Richard Stark Conklin ’45


Richard Stark Conklin ’45 died September 21, 2009, at Valley View Haven near his home in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Dick came to Dartmouth from Norwalk, Connecticut, and the Taft School. His Dartmouth stay was interrupted by three years in the Army in Special Services in the European theater, after which he returned to finish college in 1948. He became a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Upon graduation he entered the men’s clothing business, buying his own company, called Dick Conklin, in 1949. Two years later he merged that company into Danks & Co., a chain of junior department stores in central Pennsylvania. He retired as vice president and divisional merchandise manager in 1975. Dick married Anne Robinson July 1, 1950, and they had three sons, Richard, Kenneth and William, who survive with two grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Upon retirement from Danks & Co., Dick was a volunteer executive director of the Miffin-Junata Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Lewistown Presbyterian Church and served the community in various volunteer capacities. He loved travel and cruises and visited many countries. He also attended Dartmouth football games in New Haven, where he renewed acquaintances with other fraternity brothers and ’45s.