Richard Thomas Heath

Dr. Richard Heath passed away at the age of 85, Monday August 9 in Charlottesville following a brief illness. Richard was a well-loved dentist in Charlottesville practicing for more than 50 years. He was voted favorite dentist in Charlottesville, was known for doing high quality work and had a large cadre of loyal and happy patients. Richard was recognized with numerous accolades from his professional colleagues including being named a Fellow in the Virginia Dental Association and a Fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry. He was also formerly the President of the Shenandoah Valley chapter of the Virginia Dental Association.

Richard cared very deeply about people in unfortunate circumstances and would often work with those who needed care but could not afford it, trading dental work for whatever they could provide. At work he was affectionately nicknamed ‘Turtle’ for taking his time to get things right. He collected numerous turtle objects over the years. He was universally described as ‘a very nice man’. As a child of the Great Depression, he was also very frugal and drove a Pinto for more than 20 years, which ensured he never had a tailgater. His staff would usually say ‘we will meet you at lunch Dr. Heath, we are driving separately’.

Richard was born in Independence Virginia and moved to Esmont Virginia in Albemarle County as a child, raised on a farm and helping to care for cows, pigs and his own flock of sheep. Richard had an incredible work ethic and level of intelligence. Originally attending Esmont school where grades 1-7 were in the same classroom, he quickly took on the work of the upper grades. He participated in 4H, Future Farmers of America, and the Boy Scouts. He graduated from Scottsville High School in 1952 at the age of 16 and then went to Virginia Tech in the Cadet program. Richard worked full time in college, while also in the Cadet program and pre-med studies. He nearly finished college in 3 years at age 19 and found that Medical College of Virginia would allow him to complete his undergraduate degree in Biology while attending dental school. At MCV, Richard won the A.D. Williams Award and was first in his class his senior year. After dental school, Richard went on to serve his country as a Captain in the Air Force and was stationed at Andrews Air Force base and the Azores. Following his service, he returned to Charlottesville to apprentice with Dr. Don Whited. By age 26, he had opened his own practice in Charlottesville. He met his wife Jackie when she came in for dental services.

Richard and Jackie married in 1964 and remained in Charlottesville where they raised their daughters Cathy and Linda. Richard was a great father and role model to his daughters. He used to say, ‘If you do your job well you will always be busy’ and set an example of how to persevere through setbacks.

Richard loved his farm and would often spend the weekends maintaining the fields or helping to care for a calf. He was very proud that he had purchased a Model A Ford for $55 as a teenager, and although it hadn’t run for nearly 50 years, he kept it in the garage just in case he could get it working again. He was also very fond of dogs and over the years he and Jackie adopted more than 7 dogs. His current dog Denny was the focus of his life at home, and he enjoyed taking care of him every day. In addition to his numerous other talents, he was able to play music by ear on the piano, and enjoyed piano and bluegrass music, especially banjoes. He had recently taken up banjo lessons.

Richard is survived by his wife Sarah Heath (Jackie), daughters Cathy Heath and Linda Heath, and grandsons Tyler Haley and Jonathan Haley.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the UVA Health System designating the TCV-ICU at http://get-involved.uvahealth.com/goto/RichardHeath or the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA. Cathy and Linda would like to thank the medical care team at UVA Hospital for their kind, compassionate and professional support.

Information on services will be available at a later date.