Richard W. Glass

Mr Glass was a part of the "Greatest Generation" and served in the US Army from 1940-1946 and was an officer with an engineer brigade in Europe in WWII. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of a labor camp and was awarded the Bronze Star. After the

war, he served in the Army Reserve retiring with the rank of Lt. Colonel in 1979. It was early the war that he met Louise....on the steps of the White House. On that day visitors needed a uniformed escort and Louise and Lucille had none. The guard at the gate flagged down two soldiers and asked them if they would provide the escort which of course they did, and the rest IS history! Louise worked in a Defense plant building Corsair fighter planes and Dick would be

deployed back to Europe, but they got together when he was stateside. They corresponded throughout the war but were together only six times before they were married in 1946.

Born in Columbus, Richard lived in Germantown where his grandfather was the local taylor. He often enjoyed telling that he was the best dressed kid in school with his "taylored nickers!" In the depression the family moved to New Rome to the family farm and "Dickie" worked for his uncle Chris. The job he most talked about was keeping the fire going on the Huber steam engine and he would accompany Chris on his rounds of sawmill and threshing work. He attended a one room school in New Rome and graduated from West High in Columbus, where among other activities he played the banjo.

Richard was a Boy Scout in the early years of scouting and got his love for OSU football from the time when scouts in their Campaign (Trooper) hats served as ushers at the games. He loved scouting and was awarded the Order of the Arrow in 1937. After the War he returned to Scouting and Troop 131 eventually becoming Scoutmaster and helped mold many young men in the New Rome area, men who would later become community leaders. He gave up scouting in the early 50's to devote time to his young family.

In 1937 he joined the CMTC (Citizen's Military Training Corps) and learned the military skills that would later serve him well in the Army and Officer Candidate School.

He studied Civil Engineering at OSU before the War and at UCLA afterwards. He left his studies to come back to Ohio to assist his father and worked at Battelle Memorial Institute before becoming one of the original employees of GM's Ternstedt Division in Columbus, retiring after 30 years of service.

One of his regrets was not completing his studies, but he used his knowledge in building our house in New Rome while working full time at GM.

He taught us honesty and the virtue of hard work. We seldom saw him lose his temper. He was always a gentleman. He said educated men should have better vocabularies than to use bad language. Rick and Tom learned how to be a man from the best. One of our favorite memories

was the tree house he built for us, but lasted through six grandchildren. We were well traveled because of visits to Louise's family in Arkansas, New Hampshire and California.

In retirement,as before, he was active in Church activities, and he and Louise loved their Laurel Canyon Church Family. One of his favorite memories was attending the Florida College Lectures with his friend Glenn Van Dyke.

Dick was an avid reader and especially enjoyed Louis Lamour Westerns. He enjoyed TV, movies, fishing, crosswords, and because he was a social person would play most any table game. He learned to play Rook and tried to get the idea of Uno in Alabama and was a regular ucre

player at Abbington. Before he lost his mobility and sight, he would walk to the senior center in Reynoldsburg to play billiards with his friend Egon, a German WWII veteran. He loved all the activities at Abbington and was known and loved by everyone there. He served as Chairman of the residents' meetings, and he and Louise were honored as Residents of the Month. He belonged to several Veteran's organizations and one of his happy memories was a trip in 2006 to the WWII museum. He was given a badge identifying him as a WWII vet and received "thank yous" throughout the day. He ended the day by doing something HE wanted (a rare thing for Dick), by treating us to a buggy tour of New Orleans.

Retirement allowed Dick and Louise to enjoy time with their six grandchildren who enjoyed the big house on Norton road. Dick would hook up sleds to his tractor and pull them over the snow at Christmas time and then in the summer it was wagon rides over the farm. COSI, the Columbus zoo, beach vacations and trips to Disney World are part of our collective happy memories. They were always available for our families no matter what. For many years Dick and Louise spent every summer in Arkansas with her sisters and brothers-in-law enjoying time together until they were no longer physically able to travel. In the early 90's he and Louise moved to Reynoldsburg and eventually Abbington Assisted Living where they were popular residents and enjoyed the time there together until Louise's death in 2009. After Louise died, Dick enjoyed Christmas and summer visits to Rick's family in Alabama and the frequent visits by his Columbus family especially

the "Glass boys." He had a special relationship with Nickie, and all the family loves her for the tender care she gave him.

We'll miss Dad greatly but are thankful for what he gave us through a totally unselfish life. He never complained though he had numerous ailments which weakened and limited him physically. His sharp mind remained so to the end. He was and ever will be a great man, and we are blessed to have had him as long as we did. Dad's last few days saw him weaken quickly, but he was able to enjoy one last victory for the Buckeyes over Michigan, and on his last day he enjoyed White Castles, a chocolate shake and cherry pie....then just as he hoped and prayed for, he died peacefully in his bed.....no man deserved it more.

Richard W. Glass, 93, of Columbus, went home to be with his Lord Friday, November 30, 2012. He was born May 17, 1919 in Columbus to the late Richard and Josephine Glass.

Richard served in the U.S. Army during WWII and retired from the Army Reserves. He retired from GM after 30 years. He had formerly resided at Abbington Assisted Living and was a long-time member of Laurel Canyon Church of Christ.

In addition to his parents, Richard was preceded in death by his wife, Louise; and granddaughter, Amy Glass. Richard will be missed by his adoring sons, Richard W. (Marilyn) Glass and Thomas F. Glass; 5 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, December 7, 2012 at Laurel Canyon Church of Christ, 409 McNaughten Rd., Columbus, where the family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Richard’s memory to the Amy Glass Memorial Scholarship, c/o Freed-Hardeman University, 158 E. Main St., Henderson, TN 38340.

Arrangements entrusted to Schoedinger East Chapel (614) 861-6268. To share memories and read Richard’s bio, visit www.schoedinger.com.