Richard “Rik” Howard Rodefer ’60

Richard “Rik” Howard Rodefer ’60 of Franklin Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh, passed away on August 18, 2018. He was the son of Dorothy Shackleford and Howard Hayden Rodefer of Bellaire, Ohio. Rik graduated from Bellaire High School and attended Dartmouth and Bethany College, where he was captain of the swim team. After graduation he married Lindsay Scott, joined the Peace Corps, and went to serve in the Philippines as a teacher and educator. Upon returning to the United States, Rik joined the family business at the Rodefer-Gleason Glass Factory in Bellaire and eventually retired from Weirton Steel. Rik was a lifelong participant in Democratic politics and a Browns fan who chose to live in Steeler country. He was renowned for playing a mean game of hearts and drumming on tables with his fingers. Among his many skills were an excellent singing voice, beautiful cursive penmanship, the ability to fit a family and lots of luggage into a small car for a family vacation, and a penchant to belly-flop repeatedly into swimming pools, much to the delight of small children. He was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church and the Teutonia Mannerchor in Pittsburgh. He was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother, Stephen. He leaves behind Lindsay; sister Judy; children Joshua (and wife Paige), Susan, and Alexis; and grandchildren Nathaniel, Jacob, Samuel, and Ella.