James Richard Anthony

He attended Shortridge High School and Indiana University and was a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity. He was captain of the wrestling team for three years and received the Balfour Award for outstanding achievement. He also received All-American honors in 1955. Dick went to the Olympic wrestling trials in 1956. One of his favorite memories from IU was riding in The Little 500.

During his time at IU, he met the love of his life, Beverly Mattox, while studying at the library. He often said this was best thing that happened to him in college. They were married on October 14, 1956. Together they had four children.

Dick served in the Army before he founded Auto-Safe Corporation in the 1960’s when seat belts for cars were first introduced. Auto-Safe later became IMMI, a premier leader in safety systems around the world. Chances are, if you were born after 1970, you have been protected at some point by one of the products developed by Dick Anthony. He worked hard but he also loved traveling with his family. He looked forward to traveling to Nestor Falls, Ontario, Canada with the entire family for an annual vacation. He loved fishing and had several trophies to prove it.

He was a devout Christian and was active in men’s Bible Studies. He served on a committee that brought The Billy Graham Crusade to Indianapolis and even spoke at the Crusade. He loved to read and gave away thousands of Bibles and Christian books during his life. Beverly called him the “Johnny Appleseed” of book giving. He wrote two books: “God’s Amazing and Enabling Grace” and “Winning Perspectives in Picture and Rhyme”.

Dick was preceded in death by his parents, sister Betty (Frank) Vincent, and most recently his beloved daughter, Betsy (Rob) Gordon.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 69 years, Beverly, daughter Julie Summerville, son Tom (Shellie) Anthony, daughter Suzy (Tony) Wilhelm, Eight grandchildren: Ronnie Anthony, Renee (Zach) Goodman, Katy (Manny) Bravo, Lily Wilhelm, Joey Wilhelm, Indy Wilhelm, Trent Gordon, Taylor Gordon, and two great grandchildren: Arthur and Emyrs Goodman. He is also survived by many nieces and one nephew.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Samaritan's Purse

A visitation for Dick will be held at Crown Hill Funeral Home, located at 700 W. 38th St., Indianapolis, IN, 46208, on November 15, 2025, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm followed by a funeral service at 1:00PM. The service will be available for live streaming at the following link: https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c25118491671456

Dick will be laid to rest privately at Crown Hill Cemetery, located at 700 W 38th St, Indianapolis.