Richard Dwight Seifried, 91, passed away peacefully on Dec. 29, 2019, at Friends Care Community in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He was born June 23, 1928, in Piqua, Ohio, to father William Stoeffer Seifried and mother Catherine Isabelle (Carey) Seifried.
Preceded in death by wives Betty (Romer) Seifried and Norma Jean (Galeener) Seifried, he is survived by his son Steven (Ann) Seifried; daughters Carol (Ercell) Day, Jane (Tom) Shafer, Julie (Dave) Fisher, and Amy Stephens; and sister Diane (Rick) Robbins. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Richard grew up in Piqua, Ohio, but a trip west while in high school set in motion a long life of travel and adventure. He served America during the Korean War with the U.S. Army from 1950-52, returned home and initiated his life-long thirst for education at Ohio State University (Bachelor of Science in Education), then continued his studies at the University of Montana (Master of Science in Education) and Wright State University (postgraduate work).
His career as an educator of history led him from American Samoa to Oakwood High School in Dayton, Ohio, but it didn’t stop there. During his summers (then winters after retirement), he continued teaching for the National Park Service, first in fire service in Idaho, then as a ranger naturalist leading hikes and delivering fireside talks in several national parks and monuments (including Mt. Rainier, Crater Lake, Glacier, Olympic, and Organ Pipe Cactus).
His extensive travels covered many, many more of our country’s beautiful (and historical) places, and his love of history compelled him to follow the trail of Lewis and Clark at the ripe young age of 80!
Richard was also a successful writer who authored numerous books including A Voice from the Forest and the Wolf Man trilogy, and he maintained a monthly writer’s blog, Signal Hill Musings, for many years, which will continue in memoriam at signalhillmusings.com.
His other hobbies included wilderness hiking, spelunking, reading, and investigating/researching UFO sightings and phenomena.
Richard had a deep passion for wolves and an intense desire to protect all endangered species, and that carried over to love of his own pets, especially his very special dogs and cats. Though in failing health the last few years of his life, Richard continued his love of reading and writing, and of course teaching a little history to anyone when the chance presented itself. He even organized and contributed his life story, the Richard Dwight Seifried Collection, to Wright State University Archives and Wright State University’s Veterans Voices Project, which is also catalogued with the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.
He will be missed by his friends and family, and all others who got a chance to know him. Special thank-yous go out to caregivers at Friends Care and to the Greene County Library Outreach Program for faithfully providing books to him over the past three years.
In lieu of a traditional funeral service, a celebration of his life will occur on Saturday, June 20, 2020, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the lower picnic area at John Bryan State Park just outside of Yellow Springs. Those who can’t attend but want to honor Richard should take a purposeful walk on a favorite trail on that day or on his birthday, June 23.