Richard M. Appleby Jr., longtime contractor
Richard M. Appleby Jr., 84, passed away at Christiana Care Thursday, April 18, 2013. He was a resident of the Country House in Greenville.
He was the son of Pauline Steele Appleby and Richard Morrison Appleby. After graduating from St. Andrew’s School, where he played sports and rowed crew, he went on to crew for Cornell University while studying civil engineering until he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He trained as a ski trooper with the 196th Regimental Combat Team in Alaska.
After his Army service, he returned to New Castle and the family construction business. He ran Brandywine Construction Company before moving to George & Lynch Construction Co., where he served as president and chairman until his retirement in 2003. He continued to serve on the board of G&L until 2012. He was inducted into the Delaware Contractors Association Hall of Fame.
Dick was a life member of the Trustees of New Castle Common, an organization founded by William Penn in the 1600s. He served terms as its president and treasurer and recently played a key role in the renovation of the New Castle Public Library. He was a trustee on the board of Liberty Mutual Life Insurance Company and also a trustee and elder of New Castle Presbyterian Church. He served for many years as chairman of the New Castle Planning Commission and was one of the founders of the New Castle Jaycees.
His many interests included summers in Rehoboth Beach, extensive travel, golf and his home in Jackson Hole, Wyo. He was a member of Wilmington Country Club and Teton Pines Country Club.
He was predeceased by his first wife, Frances Massey Appleby, the mother of his three children: Dr. Richard M. Appleby III and wife Dorothy, Karen M. Antonio and husband Frank, and Deborah S. Appleby, all of Lewes. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Virginia Appleby, her three children and their families: Ken and Laura Gibbs and daughters Katie and Emily; Karen Gibbs; Amy and Drake Heller, son Alex and daughter Julia; and his brother Robert S. Appleby and wife Joan.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 24, at New Castle Presbyterian Church, 25 E. Second St., Historic New Castle. Burial will be private. Visitation with the family will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 23, at the Gebhart Funeral Home, 531 Delaware St., New Castle DE 19720. There will be no viewing.
Memorial contributions may be made to: Delaware Wild Lands Inc., 315 Main St., P.O. Box 505, Odessa, DE 19730-0505 or New Castle Presbyterian, 21 E. Second St., New Castle, DE 19720.
