Richard Lee Ordeman

Skip was born in 1924 in New York City. He lived most of his boyhood days in Huntington, Long Island and Westport, CT. He graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1943 and joined the Navy V-12 program, an officer candidate program at Bates College. He served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years and then attended Yale University, graduating in 1948. Later he attended the Harvard Business School Middle Management #4 Program in 1957. Skip served as the Class Secretary for both his Andover and Harvard Business School classes for over 20 years.

Skip married the love of his life, Martha Baldwin in 1947 and in 1948 began a successful 34 year career with Mead Papers. He learned the paper business from the ground up, growing into executive positions in New York City and Dayton, Ohio, retiring in 1982. He continued his career for a number of years as a consultant in paper and printing for Mead and other companies doing market research in conjunction with the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation located in Pittsburgh, PA.

Skip’s willingness to get involved in his community and other organizations throughout his life have had a large impact on the organization or community that he served. In Westport, when the town reorganized its form of government, he served two terms representing his district in the newly formed government. When his career took him to Dayton in 1963, he became interested in the fact that Dayton’s Triangle football team, one of the first National Football League teams, was virtually unknown and unrecognized. He worked to develop the Dayton Area Sports History Association (DASH) to tell the story of the Triangles and other sports legends from Dayton. Today, DASH is working with Dayton History to establish a sports history museum at Carillon Park. He served on the Oakwood Budget Review Committee for many years. He and his wife Martha were long-term co-chairs of the Friends of Smith Gardens Committee. He was a past board member of Sanibel Moorings Condominium Association, an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, a member of the Dayton Orchid Society and along with his family was host for several exchange students thru AFS (American Field Service). Skip loved gardening, photography and golf but most of all he loved spending time with his family.

He was a wonderful husband to Martha, his wife of 72 years who survives him. As a loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather he is survived, dearly missed and remembered by his children Susan Duncan (Jack), Janet Campbell (Doug), Nancy Downey (John), Linda Miller (Mike), Rick Ordeman (Constance), 11 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. He was also a good friend to many. He will be missed by all. A Virtual Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 1pm at http://stpauls-dayton.org/skip-richard-ordemans-memorial-service-saturday-october-10/. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Dayton Area Sports History (DASH) c/o Dayton History, 1000 Carillon Blvd., Dayton, Ohio 45409