Richard C. Kist

Richard Clark Kist passed away on November 12, 2024. On December 22, he would have turned 92. Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, he was the son of Dorothy Fuhrman Keller, Frank Kist, and beloved stepfather, Karl Keller. A proud graduate of Buchtel High School (Class of 1950), Richard served in the U.S. Army, stateside, during the Korean period and studied under the G.I. Bill, graduating from The University of Akron, with a degree in Business, in 1957.

Richard (Dick) worked in human resources for four decades, starting with B.F. Goodrich in 1957, continuing with the Lawson Milk Company, and Fotomat, and serving as Department Manager for the Medina County Commissioners. In 1998, he started his second career as Special Projects Manager for the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, only fully retiring in 2017, at age 85.

Marrying his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Levering Kist, in 1957, Dick affiliated with her church, The First Baptist Church, and he continued his life as a Christian, selflessly volunteering for the church up until the day he left us. His family was everything to him as he organized for them and thought about them and made lists for them through his last hours. Dick is survived by Dorothy and his three children, William (Stephanie), Nancy, and Joseph (Jo Ann), plus his five grandchildren: Jackie, Joey, Mariel, Liam and Vivi. Dick was a devoted husband who, towards the end, spent his body taking care of his beloved Dorothy, his “toots.” An avid reader, golfer and all-around handyman, Dick loved his dogs, starting with Butch, his childhood pet, and ending with his final dog, Rusty, who survives him. In lieu of flowers, the family is suggesting gifts to One-of-a-Kind Pets, https://www.oneofakindpets.com.

 A brief Memorial Service will be held SATURDAY, November 30, 2024 at 2:30 P.M. at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. Akron, OH 44333, with a chance to meet the family 90 minutes prior to the service.

We, his children, could tell throughout our lives how loved our father was. He was loved by the guys making ice cream in the plant at Lawson’s, and by the Teamster truck drivers at the warehouse, and by the beauticians he supervised at AMHA, and by the beautiful people at Ohio Living Rockynol who took care of him during his final months. He was still knocking it out of the park! We wish he would have written a book and put down on paper some of his wry stories about military grandees from his Army days. And tales of his colorful childhood with his Michigan Kist relatives and with his loving Motor Rim salesman stepfather, Karl Keller--they used to watch Friday-night fights together while eating peanut butter and saltine sandwiches. His book would have included some of the road-trip adventures he had with his lifelong friends from Buchtel High School (Class of ’50), and what it felt like to say goodbye to most of them. And he could have written about his last sobering health challenges and how he met them with the grace and deadpan humor he displayed throughout his long life. Running through it all would have been the enduring love story he lived since ninth grade with his May Queen, Dorothy, a love story that has endured and inspired us especially through these recent years of his dedication to taking care of her. Of course, he would have seen such a memoir as too show-offy. In fact, in his classic spare fashion, he helped to craft only the first paragraphs of this obituary. We had to add this last paragraph, emphasizing that his was a life well lived and one that will continue to live on in our memories for many years to come.

Services in care of Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory, Fairlawn Chapel 85 N. Miller Rd. Akron, OH 44333