SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Richard Allen “Rich” Willette, 89, of Springfield, Vt., died Sept. 21, 2020. He was born in Springfield March 12, 1931, the son of Edward C. Willette and Ruby (Leeman) Willette.
He graduated from Springfield High School in 1949, completed the co-op course in 1950, and went to work for Fellows Gear Shaper Co building large gear-cutting machines. After returning from Korea in 1951, he transferred to the tool design department where he eventually became foreman. He was laid off in the business decline of the ’70s and, after a long period of unemployment, hired on as a tool designer with Sturm, Ruger & Co in Newport, N.H. where he spent the next 35 years, retiring in 2007.
Rich was a veteran of the Korean War where he served with the U.S Army 106th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Co. on the outskirts of Pusan. Upon returning home, he spent nine years in the Army Reserves, leaving the military at the rank of staff sargent.
He joined the Barbershop Quartet Society where he served as chapter secretary, president, and sometimes itinerate chorus director. He also served as area councilor with six chapters to monitor and was eventually elected Northeastern District Vice President of Division V with 15 chapters to look after in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
He married Rose Parizo of Springfield in October of 1951. They divorced in December of 1956 and had no children. He subsequently married Pamella Mahoney of Springfield in October of 1967 and divorced in August of 1994. They had two children.
He is survived by his best friend and former spouse Pamella Willette; his two children Allen R. Willette of Kentsville, Calif. and Christine E. Cram of Websters Grove, Mo.; one sister Jeanne Sysko of Springfield; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by both parents and two brothers Francis A. Willette of Cincinnati and George E. Willette of Brattleboro, and one sister Berniece “Niecie” Willette Capen of Springfield.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101-9929 or St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 10 Pleasant St., Springfield, VT 05156.