Richard "Dick" John Finkbeiner

Richard “Dick" John Finkbeiner – Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather, Craftsman, Teacher Richard John Finkbeiner, 86, passed away quietly after a brief illness on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at York Hospital, York, Pennsylvania, surrounded by his loving family. He was married for 61 years to the love of his life, Jeannette Elaine Smith, and together they raised five children. Richard was born in Chicago, Illinois to John Thomas Finkbeiner and Florence May Cooper on March 2, 1936. Professionally, he worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, first as a Field Inspector in rural Illinois, finally as a program administrator for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, DC. He was a husband, father, grandfather, surrogate father, carpenter, craftsman, teacher, mentor, aspiring lawyer, USN veteran – but always most importantly to him, a family man. In the 1970’s, Richard and his spouse Jeannette designed and built their family home themselves from scratch – stick by stick – in rural Moyaone Reserve, Accokeek, Maryland, with the help of their five children. Recently, Richard and Jeannette relocated to a wonderful community in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Richard enjoyed fellowship with his family, tinkering, building almost anything, many years of square dancing, sailing on the Chesapeake, RV camping, hiking in the Shenandoah National Park, and motorcycling. Richard is survived by his loving spouse Jeannette Finkbeiner; by their children and spouses John and Deborah Finkbeiner, Brenda and Mitchell Wallace, Deborah and James Frost, David and Lee-Lin Finkbeiner, and Robert Finkbeiner; by their grandchildren and spouses Ryan and Carly, Kyle and Jess, Brandon and Savannah, Anna, Jessika and Patrick, Jacob, Sydney, Samantha, Grace, Jonathan, Daniel; by great-grandchildren Lilly, Adelyn, Emilia, Owen, and Olivia. In addition to his parents, Richard was predeceased by his siblings Joyce, Ronald, and Thomas. Our brother Robert captured the family’s sentiments (edited): “Now more than ever, now that he has moved on to his afterlife and Heavenly Reward, we should all rally around Mom and provide our own "envelope of support" in whatever ways we can. “Henceforward, we carry on his legacy in our minds and hearts. The key to truly keeping his legacy alive is through the recollecting and sharing of stories, as well as sharing a smattering of pictures taken throughout the years. In this way, even now, it will be like he is always with us, now and forever. “Each of us have in turn, from an early age, been molded and shaped into responsible, caring, empathetic, middle-aged adults by him. The success of each of us is directly attributable to the firm, but loving raising we received as children. Even with the passing of our patriarch, the enduring legacy of our father will always remain intact in all of us.” In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Richard’s memory to the Amblebrook community NEAR Program NEAR, Inc., PO Box 4193, Gettysburg, PA 17325; nearamblebrook@gmail.com or Daughters of the American Revolution www.dar.org A private Celebration of Life is scheduled in the coming weeks in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Contact the family at rjf.celebration@gmail.com for details.