Obituary
Richard R. King

My very special companion, friend and husband was called by God on February 24, 2025. Richard, or “Rick,” was born in Chicago, IL in 1940. He was a private man and shared very few stories of his younger years, but he was ready with a quick wit and often drew a smile. Rick loved cars from a very young age and worked as an auto mechanic before I met him. During that time, he bought a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette convertible and turned it into a drag racer. He raced that car as often as he could, even after we met. He won many trophies. Rick loved that car so much, he often said he wanted to be buried in it. An accident that damaged the body of that car and the arrival of our children put an end to the drag racing. But RC airplanes became his next racing obsession.

Rick was mechanically inclined and he loved taking things apart. This love for learning how things work led Rick to the DeVry Institute of Technology after high school to learn skills and electronics. After graduation, Rick started working for IBM repairing machines, including bank machines, and that was how we met. He came to the bank where I worked to repair the machine I proof-sorted checks through. The moment I saw him, I knew he would be my husband. Rick stayed with IBM for 29 years. IBM was a very family-oriented company at the time and when Rick decided to move from repairing hardware to writing software, IBM relocated our family of 6 (at that time) to California for Rick to attend programming school. A frugal man, he chose not to fly, Instead, he drove us in our big black Cadillac west across the country with a fellow IBMer and his family and turned it into an adventure.

We had five wonderful children: three girls and two boys. Rick was so excited to become a parent that when he found out I was pregnant with our first child, he secured a bank home loan and a second loan from his grandmother to surprise me with our first home in a small suburb of Chicago. It was a great house and we had all 5 children while in that house, but it became tight as our family expanded! So we found a larger home nearby and enjoyed that neighborhood until we moved to North Carolina for a promotion with IBM.

As a family, we enjoyed many adventures with our pop top camper (which reportedly fit 8), pulled by our trusty Volkswagen van – as Rick used to say, “Volkswagens go everywhere!” and we did test that. We would often arrive at our campsite late at night, setting up in the dark or sleeping in the van until morning. We visited many states and tried new things as often as possible, such as white water rafting in the mountains of NC, caving in the Mammoth Caves, and hiking and tubing in the campgrounds of the Land Between the Lakes in Tennessee. Several times we visited Heritage USA, in South Carolina, a Christian themed amusement park with emphasis on the Lord’s Resurrection. It was like visiting a part of heaven.

After retiring from IBM, Rick and I started a clothing resale business, Around Again. Later we added a bridal gown retail store called A Bridal World. For 29 years, we kept those businesses going. We didn’t make much of a profit, but it kept us busy and we enjoyed the traveling we did in association with the stores. We went on buying trips and business conferences around the country. Our children worked with us throughout those years and we only closed because the internet had impacted our sales enough to make it time to retire again.

Rick is survived by his wife of 59 years, Carol; his children Matthew King, Lucille Winters, Richard King, and Kimberly Harry; his grandchildren Nathan, Kathleen, Alex, Merinda, Richard, Karalyn, Gabriel, and Kayleigh. He is preceded in death by his daughter Melissa; siblings Kenneth King and Joanne Laskowski; parents Richard and Mildred Homolka; and stepfather John King.

A memorial service for Rick will be held at St. Raphael Church in Raleigh on Tuesday, March 11. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to one of Rick’s favorite charities: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through their website: https://www.stjude.org.