Richard Emerson Gregory

Richard Emerson Gregory, 87, died peacefully at home on Sunday, July 12, 2015. Emerson and Anna Gregory lived in Toronto, Ohio, a small town on the Ohio River, close to Steubenville and right in the heart of steel mill country. Emerson and Anna owned and operated Gregory's Bakery, well known in the town for its wonderful baked goods, exquisite wedding cakes, and especially for their generosity, giving to hungry, struggling people during our nation's Great Depression. Unexpected blessings can come through our hardest times, and on November 19th, 1927, his parents, as well as this old earth, were blessed to welcome Richard Emerson Gregory, their son, "Dick", into the world. From early on, Dick was a thoughtful, intelligent child, who loved music and airplanes. On the ceiling in his childhood bedroom hung countless model airplanes he put together, carved out of balsam wood. Throughout high school from, Richard played the coronet in a trumpet trio, with three classmates, "The 3 G's", (Gray, Grisell and Gregory). He also had a keen aptitude for math, and a quirky, dry sense of humor. After high school, Dick enlisted with the US Navy at 17 years of age. He became a part of the Naval Air Corps where he learned to fly those planes that had captured his attention as a child. He received Advanced Flight Training in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he served as a carrier pilot, and was commissioned as Ensign. While in the service, Dick attended Kent State University and specialized training at Stevens Institute of Technology. After 5 years in the US Navy, Dick re-entered civilian life and married Arlene Maple, also of Toronto, Ohio, then continued his studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Among the honors Richard compiled at Pitt: Member of Sigma Tau National Honorary Engineering Fraternity, Student Chairman of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, chosen Outstanding Senior in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, received award from the Engineering and Mines Association of Pitt, and served as research assistant at Pitt's Engineering and Research Division. After graduating, he would go on to his first job in Long Island, NY, with the Sperry Gyroscope Company, then on to General Electric in Columbus, Ohio, and eventually to where he worked the majority of his life at the Defense Construction Supply Center in Columbus, designing a wide range of parts for various military aircrafts. Dick would tell you that none of these achievements meant as much to him as the adventures he had falling in love with and marrying Arlene Maple, the love of his life. The two of them bought a home and raised 4 children in a neighborhood on the east side of Columbus, full of friends and swarming with children, where relationships deepened and have lasted for a lifetime. Together, Dick and Arlene built a home and a family, loved and served their friends, experienced many losses and heartaches, buried a child, Robert, lived to see 4 grandchildren grow to adulthood, and walked through the highs and lows of life with music and laughter, with sorrow and tears. Dick was a faithful man. An intelligent, gentle, leader of his home, he was an example of integrity, diligence and wisdom to his children, a relentlessly faithful, loving and serving husband to his wife. He loved and was a student of the Bible, and he embraced the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, whom he is no doubt robustly engaging with today. His kindness, humility and intelligence have shaped and impacted his family, and he will be dearly missed, forever honored, and joyfully remembered. Dick is survived by his wife, Arlene Maple Gregory of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; his Children, Jolene Diane Gregory of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Richard William Gregory of Newark, Ohio, and Melissa Ann Euler of Tyler, Texas; his Grandchildren, Elizabeth Ashley Gregory of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Jordan Matthew Euler of Buena Vista, Colorado, Benjamin Gregory Euler of Temecula, California, and Anna Kathryn Euler of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Family will receive friends 11 am to 1 pm Friday, July 17, 2015 at Schoedinger East Chapel, 5360 E. Livingston Ave., where the funeral service will begin at 1pm. Interment to follow at Glen Rest Memorial Estate. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Through The Bible Ministries, ttb.org.