Richard D. Weiss 1936-2025

Richard was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Gail, and is survived by daughters, Laura (Michael) Critchfield and Julie (Scott) Adams; sons, Tom Weiss and Rick Weiss; grandchildren, Dajah Greene and Sierra Weiss, Ryan and Nick (Carmen) Critchfield, Katie and Will Adams, and Clio and Leni Weiss; great-grandchildren, Sophia Johnson and Nandi Lewis, and Sensae Davidson; as well as his friend, Lois Gries.

The youngest of seven children, Babe was preceded in death by five brothers, Harry Jr., Clair, Darryl, Bill and Jim, and his sister, Evelyn Gerber. He is survived by two sisters-in-law, Burnetta (Junior) Weiss and Marjorie (Jim) Weiss.

Richard graduated from Millersburg High School in 1954 and was class president his freshman and junior years, and president of the student senate his senior year, graduating third in his class.

All the Weiss boys were strongly encouraged to play sports, and the family holds the distinction of having a Weiss on the MHS football team for 19 years straight. Excelling at sports, Babe was a four-year starter in basketball (four letters), a three-year starter in football (three letters) and a two-year starter in baseball. As co-captain of both the football and basketball teams, he was selected as Millersburg High School’s most outstanding athlete.

He went on to Wooster College, where he played football, basketball and baseball. After graduation, he continued his studies at Ohio State University, Kent State University, Youngstown State University and Westminster College, receiving a master’s of education in secondary administration.

Richard’s philosophy in life was twofold: never be afraid of hard work and live your life in service to others, a personal mantra he practiced every day. His hard work is evidenced in his over 30 jobs over 84 years, beginning at age 5 doing yardwork for Mrs. Cary and continuing well after his second retirement as editor of the OIAAA newsletter and president of the Mariner Pointe Condo Association. These jobs included Rohde’s IGA in Millersburg, Itner’s Junkyard, Briar Hill Country Club, State of Ohio Highway Department, Fred Rowe Concrete, Nichols Stone, Rice & Chadwick and OSU Intramurals, followed by a long and illustrious career at Canfield High School.

As part of the “Dream Team,” with administrators Bill Kay, Jim Watkins and Phil Bova, Richard was Canfield High School’s athletic director for over 31 years. As the director, Richard built the athletic department from seven boys’ sports to over 22 varsity sports, 49 individual teams and 75 coaching positions, was one of the first ADs in Ohio to include a variety of girls’ sports and took great pride in turning CHS into one of the finest athletic facilities in Northeastern Ohio. Richard also taught biology, anatomy and physiology, and he periodically coached football and basketball during his tenure at Canfield.

Richard’s service to others resulted in good deeds far too many to list here, but of note: planting more than 100 trees at the Groves in Wooster, teaching Rhodes scholars at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum, spearheading the “Dark Skies” initiative on Sanibel Island, stepping in to give the church sermon at Canfield Presbyterian Church whenever needed and forever being willing to take on the hard jobs no one else wanted, always with a smile on his face and enthusiasm to match.

Receiving many awards and accolades over the years, (especially from the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association) some of Richard’s favorites were Canfield’s “Man of the Year” award in 1994; Grand Marshal at the 1997 Canfield Fourth of July Parade; induction into the Holmes County High School Hall of Fame in 1998; Mahoning Valley Coaches Association “Contribution to Sports” award in 2001; and the Canfield High School Hall of Fame in 2004.

He loved to eat, loved to travel and spent his retirement exploring the globe with Gail, visiting no less than 10 countries, hiking and biking their way through most of them. No matter where he was in the world, Richard always seemed to run into someone he knew, or who knew him.

A heartfelt thanks goes to the staff at Waltonwood on Main and Oakland Hospice for making his transition from this life to the next peaceful.

A service will be held in the summer of 2026 in Millersburg. Details to be announced.

Memorial donations in Richard’s name can be made to: American Cancer Society, PO Box 6704, Hagerstown, MD 21741, donate.cancer.org/?campaign.

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