Richard John Mellinger

On Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 11:03am, Richard John Mellinger of Crete, Illinois, loving husband of Barbara, and father of three children, and grandfather of six, passed away peacefully after a short illness at the age 86.

Richard was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania on April 3rd 1933 and moved with his family to Chicago in 1938. He graduated from Chicago Vocational High School, enlisted in the Navy, and was part of Seabee Mobile Construction Battalion #6. He was later assigned to Seabee Battalion ACB #2 where he saw combat when, along with the 1st Marine Division, they captured the occupied North Korean Yo-Do Island west of Wonsan Harbor.

After his discharge from the Navy, Richard worked for Longwood Sheet Metal in Chicago, and then joined St. John & Company where he was PlantSuperintendent for fourteen years. He later joined Prime Packing as Manager of Purchasing and Maintenance Operations for seven years, where he helped them grow to become one of the country’s largest packinghouses. During this time, he also formed Equip Manufacturing along with four partners. He later sold his interest in Equip and went to work for Indian Springs School District #109 in the Southwest suburbs of Cook County, Illinois, where he worked as the Director of Operations for eighteen years until his retirement in 1996.

Richard was preceded in death by his father Joseph, his mother Ann, his sister Joann (Jaroszewski) and her husband Lawrence. He is survived by his loving wife of sixty-one years, Barbara (nee Kurowski) and their three children, Roy (Pamela Arora), Russell (Judy Kirchoff), and Linda (Eric) Richardson, and his six devoted grandchildren Melissa, Kyle, JR, Kelly, Richard II (“Rick”) and Joseph. He was the uncle to James Jaroszewski and Dawn (Jeff) Kazmierski, and brother-in-law of Alexandra (Tom) Harder.

A longtime member of the American Legion, Richard served 5 years in the Chicago Roseland Post as Jr. Vice. After retiring and moving to Spring Hill, Florida in 1996 with his wife Barbara, Richard was actively involved in the local VFW Post #10209, the Army/Navy Mobile Riverine Force 9th Infantry Division, The Polish Legion of American Veterans (PLAV) Post #196, the Seabees Island X-6 where he served 2 years as Commander, the Korean War Veterans Association (KWVA) Chapter #174 where he served as Commander for 8 years, and the Korean War Veterans Legion (KWVL) #5053, a non-profit veteran’s organization he founded and organized, where he was the Commander for 4 years. Richard was responsible for architecting and drafting the plans and blueprints for the new VFW Post #10209 building in Springhill, Florida which was built and dedicated on November 1, 2007.

Always the showman and master of ceremony, as Commander of the Korean War Veterans he was well known for organizing spectacular Dinner, Dance and Show events that sold hundreds of tickets to raise fundsfor the veterans, and his annual Picnic Events with silly contests and games could always be counted on for countless laughs. Always an advocate for veterans, his Korean War Veterans Chapter sponsored numerous events at schools and ROTC gatherings, at animal shelters and at VA homes, and was one of the early sponsors of the Wounded Warrior Project, and collected and donated more money to the Wounded Warrior Project than any other veteran’s program in the state of Florida year after year, being officially recognized by members of the Florida State Legislature for their efforts.

In 2016 Richard and Barbara returned to the Chicago area to be closer to family.

Fond of his Chicago White Sox, Blackhawks, John Wayne and Western Cowboy Movies, he was active until the very end. He was loved by many and will be missed.

Memorial Visitation will be held on Thursday June 27, 2019 from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Smits Funeral Homes-Steger Memorial Chapel 3045 Chicago Rd. Steger, IL. Internment Services will include a Military Honors Funeral and will be held on Friday, June 28, 2019 at 11:30am at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois. For further information please contact Smits Funeral Home at 708-755-6100 or www.smitsfh.com