was hired on as a draftsman trainee with the F.L. Mosley Company in Pasadena, Ca. Dick recounted the day two gentlemen were touring the office, one short and one tall. It turned out it was Bill Hewlett and David Packard who eventually purchased the Mosely company in 1958. Dick was the seventh employee of Hewlett Packard and joked that he was the James Bond (007) of the firm. Dick had an AA degree but took some additional math and technical courses and was promoted to a Design Engineer. After a career of 44 years with Hewlett Packard, Dick reluctantly retired in 1998, but continued as a consultant for several more years. He was credited with 8 international patents for his design work with the firm.
Getting married to Billie Corenna, née Rhodes, in 1958, purchasing a home in Altadena, California, and raising three sons and a daughter were additional strokes of tremendous luck. Dick cherished Billie, who passed away before him in 2009.
While at Hewlett Packard, Dick reignited his love of cartoons and began producing weekly "funnies" about the San Diego Chargers and circulated them among the office. On a whim he submitted some of his work to the local Poway Chieftain newspaper, who published his editorial cartoons for 25 years. His cartooning career continued into retirement, and Dick had simultaneous contracts with the Escondido Times Advocate and The San Diego Union. During that period, Dick received multiple awards from the San Diego Press Club. He
When Dick was not drawing cartoons or designing stuff, he was building things. This includes two family homes. He also had a keen interest in building and flying model airplanes and aviation in general, and was partners in a high-performance Piper Comanche airplane. He also loved cars and was proud of the restoration of his childhood dream car, a 1941 Dodge, which was completed in 2014.
Not only was Dick a gentleman, but he was also a gentle man and is dearly missed by his family and all who knew him, who are the lucky ones.
He is survived by his daughter, Beth (Steve), and sons Rick (Kathy), Bill (Jill), and Gary (Catherine) and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Private services will be held in Poway where he will join Billie. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation.

Please sign the guest book online at legacy.com/obituaries/ pomeradonews