Richard Allen Burgess, Jr.

Richard Allen Burgess, Jr., “Rich” was born on January 2, 1949, in West Orange New Jersey. He was the second of three children born to Richard and Doris (Good) Burgess. Rich passed away following a brief illness on March 24, 2024, in Merritt Island Florida.

Rich attended Rutgers University and graduated in 1971 with a degree in Environmental Studies. After college, he joined the Air Force, where he attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant and served as a Missile Combat Crew Commander. While stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, he met his wife, Carole, on a blind date. They fell in love and married a mere four months later! They were married for 49 years.

Following his discharge from the Air Force, Rich convinced Carole to move to Pittsburgh PA so that he could pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He promised it would only be a year or two, but they ended up living there for 18 years.

Rich began working for the consulting firm, KTA Tator, in 1992 where he worked as a Senior Coatings Consultant. He loved his work and called himself a “forensic paintologist.” He was great at figuring out problems associated with coatings failures. He retired in 2022 following a stroke.

One of the things Rich and Carole enjoyed was traveling. They, with their best friends Barry and Sharon Eller, traveled all over the world and even took some out-of-this-world trips. Barry and Rich were great fans of Star Trek and managed to make five voyages on the “Enterprise” cruise ship. They dressed up as Star Trek characters and enjoyed interacting with other Trekkies. He especially liked it when Counsellor Troi was on board!

Rich is survived by his wife and three children and their spouses, Kelton Merrill and Sylvia, Elizabeth Adrienne and Jeremy Rogers, and Christopher Michael and Sarah, as well as two perfect grandchildren, Silas Rogers and Stella Burgess. He was well-loved by his family and well-liked by his friends. His humor, love of life and dedication to family will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Heart Association.