He joined us from Baltimore City College (a high school) in November 1944 and graduated with an AB in politics in June 1947. He dined at Cap and Gown.
From graduation until 1975, Dick was an executive at various corporations in several industries, but he always wanted his own business. His chance came in 1975, when he and his wife bought Purnell Galleries, a Baltimore fine-arts gallery. Known to colleagues as “Boots,” he filled the gallery with etchings of old Baltimore, Civil War-era lithographs, and sporting prints as well as traditional oil paintings and ceramics. He outfitted the gallery with chintz-covered wing chairs and Oriental rugs. “Boots had an elegance and dignity about him,” said Mary Frances Wagley, a former St. Paul’s School for Girls headmistress.
Dick served as treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, was a founding trustee and treasurer of St. Paul’s School for Girls in Brooklandville, Md., and spent 37 years on the board of Keswick Multi-Care Center, among other civic commitments.
His wife of more than 58 years, Marion, died in 2004. He is survived by his sons, Richard, Edward, and William, and three grandchildren.