Richard C. Beecher

Richard Charles Beecher, age 94, of Romeo went to be with the Lord on June 16, 2020. He is survived by his loving wife, Angeline with whom he recently celebrated 70 years of marriage, daughter, Carla (Keith) Hilton, Son, Roger (Diane) Beecher, brother-in-law, Arthur (Irene) Kiehnau, granddaughter Rebecca (Craig) Esper, granddaughter Rachel (Dan) Cantillion, Grandson Michael (Christina) Hilton, Grandson Joshua Hilton, Grandson Lester (Christina) Hilton and nine great grandchildren and many nephews and nieces and great nephews and great nieces. He was born in Fort Wayne IN and educated at Concordia College and graduated with a Bachelor degree from the University of Michigan. He was an Elementary teacher at our Redeemer in Flint MI for three years. He served honorably in the Army Air Corps during WWII as a radio operator stationed in the Philippines, Guam, Saipan and Japan. He received his military training at Scott Field in Illinois. He learned to drive while in the military. Years later he would acquire an unrestored 1944 JEEP, which was reminiscent of the first vehicle he drove. Richard was a founding member of Grace Lutheran Fellowship in Romeo. He was an active volunteer at the church, serving on many committees and even building the first pulpit and lectern used by the congregation. These items were later donated to other new churches to assist them in their early days. He loved music and used his tenor voice to praise God with the Kingsmen at Grace. His long professional career began as a Packaging Engineer at AC Delco. He later moved on to the GM Tech Center in Warren where he became the Director of Artificial Intelligence, developing a robotics program for manufacturing. He was instrumental in starting GMFanuc Robotics Corporation. Under his direction, the PUMA (Programmable Universal Manipulation Arm) robot was developed. After his retirement he was asked to be a part of an envoy which traveled to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. to donate the robot and be interviewed for posterity. The robot was deemed a key milestone in the history of robotics and that’s why the Smithsonian wanted to have it. Richard Beecher also received the Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award for playing a key role in establishing the criteria for spot welding, arc welding and painting robots at GM helping the corporation become the world’s largest user of technology. Memorials may be made to Operation Christmas Child care of Samaritainspurse.org/occ or Grace Lutheran Fellowship at graceromeo.com