Richard Victor Werling

When Richard Victor Werling was born on August 10, 1924, in Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, his father, Vincent, was 20 and his mother, Marian, was 18. He was the oldest of two boys raised in this family. In the mid 1930s, his family moved to his parent’s hometown of Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio. In 1942, Richard received his diploma from Calvert High School. He was a great athlete who played guard for the #32 basketball team. In addition to being the football team's quarterback (#15), he served as co-captain in his last season.

On his eighteenth birthday, Richard enlisted in the US Marines. During World War II, he served in the  Marine Division as a Platoon Sergeant with Company B, 25th Regiment.  Richard received two Purple Heart awards. He saw action in the Battle of Kwajalein (where he was  struck by shrapnel in his thigh), Saipan-Tinian, and Iwo-Jima (where he led troops under intense fire and sustained an abdominal wound while carrying a wounded soldier). Richard received a Letter of Commendation from his commanding general along with a telegram from Vice President Harry Truman for his actions in Iwo-Jima. After World War II, Richard remained in the Marine Corp Reserves and was called back during the Korean War and stationed in Quantico, Virginia. The war ended before he saw action. Richard resigned from the US Marines in 1952 with a rank of First Lieutenant.

After the war, Richard married Helen Louise Gregg on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1946. Helen was born on May 26, 1925, in Tiffin to Maxwell and Gladys [Osterwalter] Gregg. Maxwell, Helen's father, passed away when she was twelve. When Helen was seventeen, her mother wed James Werba. Helen attended Columbian High School (Tiffin) and graduated in 1943. Richard and Helen raised three children (Gregg, Christopher and Richard II). In the 1960s, he contributed to the construction of more than 500 Burger Chef restaurants across the US. In the middle of the 1970s, he was a general contractor in Carmel, Indiana and then moved to Florida in 1977 and worked for Clarence Crobaugh & Associates. Richard owned his own construction business, House Masters, Inc., in Florida while working as a general contractor. Richard was an avid sports fan and often played golf. He and Helen were prolific bridge players and known to stay up all night playing cards with Richard's Aunt Ruth and her husband, Lou. 

Richard died on July 18, 1983, in Treasure Island, Pinellas, Florida, at the age of 58. Helen died on July 30, 2014, in Seminole, Pinellas, Florida at the age of 89.