Richard Harvey Childress

Richard Harvey Childress, 84, died peacefully at his home in Haile Plantation, Gainesville, Florida on Monday, October 24, 2016. He was born January 29, 1932 in Lawrenceville, Illinois, the son of Marjorie Orene Childress (Harbaugh) and Robert Kenneth Childress. He grew up alongside his older brother, Robert Kenneth, Jr, in Olney, Illinois. His family had lived in Southeastern Illinois for generations. He graduated from East Richland High School in 1949. After one year at the University of Tulsa, he entered the United States Naval Academy graduating with a BS in Engineering in 1954. He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He married Mary Lou Gerhart in 1958. Although they did not know each other well growing up, prior to his birth, his mother had held her future daughter-in-law as a newborn. Working as a marine guard at the US Capitol and with a young baby, he put himself through law school with his wife's help at the George Washington University School of Law graduating in 1960. Subsequently, he completed chemistry coursework at Northwestern University in Chicago and all required coursework for a PhD in Chemistry from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. He had a long and successful career as a corporate patent attorney working at US Gypsum Company in Chicago and Monsanto Company in St. Louis. In Indianapolis, Indiana, he was Patent Counsel, Associate General Counsel and Secretary at P.R. Mallory & Co, Inc, the maker of Duracell batteries. After several years at United Technologies in Hartford, Connecticut; in 1976, he became Director of Patents and Trademarks at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, retiring in 1991. He served on the Executive Committee of the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel, the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Board of Governors of the Pacific Industrial Property Association and Committee Chairman of its Japan/United States Group. He was a member of the US Supreme Court, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and numerous other courts and state bars. He was registered to practice at the US and Canadian Patent Offices and served as an international patent arbitrator. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville, Haile Plantation Golf & Country Club, and was a Blue and Gold Officer for the US Naval Academy. While an Akron, Ohio resident, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Akron General Medical Center and the Board of Directors of its Litchfield Rehabilitation Center, serving as Litchfield's Secretary and Chairman. He was a founding member of St Mark's Presbyterian Church in Ballwin, Missouri. Having suddenly lost both his father as a high school senior and his brother in early adulthood, he was a devoted son to his mother, Marjorie O. King, until her death in 1999. An infant daughter; his stepfather, Clyde H. King; his stepbrothers, John and Richard King; and step-sister, Martha Bundy, also preceded him in death. He is survived by his loving wife, Mary Lou Childress; his three children, Marjorie Alene Delatour Crawford and her husband, Dr John Crawford, of Ft Worth, Texas, Lindsay Childress-Beatty and her husband, Paul C. Beatty of Kensington, Maryland, and Richard Kenneth Childress and his wife Raimonde, of Ft Myers, Florida; along with grandchildren, Walker and William Delatour, Preston and Campbell Beatty, Matthew, Isabella and Connor Childress, and Doroteja and Teodoras Bubulis. He is also survived by his nephew and wife, James and Patricia Griffiths; his brother-in-law and wife, Robert and Marion Gerhart, and their children and grandchildren; as well as his extended King stepfamily. Following services in Gainesville, Florida, he will be laid to rest at the Lawrenceville City Cemetery in Lawrenceville, Illinois with graveside rites on Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 2:00 PM CST. Emmons-Macey & Steffey Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to a deserving charity.