Richard D Odle, 87, of Singer Island, Florida, formerly of Jupiter, FL and Pittsburgh, PA, entered into eternal rest Wednesday, October 9, 2019. His funeral service, led by Rabbi Cookie Olshein of Temple Israel of West Palm Beach, FL, was held Friday, October 11, 2019 at I.J. Morris Star of David Cemetery in West Palm Beach, FL.
Rick was born December 24, 1931 in McKeesport, PA, the son of Joseph Odle and Lucy Rosenberg Odle. Defined by his family, friends, and his work, after a stint in Texas courtesy of the U.S. Army, and successful medals gathering at the 1941 Olympics, he returned to Western Pennsylvania and spent his entire career in the scrap metal recycling industry, starting in the early 1950’s at Tube City Iron & Metal Co of Glassport, PA. After some years, he co-founded International Alloys in Clairton, PA, before it merged with Steelmet, Inc in the mid 1960’s. Eventually he became a partner in Vac Air Alloys of Frewsburg, NY until it became a part of Keywell Corp (Baltimore, MD) where he became President and from which he ultimately retired in the late 2000’s.
Though he dabbled at golf, billiards, table tennis, and boating (and an expert backgammon player), his passion was business. To that end, Rick was integrally involved in many businesses over the years including TSI Metals (Philadelphia), Columbia Steel & Metal (Columbia, SC), Discount Debt (West Palm Beach), and Ricky O’s (Phoenix, AZ) among many others.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Bedzik of North Palm Beach, FL; three sons, Larry H Odle (Bonnie Utley) of Denver, CO, David Odle (Mindy) of Charleston, SC, Brian Henesey (Leticia) of Denver, CO; a daughter Deborah Odle (Gino Vitale) of San Diego, CA; five grandchildren, Roxanne Odle May (Zach), Pino Vitale, Melissa Cofar (Jason), Rachel Noyes (Dan), Aspen Lucy Odle, Mariah Clemente, and Audrianna Deegan; seven great-grandchildren, Willa Cofar, Max Cofar, Molly Noyes, Lucy Noyes, Paisley May, Lilly May, and Ace Richard May; and many special nieces, nephews, and of course all those life he touched along the way.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St Jude’s Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or online at stjude.org.
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