Ronald W Wilkinson
I have many memories of Rich but the ones that stand out most vividly are the ones from our growing-up years. In Philadelphia our world was the concrete driveway between two row houses. We created our own games and played them in the brick canyon. Before the developers found them, we had some vacant lots with trees to climb. We were all adventurous but Rich was the most daring and usually the first to try something.
We moved to Charleston, SC when Rich was 9 yrs old. We went to a country school on James Island (1 - 8grade). Kids in the 6th grade did not have to wear shoes to school. i was disappointed since I was in the 7th grade -- Bill & Rich thought it was great. We had an idyllic boyhood in the 1950's. Swimming in the Stono River, climbing trees, riding our bikes all over the island -- all without "adult supervision." Our parents gave us a great gift: they let us be kids.
Two years later we entered the Florida beach world and it was fun. We would float in inner tubes in the nearby creek - going downstream with the outgoing tide & back again as the tide rose. We learned to water ski. As I recall Rich made the process seem so easy. He was a natural.
Rich was the only one of us 3 boys to have a chemistry set & that was interesting. Electricity came naturally to Rich. He built a digital clock out of diodes, wires & other parts. He once took apart a desk clock that wasn't working & fixed it. Just to catch our attention, he replaced the paper face with numbers on it upside down. He could always find a way to make us laugh. On our road trips North he was always the first to ask "are we there yet?"
I will miss him more than I can express here.
Ron W.