Richard E. Henkel

Richard E Henkel, 87 of Pittsburgh, PA passed away peacefully on January 27th, 2025 at UPMC Greene in Waynesburg, PA from CHF.

Richard was born in Pittsburgh, PA to Frank and Hannah Henkel. Richard was number 4 of 5 siblings whom he loved with his whole heart. Frank (Bernie) Henkel, George (Margaret) Henkel, Margaret (Wallace) Neubauer, and Robert Henkel, all who proceeded him in death.

After High School Richard served in the US Air Force. Family was the most important thing in the world to him he could not wait to have a family of his own. So, after his time in the service he married and his dreams of fatherhood came true when he became a father to his only son Richard Jr who he loved more than life itself. Sadly, Richard lost his son in a tragic accident several years ago.

Nothing meant more to Richard than family. He leaves behind many nieces, nephews, great- nieces, great-nephews, great great nieces, and great great nephews who loved him so very much. He ensured that every generation of our family knew how much they were loved and mattered.

When we lost our own parents, Richard’s siblings, he never once hesitated to step up and be a father figure to us filling in the gap left by the loss of our own fathers. One of his greatest passions in life was teasing all of us and also engaging us in long lectures about the importance of education and family. Uncle Dick, as we all called him, made mistakes and bad choices in his life. However, those choices and decisions did not define him. Uncle Dick ended up in prison when the niece writing this was only 3 weeks old. I never got to experience being with my uncle outside of a prison visitation room. But I can say at 44 years old the man I knew, my uncle, was loving, caring, intelligent, full of wisdom and solid advice. Uncle Dick would do whatever he could to comfort anyone of us and be there for us as best as he could, through letters, calls and even the prison visitation room. Those of us who knew Uncle Dick loved him with our whole hearts just as he loved us. He taught us the importance of family, the importance of being there for one another, and the importance of owning your mistakes and taking the consequences no matter what they are to learn and grow, to become a better human being through them. He never missed a birthday or a holiday. He went above and beyond to make sure myself and every one of my cousins knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were loved and we mattered to him. He had one of the best senses of humor and could always make you laugh. He had a way of helping you to shift your perspective to look at the brighter side of life. He was as stubborn as the day is long and just as loyal to those, he loved no matter what. I, and many of my cousins would agree, we are better people because God chose him to be our uncle and we were loved and loved well by him.

A lot of people would look at his record and write him off because of it, but for those who actually took the time to get to know the man behind the number we were able to experience a man who was genuine and loyal, funny and witty, intelligent and logical, compassionate and caring, but most importantly a man who learned from his mistakes and was able to embody love and grace. To some Richard E Henkel will be remembered only as AM-9917, to some he will only be remembered by his past bad choices, but to those of us who were lucky enough to know him and who are proud to call him our Uncle he will always be remembered as our loving uncle who teased us relentlessly, always pushed us to be better and loved us fiercely and endlessly as if we were his own. He will be truly missed. Uncle Dick was not just AM-9917 or his past and the mistakes that gave him that number that became his identity for the past 4 decades. His true identity was that he was a son, a brother, a father, an uncle, and a friend. He was loved and he did matter.

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