Richard A. McGee

Richard A. McGee, age 85, of Newark, Delaware, passed away peacefully in hospice care at the Wilmington Campus of Christiana Care on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.

Richard was born in Long Neck, son of the late Elisha E. and Ruth (Moore) McGee. He lived at Massey’s Landing from 1943 to 1954 when the family moved to Gravel Hill. He attended Millsboro School until 1954 and graduated from Georgetown High School in 1956.

Richard attended the University of Delaware and graduated June 1961 with Bachelor Degrees in Liberal Arts and Electrical Engineering and was commissioned as an US Army 2nd Lieutenant of Artillery. In June 1961, Richard was employed by the National Security Agency in Washington D.C. as an electronics engineer. Richard and Jane were married on September 9, 1961, in Luray, Virginia. When the Berlin Wall was completed, the United States went to a high state of readiness and on December 15, 1961, Richard was ordered to report to the Artillery School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, on January 2, 1962, so Richard and Jane loaded up their 1957 Chevrolet Belair and drove to Oklahoma. After completing artillery officer basic training, Richard was posted to the Artillery School at Fort Sill, where he taught electronics and antenna theory for maintenance of AN/PQ4 and AN/PQ10 projectile tracking radars.

On completion of his military duty, Richard entered the University of Delaware and received a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering in June 1966. In 1965, Richard was employed at the Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. At the BRL, Richard worked as an electronics engineer conducting research and development in radar and infrared sensors, and guidance and control for smart munitions. He retired from government service in January 2002 and joined Dynamic Science, Inc. as a research scientist for weapons systems analysis, systems engineering and single point fault risk analysis. In 2010, he fully retired.

In addition to his parents, Richard is preceded in death by his brother, Reese; and sister, Joyce Collins (David). He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Jane (McGee) McGee; daughter, Sarah Beth McGee; grandson, Ian Hanna of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; brothers, Ronald (Barbara) and Rodney of Georgetown; and sister, Janice Chorman (Ron) of Oak Orchard; as well as a large extended McGee-Moore family.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 12 pm until 1 pm on Thursday, November 9, 2023, at Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home, 121 West Park Place, Newark, DE, where a funeral service will begin at 1 pm. A committal service will begin at 1 pm on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, in the chapel of Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 2465 Chesapeake City Road, Bear, DE.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial contributions designated to the Food Bank of Delaware, 222 Lake Drive, Newark, DE  19702, Attention: Development Department or online by clicking here, or a charity of your choice.