Richard Arthur Masterson died on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at the Sarah A. Todd Memorial Home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was born in the town of Norwich, New York, on May 23, 1937, the eldest child of Willard C. Masterson and Helen Byrne Masterson.
Richard (Dick) was a graduate of St. Paul’s School and an honors graduate of Norwich High School where he excelled in academics and athletics. He attended Dartmouth College (on a full academic scholarship) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and subsequently graduated from Colgate University in Hamilton. New York.
After college, Dick worked in the field of Human Resources, first as a personnel manager with the Union Carbide Corporation in central Indiana and later with a smaller, privately owned company in the Chicago suburbs. Dick attended law school (with the help of the G.I. Bill) in the evenings after work and earned his J.D. degree from what is now known as the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. He later gained admission to the New York Bar.
As a federal government attorney, Dick first worked first at the Immigration and Naturalization Services at the Headquarters in New York City. Dick then served as an Administrative Judge at the National Headquarters of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C. He was the Equal Opportunity Complaints Manager at the National Headquarters of the U.S. Department of the Interior also in Washington, D.C.
Dick served his country for six years as a member of the New York Air National Guard in Syracuse, New York. He served two tours of active duty, one overseas in Germany.
Dick was an avid tennis player and golfer. He enjoyed debating at inter-scholastic and inter-collegiate levels, and engaging in public speaking as a member of the Toastmasters International. In addition, he enjoyed playing significant roles in a number of civic theater productions. For a ten year period later in his life, Dick volunteered his time preparing income tax returns under the auspices of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Richard Arthur Masterson is survived by his wife of forty-seven years, the former Juliana Daily of Norwich, now of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is survived by two nieces and a number of cousins. Dick was pre-deceased by his sister, Donna Hackett Hall of Atlanta, Georgia and by her son (his nephew), Roger Hackett, also of Georgia and by his other sister, Shaleen Masterson of Vestal, New York.
A private burial service and interment will take place at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Norwich, New York.
Arrangements are with the R.J. Fahy Funeral Home.