Bina, Richard Albert 1939 - 2025
BINA
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 1/17/2025 at 10:53:56
U. S. Veteran
Richard Albert Bina, age 85, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, January 4, 2025.Burial service with military honors will be at 10 AM on Thursday, January 16th at St. Wenceslaus Cemetery in Spillville Iowa near his beloved Turkey River.
Memorial Service will be held at St Marys Catholic Church in Minooka, Illinois on Friday, January 17th at 11 AM with a reception and sharing of fond memories to follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Richard Bina can be made to Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute of Providence St. John’s Medical Center.
Richard was born on February 15, 1939 in Calmar Iowa. He was the oldest of three children. He spent much of his youth hunting and fishing and helping his father with his grain-grinding business.
Richard studied electrical engineering at Iowa State. Richard proudly joined the Navy to serve his country, becoming Chief Engineer aboard the USS Fletcher, based in Pearl Harbor. Richard achieved the rank of Lieutenant and had a number of different adventures in the Navy including driving the ship through a typhoon, being inside the ship during a nearby nuclear test, and sitting off the coast of Russia after the Kennedy assassination. Richard then became the Commanding Officer of the NROTC at Northwestern University where he received his M.B.A.
Richard left the Navy and joined Xerox corporation as a Service Manager. He loved the business challenges of working for the rising tech giant of the day. He rose steadily through the ranks, with project responsibilities within the service organization reaching domestic, Europe and Asia/Pacific; retiring in 1998.
Richard will be remembered for his humor, his stories, being whip-smart, kind and generous. He will be remembered for serving many poolside peach daquiris from his own peach trees. He enjoyed introducing his mother’s pie recipes to friends, family and a new generation of pie-eaters. He sent out his mother’s traditional Czech homemade butternut candy at Christmas to eager audiences across the country. Richard’s constant curiosity led him to truly savor exploring and learning about new places. He browsed through many restaurants in Prague in search of authentic Czech turtle soup and drove a camper across a one-way bridge shared with a train on the remote west side of New Zealand. Richard was also an avid outdoorsman, spending countless hours on lakes and streams, in duck blinds, and in the woods. Above all, Richard will be remembered for time he spent with family.
Richard was preceded in death by his parents Helen and Albert; Brother Albert and Sister Ruth; and son Scott. He is survived by wife of 45 years Nancy; sons Craig, Eric, Shawn, and Richard; Grandchildren Colton, Natalie, Tanner, Rowan and Finnegan.
Source: Helms Funeral Home database
St. Wenceslaus Cemetery
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen