I met Dick at the St Louis army induction center on January 16th 1956. Being a dumb country boy, and Dick could tell it, he helped me a great deal by giving me pointers & what to expect. I remember him vividly & will always cherish his memory. THANKS,  Charlie Naas, Ridgway Illinois.

Dick gave me moral support at the army induction center in St Louis around January 16-17/1956. He was older and wiser than I. Sorry that he passed.  Thanks ----Charles Naas Ridgway, Illinois

My name is Alan Lewis Gerstenecker, and I worked with Dick as a fellow copy editor at the Belleville News-Democrat in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  Richard was a knowledgeable fellow journalist, with whom I always respected. To now learn of his passing deeply saddens me. To his family, I am sorry for your loss, as I feel I, too, have lost a true friend and colleague. God bless your soul, Richard! 

I spent 12 and a half years sitting next to him at the Belleville News-Democrat. We'd get off late from work, and we were wound up from making deadline. We'd find a couple of drinks before the bars closed and talked about whatever came into our heads. We were always understaffed, but Dick was a steady hand who took pride in careful editing and love for language. He was my jazz buddy. We listened to a lot of good music in Belleville and around St. Louis. He even liked Farshid-Et-Niko, which was best described by a band member as Persian Grateful Dead.  He was all about Catholicism, First Amendment and labor unions. He could tell a story like a good journalist could. Most of all, he was a nice man and a happy man. I knew his memory had been getting worse in later years. We lost touch because his phone number would change and the email address I had for him went unanswered. With my health issues, I was laying low during the pandemic. When I saw the Delta variant was getting strong in Missouri, I thought I'd better get over to his house on July 22 while I felt up to it. His son told me he had passed. I wanted to tell him about the only Globe-Democrat newspaper box I had ever seen. I didn't get here until 1995. I thought he would get a kick out of it. The newspaper box was in a coffee shop in downtown Belleville. Of course, I immediately thought of Dick. I guess I'll have to tell him about it later. I enjoyed seeing the pictures, especially the one of him with one of his sons in front of a typewriter. That's the way I'll always remember him: where he felt comfortable, in front of a keyboard. I saved the photo to my computer.  Mostly, though, I'll remember him as always being good company.

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HOFFMEISTER COLONIAL MORTUARY

Richard Goldkamp

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Richard J. Goldkamp

December 31, 1933 – May 16, 2021

Hoffmeister Colonial Mortuary

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