Richard was born to Emil Manuel and Edith Allen Bohls. They lived at 92 Rainey Street in Austin, Texas. They attended East Avenue Baptist Church. In 1936 his family moved to 2112 Brackenridge Street in South Austin. He helped his father and grandfather manage their sixteen motor court cottages and gas station on South Congress Avenue. In 1937 he received Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord, was baptized and became a member of Congress Avenue Baptist Church. Richard graduated from the old Austin High School on Rio Grande Avenue in 1942, where he also met his future wife Kathryn.
On February 18, 1943 he was inducted into the 215th Army Air Corps at Fort Sam Houston. He served in the 84th Depot Repair Squadron as an aircraft electrical mechanic. He was stationed in Italy and Africa from August 1943 through August 1944. He was sent back home and while on leave was married to Kathryn Barron on September 16, 1944. They were stationed in Alamogordo, New Mexico and Pueblo, Colorado. The war ended and he was honorably discharged as a corporal on December 10, 1945.
Richard and Kathryn moved home and lived in a small house trailer behind his parent’s home on Brackenridge Street before having their first home built at 917 Jewell Street in South Austin in 1949. In 1951 he entered the electrical trade and worked as a commercial journeyman electrician for 36 years, retiring in 1987. Through the years Richard and Kathryn were very active. Special occasions were always celebrated with family at different homes or at the Bohls ranch, inherited family property on Barton Creek east of Bee Cave.
Richard was a member of Masonic Lodge #12. He was active in Electrical Workers Local Union 520 and in the retired members club. He served on the Building, Grounds, and Personnel Committees at Congress Avenue Baptist Church and as a deacon from the early 1980s through about 2010. In 2013 he moved from the home on Elmhurst Drive to Georgetown, Texas to escape the dangerously steep yard and Austin traffic. Richard’s physical health was gradually declining though he was always mentally alert and engaging. After several falls at home and two stays in the hospital and rehab it finally became necessary to move into an assisted living home in December 2020. Richard continued to engage with the nurses and other residents, always ready to encourage, joke, and pray with them.
A nurse found him in his bed early on the morning of July 2, 2021. He had passed on peacefully during the night after a 97 year pilgrimage.
Kathryn, his wife of 64 years passed on in 2008. Richard is survived by his two sons: Richard Jr. with his wife Cindy and Bradley, with his wife Paula. Four grandchildren: Chris, with his wife Amy; Nathan, with his wife Angela; Melissa, with her husband Derick; and Gregory the youngest. Six great grandchildren: Elijah, Kathryn, Josiah, Nathan Jr., Noah, and Wren.
