Richard Edward Stahla

Richard Stahla, with an abiding faith in Christ, an engaging personality, and as a leader in many organizations and activities, entered into his heavenly home Friday, October 24, 2025, at age 93, following a brief illness.

A memorial service and celebration of his life will take place at MacKenzie Place—The Lodge in Fort Collins, Colo., at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 1.

Rich was born January 8, 1932, to Phil and Lydia Stahla in Kimball, Neb., where his family owned a nearby dairy farm. He began attending a rural school when he was 4 years old and began helping his father milk 25 cows by hand twice a day when he was 10.

Rich was only 12 in the fall of 1944 when he entered Kimball High School. The next year, the Stahla’s sold the farm and moved to Kimball but remained in the dairy business. They purchased milk from farmers, processed and bottled it, and delivered it to homes in Kimball and nearby towns.

He was the youngest and also the smallest boy in his high school class until he was a senior, when he went out for football and became a starting lineman. He also was a sprinter on the track team and pitched or played third base for the American Legion baseball team. Newspaper clippings that his mother saved reveal that he once struck out 18 batters while pitching all 13 innings during a win over Gering.

Just a month after graduating from high school, Rich’s father had a severe heart attack. It forced Rich to manage the family business for the next two years. By the fall of 1950, the elder Stahla had recovered, and Rich enrolled at Chadron State College.

After a year and a half of college, with the draft board breathing down his neck because of the Korean War, Rich joined the Navy. When he graduated from basic training, he was voted the “Honorman” for his company, consisting of about 90 men. The award recognized his leadership, sportsmanship, military bearing, and initiative.

In addition, he was one of three finalists for the “American Spirit Honor Medal,” which was presented to the top graduate from among the 1,700 men who made up 19 companies.

Immediately after basic training was completed, Rich returned to Kimball and married a tall, attractive brunette, Joyce Marcum. The couple observed their 73rd anniversary on July 6 this past summer.

He served four years in the Navy as a Communications Technician 2nd Class Petty Officer. After spending nearly a year taking advanced training at a communication technician school in California, he was among the select few in what was called “radio fingerprinting and radio direction finding,” involving keeping tabs on Russian military vessels in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. One of his assignments was at a communications base on the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, where no dependents were allowed, and Joyce stayed with her parents in Kimball.

When the young couple returned to Kimball, his parents were operating Stahla’s Burger Inn. After Rich and Joyce helped operate it for a few years, they opened an A&W Root Beer Drive-In also in Kimball. In 1962 they moved to Chadron and constructed another A&W Root Beer Drive-In.

It was a busy place, open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day of the week. It wasn’t a “get-rich-quick” proposition. In the early years, a mug of root beer was less than a quarter, a gallon was 75 cents, malts were 30 cents, hamburgers 25 cents, and a 12-inch combination pizza was $1.65.

The A&W provided the first jobs for many Chadron youths, who often became lifelong friends of the family. The business was expanded to include a dining facility in 1975.

Always one who willingly became involved in the community, Rich joined an array of organizations and was deeply involved in serving and promoting Chadron for more than half a century.

He served as president of the Chadron Jaycees and the Rotary Club, was a volunteer fireman for both Kimball and Chadron, and supported the Chadron High and Chadron State booster clubs. He was on the school board seven years, served two terms on the hospital board, was a Chamber of Commerce ambassador, the Dawes County Heart Fund chairman, sponsored and coached a Little League baseball team for 14 years, received both the Jaycees’ Distinguished Service and Boss of the Year awards, and was a member of the Gideons Camp for many years. Rich and Joyce were also members of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

He also was the community’s interim economic development chairman twice and was on the board of a savings and loan firm. In addition, he was on the National A&W Advisory Council for 14 years and became an executive board member.

Rich is preceded in death by his son, Dale. He is survived by his loving wife of 73 years, Joyce; his three children, Teresa (Max) Ross of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Tammy (Steve) Carlisle of Gilbert, Arizona; and Rex (Vanessa) Stahla of Livermore, Colorado; along with 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, including two sets of identical twins. One of the grandchildren, Jason Corbit, will conduct the services on Saturday.

A memorial has been established to provide more Scriptures to be distributed worldwide by Gideons International. Contributions may be sent to the Chadron Camp at P.O. Box 1244, Chadron, NE 69337.