Richard A. Bass

Lt. Commander Richard Allen Bass (USN-R) passed away on Saturday, November 13, 2010. He was born on April 16, 1947, in the Bronx, New York to the late Robert and Mollie Bass. Richard was one of ten children (six sisters and four brothers).

Richard attended the prestigious High School of Music and Arts in New York. He was a highly proficient musician and drummer in the New York Kingsmen Drum and Bugle Corp. He was also a talented artist.

In 1964, as a teenager, Richard joined the U.S. Navy and rose to the enlisted rank of 1st Class Petty Officer. After ten years as an enlisted seaman, Richard was accepted into NESEP (Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program) and in 1974, he entered Purdue University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1977 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Math. Richard was listed in “Who’s Who in Colleges of America”. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an Ensign. Richard rose in rank during his career and at the time of his retirement in 1994, he had attained the rank of Lt. Commander.

Over the years, Richard’s quest for knowledge continued. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Savannah State College and later a Master’s Degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from M.I.T.

Richard served his country with honor from the Vietnam War to the Wars in the Gulf where he was known as the Base Commander at Bahrain in the Middle East. He received many service awards during a career that had spanned some 28 years. After his retirement in 1992, Richard started and maintained a business, Shades of Tints, in the Atlantic Beach area of Jacksonville for more than a decade.

Early in his naval career, Richard met and married Virginia Alease Lopez and from this union there were two daughters: Adrienne Pringle and Marissa Bass. Later Richard married Kyoko Harrison and from that union, there were four children: Mollie Bass, Rachel Bass, Sarah Bass and Richard Bass, Jr. Richard is also survived by one brother: Ronald Bass of Teaneck, N.J.; five sisters: Lorraine of Jacksonville, Maureen and Lillian of Hampton, Virginia, Terese of Buffalo, N.Y. and Shirley of the Bronx, N.Y. and four grandchildren: Lauren Pita, Mia Pringle, Zoey Pringle and Jeffrey Byrum. Richard was truly blessed in many ways and spent the last years with his friend and companion Aida “Beth” Grooms.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, November 19th, 2010 in the Chapel of HARDAGE-GIDDENS FUNERAL HOME, 1701 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach, FL. Interment will follow, with full military honors, at Jacksonville National Cemetery. The family will receive friends for the visitation from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Thursday (TODAY) at the funeral home.