Richard was born Oct 20th, 1937 to Carl and Serena (Pritt) Bennett in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He had five siblings - Geraldine (Jerry), Carlis, Nancy, Sharon and Robert (Bob). After a stint in the military where he was promoted to Lieutenant, Rich got a job working in the mines.
On March 17th, 1962 he married Marolyn Kay Carpenter, and a daughter followed in April 1963. By November, he had moved his young family south in search of better work than the mines, and they relocated in Brevard County, Florida. Rich got a job working for the security firm Wackenhut, which had a contract with NASA to guard the newly-built spaceport at Cape Canaveral. This later became known as the John F. Kennedy Space Center, and Rich got to know many of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. While different companies would go on to provide security for Kennedy Space Center, the workforce would remain in place. Richard would stay at KSC until his retirement.
Sadly, his beloved wife Kay passed away in December of 2003, a loss he mourned for the rest of his life. He would divide his time between his house in Florida and property he owned in West Virginia adjacent to his sister Geraldine (Jerry) and her husband Paul. In the final years of his life, his daughter moved back into his house and the two of them would look after each other. He passed away suddenly on the afternoon of December 8th, 2018 - fifteen years to the day after losing Kay. His ashes were entombed next to hers on what would have been their 57th wedding anniversary. Now they are reunited side by side at Brevard Memorial Park, only a short drive from their home.
In his younger days Rich enjoyed fishing, and was a fair shadetree mechanic. He almost always had a home improvement project in the works. But in later years he was less and less able to do as much as he would have liked. His loss is keenly felt by his remaining family and friends.
On March 17th, 1962 he married Marolyn Kay Carpenter, and a daughter followed in April 1963. By November, he had moved his young family south in search of better work than the mines, and they relocated in Brevard County, Florida. Rich got a job working for the security firm Wackenhut, which had a contract with NASA to guard the newly-built spaceport at Cape Canaveral. This later became known as the John F. Kennedy Space Center, and Rich got to know many of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. While different companies would go on to provide security for Kennedy Space Center, the workforce would remain in place. Richard would stay at KSC until his retirement.
Sadly, his beloved wife Kay passed away in December of 2003, a loss he mourned for the rest of his life. He would divide his time between his house in Florida and property he owned in West Virginia adjacent to his sister Geraldine (Jerry) and her husband Paul. In the final years of his life, his daughter moved back into his house and the two of them would look after each other. He passed away suddenly on the afternoon of December 8th, 2018 - fifteen years to the day after losing Kay. His ashes were entombed next to hers on what would have been their 57th wedding anniversary. Now they are reunited side by side at Brevard Memorial Park, only a short drive from their home.
In his younger days Rich enjoyed fishing, and was a fair shadetree mechanic. He almost always had a home improvement project in the works. But in later years he was less and less able to do as much as he would have liked. His loss is keenly felt by his remaining family and friends.
Richard was born Oct 20th, 1937 to Carl and Serena (Pritt) Bennett in Buckhannon, West Virginia. He had five siblings - Geraldine (Jerry), Carlis, Nancy, Sharon and Robert (Bob). After a stint in the military where he was promoted to Lieutenant, Rich got a job working in the mines.
On March 17th, 1962 he married Marolyn Kay Carpenter, and a daughter followed in April 1963. By November, he had moved his young family south in search of better work than the mines, and they relocated in Brevard County, Florida. Rich got a job working for the security firm Wackenhut, which had a contract with NASA to guard the newly-built spaceport at Cape Canaveral. This later became known as the John F. Kennedy Space Center, and Rich got to know many of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. While different companies would go on to provide security for Kennedy Space Center, the workforce would remain in place. Richard would stay at KSC until his retirement.
Sadly, his beloved wife Kay passed away in December of 2003, a loss he mourned for the rest of his life. He would divide his time between his house in Florida and property he owned in West Virginia adjacent to his sister Geraldine (Jerry) and her husband Paul. In the final years of his life, his daughter moved back into his house and the two of them would look after each other. He passed away suddenly on the afternoon of December 8th, 2018 - fifteen years to the day after losing Kay. His ashes were entombed next to hers on what would have been their 57th wedding anniversary. Now they are reunited side by side at Brevard Memorial Park, only a short drive from their home.
In his younger days Rich enjoyed fishing, and was a fair shadetree mechanic. He almost always had a home improvement project in the works. But in later years he was less and less able to do as much as he would have liked. His loss is keenly felt by his remaining family and friends.
On March 17th, 1962 he married Marolyn Kay Carpenter, and a daughter followed in April 1963. By November, he had moved his young family south in search of better work than the mines, and they relocated in Brevard County, Florida. Rich got a job working for the security firm Wackenhut, which had a contract with NASA to guard the newly-built spaceport at Cape Canaveral. This later became known as the John F. Kennedy Space Center, and Rich got to know many of the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. While different companies would go on to provide security for Kennedy Space Center, the workforce would remain in place. Richard would stay at KSC until his retirement.
Sadly, his beloved wife Kay passed away in December of 2003, a loss he mourned for the rest of his life. He would divide his time between his house in Florida and property he owned in West Virginia adjacent to his sister Geraldine (Jerry) and her husband Paul. In the final years of his life, his daughter moved back into his house and the two of them would look after each other. He passed away suddenly on the afternoon of December 8th, 2018 - fifteen years to the day after losing Kay. His ashes were entombed next to hers on what would have been their 57th wedding anniversary. Now they are reunited side by side at Brevard Memorial Park, only a short drive from their home.
In his younger days Rich enjoyed fishing, and was a fair shadetree mechanic. He almost always had a home improvement project in the works. But in later years he was less and less able to do as much as he would have liked. His loss is keenly felt by his remaining family and friends.
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