Richard James Massey

With profound sadness we announce the passing of Richard James Massey on January 24, 2016. He was a man of integrity, gentle and kind to his beloved family and friends. He relished the simple pleasures of everyday life, and lived a life filled with gratitude.

Richard was born March 24, 1935, in River Forest, Illinois, to Peter J. Massey and Elizabeth Victoria Vogel Massey. His father had a printing business, and was known for developing a method for coating paper for magazines, called The Massey Method. Richard was the youngest of four sons. He adored his brothers: Peter J. Jr, T. Robert, and Paul. He remained devoted to their families after their untimely deaths. He leaves behind, in great sorrow, his sister-in-law Dorothy Massey, niece Mary Wolf, her husband Sam Wolf, their son Jackson Wolf, nephew Paul Massey, sister-in-law Lois Gredell, her husband Gordon Gredell, nephew David Massey, great nephew Peter Massey, niece Gwen Massey Tietz, her husband Bill Tietz, great niece Noah Massey, and Noah's children Brynner and Bronwyn.

Richard attended Deerfield Academy and it was there that his strong character, of diligence, integrity, and strength of purpose was forged, driven by the legendary headmaster Mr. Boyden. Mr. Boyden rallied his boys to excellence with the words " Finish Strong ". Richard always remembered those words; he was the embodiment of them.

Richard went on to Yale where he graduated with a BA in English literature. He then enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. After his military service he attended Stanford Business School and graduated with an MBA.

Professionally, Richard had a long career as a stockbroker with UBS, starting in June of 1984 and working there until the day before he was hospitalized. He loved the world of business, revered his UBS colleagues, and was deeply committed to his clients, even making house calls to those unable to travel.

Richard married Marjorie Koehler in 1971 and had fourteen happy years with her until their divorce in 1985. They remained good friends. He became engaged in 1997 to Mary Chesterfield, who died tragically before they could marry. Her three children, Doug Rowitch, Janine Davis, and David Rowitch remained treasured family to him. After that loss Richard met Alice Corning who became the last great love of his life. He joined her at her home in Mill Valley. Together they traveled to Costa Rica, Sicily, France, Italy, and most recently to South Africa, with The Leakey Foundation. With Richard's encyclopedic knowledge of music as a foundation, they attended frequently the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, and music festivals in Napa and in Moab, Utah where they have a second home. Richard embraced Alice's family as his own and loved the family vacations, the holiday celebrations, any chance to be together. It was always quality time. His loss is enormous to Paul, Lisa, Jasper and Lucy Corning, Marlis, Kjartan, Sierra and Freya Jansen, Alison, David, William and Matthew Mulliken.

There will be a celebration of Richard's life in early March. Contributions in his memory may be made to The San Francisco Symphony or The San Francisco Opera.