William Richard:
CLASS OF 1955
Bay High SchoolClass of 1955
Bay village, OH
Oak Junior High SchoolClass of 1951
Royal oak, MI
Royal Oak High SchoolClass of 1951
Royal oak, MI
Royal Oak High SchoolClass of 1951
Royal oak, MI
Washington Elementary SchoolClass of 1948
Royal oak, MI
William's Story
Life
At Ohio State University I joined the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, where I lived for my final three years of undergraduate school. Upon graduation, in 1959, I returned to my alma mater, Bay High School, in Bay Village Ohio, as a member of the faculty. August 5, 1961, I married Dianne Toensing ("Tonie"--BHS Class of 1960). We had three children together. In 1963, having decided that I would rather eat than teach, I left the BHS faculty. I enrolled in Cleveland-Marshall Law School (Now "Cleveland-Marshall College of Law of Cleveland State University") where I joined Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity, International, and enjoyed more success than I had ever anticipated. In 1967, I graduated with my J.D. degree (No. 11 in a class of 110 graduates), passed the Ohio Bar exam, and co-founded the firm of Reddy, Gygli, Rocker, Richard, and Ruben, with two of my Delta Theta Phi fraternity brothers, and leased space in the Leader Bldg., where I remained throughout my law career. Also in that year I served as president of the Exchange Club of Bay Village. In 1968, William H. Thomas, Esq., a past International Chancellor of Delta Theta Phi, dissolved the law firm he had founded with George Hartshorn in 1913, and with him, I founded the firm of Hartshorn, Thomas, & Richard in 1969. Tonie and I divorced in 1970.
I married Diana Mraz of Parma, Ohio, December 30, 1971. No children were born of this marriage. In 1973, I built my dream house over two docks on Clifton lagoon, in Lakewood, Ohio, and obtained custody of my three children. Dianna & I divorced in May of 1975.
June 26, 1976, I married Susan Shaw (BHS-1959), whom I had introduced to her first husband in 1956 at Huntington Beach, where he and I earned our way through college. Their five children became my stepchildren. (My stepdaughter, Alice Ripley, won a Tony Award o...Expand for more
n June 7, 2009, for best performance by a leading actress in a musical [Diana, in Next To Normal]) We divorced in June, 1979.
1983 was an eventful year for me. I married Pamela Downey, of Shaker Heights on January 26, acquiring my youngest stepdaughter, Debi. (Child No. 9) In september, I retired from the practice of law and moved to Ft. Myers, FL., where I became the managing vice-president of a small advertising agency (a subsidiary of a client company from my Cleveland law practice), which became Florida's most award-winning agency during my two-year tenure.
During the entire period from 1967 to 1985 I arbitrated labor-management disputes as a part-time side-line. In 1985, I went full-time and continue as a full-time arbitrator to this day. I also paint and sell watercolors, and serve as a periodic adjunct Professor of Business Law at Edison State College. I have been presented with honorary citizenships and keys to the city by five major American cities. I served as the International Chancellor (president) of Delta Theta Phi International from 1977 to 1979, and as the president-elect of the Professional InterFraternity Conference from 1975 to 1977. I am an FAA licensed pilot and a Coast Guard certified "six-pack" Captain. In my almost non-existant "spare time" I travel, and paint and sell watercolors. (Visit "Richard.Studiohill.com") My 9 children and stepchildren have presented me with 8 grandchildren, so far. I have visited every continent except South America, Australia, and Antarctica; all but a handful of Caribbean Islands; and every state but Alaska. My life has been far richer than I had ever dared to hope, and I have much for which to be grateful. All things considered, I'm doing pretty well for an old Phaart who started life as a bewildered kid in the then blue-collar town of Royal Oak, Michigan.
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