A Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m., with a visitation starting at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, February 13, 2021 with Fr. Don Farnan officiating at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 900 NE Shady Lane Dr., Kansas City, MO 64118. Richard will be laid to rest beside his wife of 54 years in Resurrection Cemetery, Kansas City, MO following services.
Richard was born in White River, SD to William E. and Gertrude (Wolfe) Chamberlain on October 12, 1924, the first of eight children. He attended a vocational agricultural program at Brookings State College in South Dakota before serving in the army in Guam. After the army, he completed aircraft mechanic training at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa OK. It was there that he met his future wife, Betty Storbeck. They were married in Tulsa on April 24, 1954. Within the first year of their marriage, they moved to Kansas City, MO where he started working for TWA as an airplane mechanic. He retired from TWA after working there for almost 30 years.
Richard and Betty bought a house in Gladstone where they raised three children and cared for eight grandchildren. Richard was a member of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic church for 65 years. He belonged to the Knights of Columbus and was part of the group that made wooden toys for Catholic Charities Christmas Shining Star program. He loved joining the choir at St. Charles in his later years. And even though he didn't always hear too well he was a very social person and enjoyed playing cards with several different groups. But one of the most memorable things about Richard was that he was always a happy person with a ready smile. If he ever had a bad day you would never know it by the way he treated the people around him.
He leaves behind his children, Lynn Smith, Bob Chamberlain and Lisa Scholl; 8 grandchildren, Cassandra Smith, Alex Smith, Zoey Chamberlain, Elizabeth Scholl, Ross Chamberlain, Jennifer Scholl,
Robert Smith and Jamie Daniel; 6 great-grandchildren, Zeke, Tyler, Paxx, Victoria, Freya and Casper.
He also leaves behind two of his brothers, Charles and Edward Chamberlain.
Pallbearers will be Cassandra Smith, Alex Smith, Zoey Chamberlain, Ross Chamberlain, Elizabeth Scholl and Jennifer Scholl.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: St. Charles Borromeo Church.
