Richard “Dick” Bee
Mr. Richard A. (Dick) Bee, age 81, passed away the morning of February 25th, 2017. Mr. Bee was a native of St. Louis, Missouri, born January 8th, 1936. He was the son of the late Valentine and Zita (Klipfel) Bee.
He graduated from Our Lady of Sorrows in 1949 and Southwest High School in 1953. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Missouri School Mines in Rolla, and a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri at Rolla.
Mr. Bee spent 31 years as an employee of the Department of Defense where he worked as a Project Engineer on the UH-1 Program and as the Lead Project Engineer on the development of the AH-1 Cobra helicopter for the U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command. He went on to form the Aviation Life Support Equipment Office in 1981 where he served as the Product Manager. Following his work supporting Army Aviation, Mr. Bee then served as the Special Assistant for Chemical Matters supporting the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy and Chemical Matters and as the U.S. Representative to NATO Working Party 61 on protections against chemical warfare.
Following his retirement from the Department of Defense Mr. Bee worked for a number of years as the Program Manager for Inter-Vehicular Communications Systems at Gentex in Scranton, PA before leaving to start his own business.
After leaving Gentex, Mr. Bee was a founding partner of Sun-Aqua Greenhouses which pioneered the growth and sale of live basil using hydroponics. Sun-Aqua basil is sold by several supermarket chains across the northeastern U.S.
Most recently, Mr. Bee returned to Missouri to pursue trout fishing and the development of energy technologies.
Mr. Bee is survived by his loving life partner of 29 years, Deirdre Levin-Bee; his former spouse, Dolores Bee; along with his children; Richard M. (Cynthia) Bee, Lori Perkins, Jennifer (Jerry) Clem, Jeffrey Bee, Roger (Sharon) Harris, Sally Cottle, Jacqueline (Sterling) Short; 15 grandchildren; Ty (Melanie) Perkins, Alex Bee, Eric (Shae) Garza, Adam Garza, Bonnie Jones, Vincent Jones, Maxine Bee, Imani Ray, Bailey Harris, Rory Harris, Christopher (Emily) Cottle, Daniel (Alexis) Cottle, Timothy Cottle, Haley Short, Arden Short; and 6 great-grandchildren; Ella Pierrot, Jackson Perkins, Christian Garza, Caleb Garza, Cody Garza, and Cameron Garza; his sister; Janet Watkins; and numerous nieces and nephews. Mr. Bee was preceded in death by his siblings; Valentine, Valita, Harold and Shirley.
Mr. Bee was a kind and loving man with a ready wit and a lifelong tendency to spontaneously burst into song. As his family, we wish to honor his life and accomplishments. We are fortunate to have had him as part of our lives and will miss him dearly.
I will miss you dear brother but look forward to our reunion. With lots of love!!!
Rest in peace, Uncle Dick; I will remember you as a good man, and look forward to seeing you again.
You were a wonderful uncle. Always full of jokes and laughter. My earliest memories are of how incredibly handsome and smart you were. I love you, Uncle Dick.
Missing my Uncle Dick, in solidarity with all those able to come together to celebrate his life in April. Take comfort in each other with the confidence that this is not goodbye to those of us who know Christ. This is; “See you later!”
Dick was a Great boss and Great friend. Truly sorry to hear of his passing.
Marv and Janet Venhaus
Dick and I were great friends from our cub scout and boy scout days when we worked on many awards together. He had a fine sense of humor. TOM MEIRINK