Richard (Dick) Keith Runkle

June 8, 1939 – March 6, 1986

Lived 46 years

New Teegarden · Union City, Ohio

"Let me tell you, he is the hole in my heart. His death is my scar. But let me tell you something, his memory drives me forward every single day of my life."

In service to country

Thank you for your service

Richard served in the armed forces. We honor that service here.

Life story

Richard Keith Runkle Jr was the first born son of Richard Keith Runkle Sr. and Esther Louise Smith Runkle. He was born on June 8th, 1939 in Union City, Ohio Darke County. He was soon joined by his sister Judie and his brother Jack. Dick Junior or Junior as he was called grew up in Union City and graduated as the class president of Missiniwa High School in 1957. He received an appointment to the Air Force Academy which he later had to turn down for unforseen reasons. He got his Bachelors Degree from Miami University in Oxford Ohio and his Masters from Chapman College. While at Miami he played the trombone in the college band and was a member of ROTC. After college he taught high school band for one year before joing the United States Air Force where he went to flight school and became a bomber pilot.

In April of 1966, Dick met Carol Christine Cramer, an RN from the local hospital in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and six months later they were married. On May 21, 1969, while stationed at Wright Patterson AFB, their son Robert Keith Runkle was born. Approximately 18 months later on January 21, 1971, while stationed in Okinawa, Japan, their adorable daughter Kristin Louise was born completing their small family.

Through the years, following Dick's military career, they lived in North Dakota, Alabama, Texas, Dayton, Japan, New York, California, Nebraska, Indiana, England, and Louisiana. During this time he was part of Strategic Air Command and flew C-130s, B-52s, and KC135s as well as being a squadron commander and part of Eighth Air Force. He was patriotic through and through and truly loved his country.

From the perspective of his daughter:

Dad loved mom totally and completely. In fact, as a kid, we did not mess with mom or we heard from dad. I never had any doubt for a moment how much my dad loved my mom.

Church was always a priority and wherever we went, we attended church every Sunday (typically Lutheran unless one wasn't available). Both Mom and Dad were always very involved singing in the choir and teaching bible study. At one point they even sent us to a private Luther School.

Dad was very big into experiences. When we lived overseas we travelled a lot so got to see some amazing places. These are some of my fondest times with my dad. He was very big into genealogy and while we were in Germany we even visited the village of Runkel, That was such a memorable trip. While in England we went all over the place and often Mom and Dad would take off on a Sunday and go for a drive.

Dad was a mix of funny and serious. He had a dry sense of humor and sometimes you had to look twice to make sure he was joking. He loved music, really all kinds of music, I truly believe music was part of his soul. He loved cars, in fact one of his most exciting moments was driving his Merceds on the Autobahn in Germany. He never ever bought a car before calling his dad first.

If I were to describe my dad in a few words I would say he loved God, his family, and his country. He was fiercely loyal to people that were important to him, and took great pride in his role as a pilot in the Air Force. My dad was a loving, christian, patriotic, hard working, family oriented man.

Read the obituary

Photos

See all 43