Richard Edmonds Thacher

He was born in Amherst, MA, son of the late Henry Bangs Thacher, of Brockton, MA, and Alfretta Thacher (Edmonds) of Clay Center, KS. He attended Amherst High and after a year in the US Navy, graduated from his beloved Amherst College in 1949 and was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity.

He moved to New York City as an executive with the Monroe Calculating Machine Company. There he met Joy Elliott on a blind date and they were married for 57 years beginning in 1960. After living in Manhattan, He pioneered a new sales office for Gilbert Paper Company in Atlanta in 1963. The couple moved to Wyndham Hills in Sandy Springs where they lived and raised a family for 55 years. Dick was a long time member of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, the Cherokee Town & Country Club, and held Atlanta Falcons season tickets since their founding in 1966. Dick and Joy were avid bridge players and enjoyed many evenings of duplicate bridge parties with friends. Dick and Joy were world travelers in their retirement years with special attraction to Italy, the Canadian Rockies and their family get togethers in Maine. Dick was known as a gregarious and festive guest and “Grandad” was always garrulous, involved, and present at his grandchildren’s activities.

Dick was preceded in death by his loving wife Joy and sisters Marietta Thacher and Elisabeth Hitchcock. He is survived by his brother Christopher, Sister Juliana, daughter Christina, son Jeffery, and grandchildren Bailey, Andrew and Winslow Thacher.

A celebratory service will be held at 2 PM Saturday, August 11 at the chapel at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Dunwoody, GA. There will be a gathering there following the service.

There will be a burial service in Amherst, MA at the Wooded Section of the Wildwood Cemetery Saturday, September 22 at 11:30 AM, prior to the Amherst vs. Hamilton football game.

In lieu of flowers, kind donations may be made to Saint Luke’s Presbyterian Church General Fund, 1978 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody GA 30338 – 770-393-1424 or to Amherst College - The Annual Fund

Amherst College, P.O. Box 5000, Amherst, MA 01002-5000 or https://engage.amherst.edu/give/