David Shoemaker Richie

David Shoemaker Richie, 97 years and 4 days (July 11, 1908), of Bryan, Ohio, and formerly of Moorestown, New Jersey, died peacefully on Friday, July 15, 2005, at the home of his daughter, Martha J. Richie, of Bryan, Ohio. A birthright member of the Society of Friends, he was the son of Edward Laurence and Anna Bailey (Shoemaker) Richie of Moorestown, New Jersey. He married Mary Wright of Norristown, Pennsylvania, on June 8, 1935, at Norristown Meeting House. She preceded him in death on September 12, 1977. After graduating in 1930 from Haverford College, Pennsylvania, he returned to teach social studies for nine years at his high school alma mater, Moorestown Friends School. From 1939 to 1973, he served as Executive Secretary of the Friends Social Order Committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. By 1940, he had established the concept of weekend work camps, promoting educational opportunities for students to understand economic and social injustices. Weekend work camps became a 33-year commitment. In 1946, he was asked by the Foreign Service Section of the American Friends Service Committee to start the concept of work camps and cooperatives in Poland and Finland. He was instrumental in the post war relief in Poland. This was the start of a lifetime devoted to serving others through work camp programs worldwide, putting into action his personal philosophy of “work is love made visible." He was the author of several publications. In 1973, he was presented with a unique honorary degree from Wilmington College, Ohio, a Doctor of Human Reconstruction. In the late 1960s, he launched Friends Housing Incorporated for low income families in Mantua, a community in south Philadelphia. Transporting Mantua adults to surrounding Friends’ meetings and organizing outings for children to Friends’ farms and lakes became a tradition during his retirement years. He is survived by two children, Barbara R. Snyder, of Columbus, Ohio, and Martha J. Richie (Tim Bricker) of Bryan, Ohio; three grandchildren, Craig S. (Robin) Snyder, of Columbus, Ohio, Brad M. (Kristen) Snyder, of Houston, Texas, and Tessa R. Bricker of Bryan, Ohio; six great-grandchildren and one brother, Dr. Arthur Thomas (Margaret) Richie, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In addition to his wife and parents, he was preceded in death by three brothers, Edward Bailey Richie (in infancy), Richard Hooten Richie, and Comly Bird Richie. A memorial service will be held at the Moorestown Friends Meeting, 118 East Main Street, Moorestown, New Jersey, on Saturday, August 20, 2005, at 2:00 p.m. Condolences may be sent on-line at www.krillfuneralservice.com. Memorial contributions may be made to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, (PYM) designated for the Friends Workcamp Program, “David Richie Memorial Fund” and sent to PYM at 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102.