Charles Richard Greathouse

Charles Richard ( Dick) Greathouse Jr., 75, died at his residence Saturday, September 28, 2002. He was a lifelong resident of Middletown, born in 1927, the son of Charles Richard and Mildred Ethel (Faries) Greathouse. He attended South and McKinley Schools and graduated first in his class and was valedictorian of the Class of 1945 at Middletown High School. There he was awarded the George M. Verity Medal for top honors in scholarship following in the footsteps of his mother, Mildred Faries Greathouse and his aunt, Mabel E. Faries, both previous recipients. This year, the Middletown High School hall leading to the English Department was named in his honor.
He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis by James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy in 1946, on recommendation of Congressman Edward Gardner of Hamilton, Ohio. His naval career was shortened by the serious illness of his father in 1947. Dick returned to Middletown and took over management of the family business, C.E. Greathouse & Son, Inc., founded in 1885 by his grandfather, C.E. Greathouse, a pioneer in the retail men's clothing and tailoring business in this city.
Greathouse was a direct line descendant of Stephen Vail who, along with Daniel Doty, founded Middletown. His grandmother was Kate Vail, daughter of Stephen Vail who plotted the city in 1802 using a quill pen. A marble monument at the intersection of Main Street and Central Avenue marks the accomplishment.
Dick later attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, "Cum Laude," majoring in market research. During his matriculation at Miami he was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, national business administration honorary and into Phi Beta Kappa, national liberal arts honorary.
Upon graduation from Miami in 1949 he married his college sweetheart, Frances Maureen Eden, a Miami sociology graduate, and moved to Cincinnati to attend the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
His legal education was interrupted by his recall to active duty as a Navy Supply Corps Officer during the Korean War where he was the youngest officer, as a Lieutenant, to serve as head of major Navy Procurement Office with unlimited authority to sign contracts for the government. During his tour in Philadelphia he negotiated hundreds of research and development contracts and conducted the first Navy auction of surplus material since World War I.
Upon rejoining civilian life in 1953 he returned to the U. C. Law School, graduating in 1955 with the Degree of Juris Doctor passing the bar exam that year, entering the general practice of law in Middletown. Dick served his profession, first as president of the Middletown Bar Association and more recently as president of the Butler County Bar Association. During his tenure in that capacity the Supreme Court of Ohio came to Hamilton and heard cases in Butler County Courthouse, for the first and only time in this county.
Greathouse was well known for his successful litigation, having argued many cases in courts of law including the Ohio Supreme Court and the highest court in the land, The United States Supreme Court. In the U.S. Supreme Court he won a landmark zoning case relating to the local area, for which he was justly proud. He was an experienced Mediator and Arbitrator for the general division of the Butler County Common Pleas Court and donated countless hours of law service to the community.
Dick and Fran are the parents of three sons, Charles Richard III, Douglas Edward, and Daniel Stephen, and have (10) grandchildren living in Ohio. They are justly proud of each of their sons for the achievement each has made in life under very different circumstances.
Dick was elected first President of Doty House, now Abilities First Foundation, located originally on Curtis Street, the City's first center for the education and treatment by therapy for any handicapped child. In those days Doty House had only enough funds for salaries for its first therapists. Accordingly, Dick and Fran together with other parents of children in the program, and a host of volunteers from the community, performed all the rehabilitation work on the house. In addition, Dick spent a part of every workday at the center as a non-paid administrator until Hugh Butler, its first long time principal and administrator came aboard. During his twenty years on the Doty House Board he maintained a close friendship with Mr. Robert B. Gardner, the organizations number one benefactor, who, upon his death kept 25% of his total charitable bequests to Doty House in trust, with no strings attached. During this period, Dick also served a number of terms on the Butler County Board of Mental Retardation and also the County Mental Health Board, both fitting in with his work with Doty House.
Greathouse served on the Board of Trustees of the Mount Pleasant Retirement Village, lending both his professional expertise and good judgment to the cause.
He was a longtime member of the Middletown Rotary Club, never missing a meeting in 39 years to maintain his perfect attendance, a cardinal tenet of Rotary, even through two surgeries. He not only lived the Rotary spirit of "Service above Self", but embraced it. The responsibility of carrying this spirit forward is incumbent in both heirs and those who knew him.
Dick was a member of the Butler County Torch Club for 41 years and had the honor of having one of his papers delivered to that club published as the lead article in the Torch International Magazine. His paper was featured on the cover.
His personal hobbies were five; fishing, tennis, the growing of dahlias, constructions projects, and bird feeding, not necessarily in that order, but each being lifetime activities and each creating a different circle of friends. He captained his Tuesday night group at the Middletown Tennis Club up to his seventy-fifth birthday, cherishing a plaque that was presented to him, which was acknowledging his leadership. His dahlias were exhibited throughout the area for decades and thousands of their offspring are growing in gardens of friends throughout Butler and Warren Counties.
Dick was a life long member of the First Presbyterian Church of Middletown. He attended Boy Scout meetings at the original church on First Avenue under Scoutmasters George Harvey and Bud Anness of Troop 1 and attained the rank of Life Scout. All three of his sons followed him into scouting, as well as all of his grandsons. He fondly remembered his Sunday school classes in the Tower Room of the church taught by Dave Jacot and Bill Saunders.
Dick believed that a good sense of humor is the thing that helped him meet life's travails. He saw humor in many everyday events and enjoyed a good laugh. He never compromised his honesty or integrity no matter what the cost and was highly respected in his profession for the highly ethical manner in which he practiced law.
Richard Greathouse is survived by Fran, his wife of 53 years, sons Dick, Doug (Linda), Dan (Mary), and grandchildren Charles, Deanna, Katie, Paul, Sebastian, James, Peter, Sarah, Sophia, and Emma Greathouse. He is also survived by his sister Mary E. (John W.) Montgomery and nephew and niece Jeff (Sheila) Hawley and Beth Ann Hawley. He deeply loved his many cousins and their families, spread throughout Butler County and beyond. His cat, aptly named Lucky, as a result of being found orphaned and hungry while Greathouse was mowing the lawn, with the cat narrowly escaping the mower blades, also survives him.
Family only services will be held at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Chapel at Woodside Cemetery at the family's convenience. Interment follows at Woodside Cemetery with Military Honors provided by the Middletown Post of the American Legion. The reverend Thomas C. Ramsey of the First Presbyterian Church will officiate.
Memorial contributions can be made to Abilities First Foundation, Inc., 4710 Timber Trail Dr., Middletown, Oh. 45044, Hospice of Middletown, 4414 Lewis St., Middletown, Oh. 45044, or Mount Pleasant Retirement Village, 1001Kingsmill Parkway, Columbus, Oh. 43229.


Funeral Home:
Wilson-Schramm-Spaulding
3805 Roosevelt Blvd.
Middletown, OH
US 45044

Visitation:
Wilson-Schramm-Spaulding Funeral Home
3805 Roosevelt Blvd.
Middletown, OH
US 45044

Service:
Wilson-Schramm-Spaulding Funeral Home
3805 Roosevelt Blvd.
Middletown, OH
US 45044