Richard Chitwood, Sr.
April 8, 1930 — December 17, 2015
Mr. Richard B. Chitwood, Sr. 85, of Frederick, Maryland passed away at his home on Thursday, December 17, 2015. Born April 8, 1930, in Durango, CO, he is the son of the late Andrew Johnson Chitwood and O’Tilla Roracher Chitwood. He had three siblings, Ronald Chitwood, Patricia Chitwood Quink, and the late sister Joy Chitwood Sauer.
Richard graduated from Adams State College in Alamosa, Co. with a triple major in Physics, Chemistry, and Math. He began working in Richland, WA, for the GE Nuclear Co. in 1952. He was fortunate enough to win a 1952 Buick Rivera 2-dr hard top. That changed his life. He was able to call his “girl,” Dorothy Lee Sease, to come to Washington State so they could get married. Through the years they had seven children. The children were Richard B. Chitwood, Jr. (Tina), Rhonda Lee Ferrell (Troy), (Dyan) Diane Marie Safrit, Russell Andrew Chitwood (Anna), Reid Dru Chitwood (Vicki), and the late Susan Chitwood, and the late Ronald William Chitwood (Patty). Upon Dorothy’s early death, Richard married M. Ellen Roberts Kelly Chitwood. She had two additional children: Samantha D. Murphy, and the late Michael S. Kelly (Anita). Together they had 21 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
After working in the nuclear field for GE, he later was offered a job in Atomic Energy Commission, then the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and lastly the U.S. Dept. of Energy. Throughout his career Dick handled many aspects of the nuclear cycle including: criticality baseline, safety, licensing of facilities through all of the US, transportation testing and safety, practical uses of nuclear energy such as tritium lighting for airfields, food irradiation to kill pathogens in food to increase shelf life, and also, spent fuel recycling.
An informal memorial gathering will be held at the residence on Tuesday, December 22 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. A private burial in Durango, CO, will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Frederick County Hospice, 516 Trail Ave., P.O. Box 1799, Frederick, MD 21702.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Stauffer Funeral Home in Frederick. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the family at www.staufferfuneralhome.com.