Richard V. Finch

Richard V. Finch, 87, died on Saturday, March 26, 2022.  He was born in West Bend to the late Leonard and Virginia (nee Gonring) Finch on October 12, 1934.  He attended school at Holy Angels, West Bend High, UW Madison, and returned to school at age 50 for an MS from Cardinal Stritch.  He met Lois Manson on a blind date in Madison and they were married in 1956.

Richard worked at the West Bend Company, Copper Craft Guild in Massachusetts, Dart Industries Consumer Products, and Doerr Electric in the areas of accounting, new products, and general management. He also was involved with the startup and management of West Bend Glass & China which was located in downtown West Bend.  For a number of years after retirement, he continued teaching at MPTC and offering cost control consulting services to a number of Wisconsin manufacturers.  He served on various committees and boards in the West Bend and Taunton, MA areas.

Much of Richard’s time in recent years was devoted to land conservation, and he was a strong supporter of the goals of the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust as well as the Northeastern Wisconsin Land Trust.  He also took up writing, first writing fishing stories for a northern publication; and then after meeting Door County writer Norb Blei, poetry and short articles many of which promoted conservation.  He published three books.

Richard is survived by his wife Lois Finch; two children, Susan (Daniel) Millin and Kathryn (Chris) Leung; four grandchildren, Sara, Matthew (Robyn), Jay (Whitney), and Anna; great-grandson, Maxwell; and siblings, Sandy (Dick Packard) and Mary Lemke.

A memorial service will be held on May 27, 2022, at 10: a.m. at the St Matthias Mission Chapel of Auburn in Fond Du Lac County.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust or the Northeastern Wisconsin Land Trust.

The Myrhum-Patten Funeral Home of West Bend has been entrusted with Richard’s arrangements. Additional information and a guest book may be found at www.myrhum-patten.com.

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