Richard Lopez, 74, of Raleigh, NC, died on September 7, 2019. He was born in New York on June 16, 1945, son of the late John Lopez and Rafaela Rivera Lopez.

Richard showed an early interest in mechanical things and was famous for his tinkering; one story that his parents enjoyed sharing was the time that Richard, as a small child, repaired his mother’s broken mixer, and it worked perfectly, despite some leftover parts.

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1963, Richard enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, eager to serve his country by working in aircraft maintenance and eventually, electronic counter-measures; he always enjoyed telling others of his travels to Thailand and Japan while in the Air Force. As part of his Air Force training, Richard was stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and upon being honorably discharged in 1967, he returned to North Carolina to marry Edith Hines. Richard and Edith moved to Morrisville, NC after Richard secured another position which utilized his technical strengths, as an Customer Engineer with IBM.

As he continued to move forward in his career at IBM, Richard and Edith had two children, Adam and Lisa. Richard and his family traveled to Georgia and Florida, before returning to North Carolina again, where Richard retired from IBM in 1992. During this time, Richard was a strong advocate for his children, encouraging, perhaps insisting on the best grades possible, and he always supported their life plans and goals.

Though retired, Richard continued to enjoy his many interests: classic cars, animals, tinkering, classic rock (he got to see Jimi Hendrix perform once in California!) and a little bit of baseball (a former Yankees fan turned Braves fan). Richard took pride in his ability to identify classic cars, often from only being able to see one small part, or even if it was underneath a car cover, as he was able to make out the shape. Edith always relied on him to fix and repair things around the house or little treasures that she might bring home to him, and he always enjoyed finding creative ways to do this, even restoring his grandmother’s Grundig Majestic radio from the 1940’s. He always enjoyed making his family laugh, grilling on the weekends, and spending time with his pet cats, dogs, and even his eventual granddogs. Mainly, Richard loved his family, and he always did his best to take care of their every need.

Richard is survived by his wife, Edith Lopez; his son, Adam Lopez; his daughter, Lisa Friedman; his sister, Laura Spickerman; and his brother, Edward Lopez. Private services will be held at a later date.