Richard Long
Richard Long
August 12, 1926 – September 18, 2024
Richard Long, born August 12, 1926 in Greenville, MS, passed away on September 18, 2024 in Houston, TX at the age of 98. Richard, was the fourth and last surviving of the 5 children born to Won Long and Ho Shee Long, who immigrated to Greenville, MS from Powahong in Xinhui County, Guangdong Province, China in 1919.
Richard spent his youth being educated in a coeducational, one room, segregated, bilingual school supported by the Chinese community of Greenville, Mississippi through 8th grade. When not attending school, Richard helped his mother tend to her grocery store, Ho Shee Company.
In 1942, Richard went to Cleveland, OH to attend East High School to complete his secondary education. He then went on to attend university at Tulane in New Orleans for a short time where he made the decision to find his independence by joining the U.S. Army.
After basic training in South Carolina, Richard was sent to Camp Gordon, GA to attend Radio Repairman training courses. At Camp Gordon he met his lifelong love and wife of 56 years, Anne, who was also serving her country in the U.S. Army. In 1949, Richard was assigned to 833rd Signal Corps, which took him, Anne and their first-born daughter, Ricki to Fontainebleau, France for a 3-year assignment to work on NATO development for Europe. While there, Richard and Anne had their youngest daughter, Lindy. Richard and his family returned to the U.S., where his assignment in 833rd Signal Corps moved him to various locations. His final tour was in Presidio, CA and he was honorably discharged in August 1957.
Richard then moved his family to Framingham, MA to pursue a BS in Electrical Engineering. As a true pioneer and leader of his era, he was one of the first persons of color to attend and graduate from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1960. He spoke fondly of his fellow students and time he spent at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, whereas Anne recalled it as the years she stared at the back of a book in front of his face.
After graduating with a BS in Electrical Engineering, Richard spent a short time working for Raytheon in Plainfield, NJ before he moved his family to Houston, TX to join the Space race working for Lockheed. Richard settled his family in Sagemont area of Houston, at which time he described the area as suburban feel with a lily-white population. He reported to Lockheed for work starting on May 17, 1964 at NASA’s newly constructed campus, Johnson Manned Spacecraft Center.
During Richard’s time at Lockheed, he was associated with the space programs: Gemini, Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz, Shuttle, and International Space Station18. During this period, he had a chance to meet most of the astronauts, including Neil Armstrong. He spent several years working on electromagnetic compatibility, antenna systems and later the Electronic Systems Test Laboratory (ESTL). During this time, he befriended many of his coworkers and enjoyed various social activities outside of work with them, including square dancing, which is where he and Anne could be found dancing away most Saturday nights.
Richard retired from Lockheed in 1993, at the age of 67. He then went on to attend courses at San Jacinto College to learn how to rebuild automobile transmissions and auto body repair. All this was done in effort to continue to care for his beloved 1965 Mustang that he drove when he worked at Lockheed. He also took up gardening and refinishing furniture for fun. On occasion, he also enjoyed dumpster diving to bring home furniture and appliances to restore for his grandchildren, which is how all of them came by their first vacuum cleaners.
In 2007, Richard lost his wife, Anne, to cancer and never stopped missing her. He fondly shared stories about her to his family and friends. When he entered his 90’s he still remained agile and capable for his age and enjoyed walking daily to the local public library to read as a lifelong learner of all things. He was also very informed on all football stats as he was NFL’s biggest football fan and during football season was always found watching the game Monday nights.
Richard is preceded in death by his wife, Anne Long, son in-law Trey Irick and is survived by daughters Ricki and Melinda; grandchildren, Dawn, Lela, Richard and James; great-grandchildren, Ethan, Dominic and Samantha and a host of friends. Richard will be interred at the VA Houston National Cemetery in December. His son in-law, Trey Irick, passed away on July 19, 2024, and will also be interred on same date at the VA Houston National Cemetery. Details will be posted when available.