Richard “Dick” Eckenrode born on December 24, 1932, in Harrisburg PA, passed quietly on September 9, 2024, at the age of 91.

The youngest of three siblings, Dick graduated from Bishop McDevitt Catholic High School, where he was a drummer and an avid tennis player. He attended Penn State University for three semesters before entering the Air Force where he worked as an airplane mechanic for his four-year commitment in New Castle County Airport, Delaware, eventually becoming the Crew Chief of an F94C.

Upon completion of his years of service, he married Catherine Ryan (Kate) Stark, whom he’d met on a blind date at Penn State. Dick attended St. Louis University on the GI bill and obtained his Aeronautical Engineering degree. As a young engineer at McDonnell Aircraft, Dick worked with NASA on the Mercury project. He co-designed the Gemini spacecraft’s instrument panel and trained the original seven astronauts on how to work the panel, including John Glenn, Alan Shepherd, Gus Grissom and later Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.

Dick moved his family to Norwalk, Connecticut in 1963 where he was elected to the City Council and later declined to run for mayor, preferring to spend his time with his family. He worked as an engineer at Dunlap and Associates for two decades and was recruited by the government after the Three Mile Island incident to review and report on the accident. He moved to Maryland to work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission where his job was reviewing the design of 104 nuclear power plant control rooms throughout the U.S., Japan and Canada. After that, he did the design review of the reactor control panel of the Virginia class of submarines. Each sub built today relies on the same design. 

Upon retirement, Dick and Kate moved to the Peregrine community of Colorado Springs, which he loved. He joined St. Francis of Assisi’s Knights of Columbus and played tennis at The Garden of the Gods Country Club three times a week. Dick was a quiet, strong anchor for the family, but also funny, generous, and no-nonsense. He loved his family and his many rescue dogs. Kate preceded him in death after 58 years of marriage.

He is survived by three children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren: son John Thaddeus (Tad)  Eckenrode of St. Louis, his wife Cindy and their daughters Annika and Lily; daughter Judith Leslie (Judy) Eckenrode Porter of Dallas and her children: Theodore Daniel (Danny) Porter Jr., of Maryland, wife Claire and their twins, Kit and Teddy, Judy’s twin sons Robert Leo and Timothy Richard Porter of Irving Texas, and her daughter Jennifer Louise (Jenny) Porter of Colorado Springs; daughter Ellen Louise (Lou) Eckenrode Eftimoff and her husband, James, of Reno NV and their son James (JT) and daughter Amy.

Dick's Celebration of Life service is 11 am on Thursday, Sept. 19, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 2650 Parish View, Colorado Springs, CO  80919.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Humane Society of Pikes Peak: https://www.hsppr.org/