Obituary: Richard J. Stoller, Ph.D.

Richard J. Stoller, Ph.D. entered Eternal Life on January 28, 2013 at the age of 89 and will be greatly missed by his family.

Dick lived through the depression and experienced the hardships that came with it. He was an outstanding athlete and once dreamt of playing professional baseball. He continued to play softball into his forties.

He graduated from Washington High School in the middle of WWII and at nineteen was taken out of his world on Milwaukee’s near north side and was dropped into the South Pacific Theater where he saw action in New Guinea and Luzon in the Philippines, being some of the first troops to arrive at Bataan with the 38th Division. From this shoreline he watched the U.S. attack on Corregidor. The horrors he saw there influenced his future desire to teach.

After the war Dick went to State Teachers College and became an elementary school teacher, a vice principal and then a principal. He did this for over thirty years. He received his Master of Education degree from Marquette University, while teaching and took a summer off to work on his doctorate.

Dick’s second career and the thing he enjoyed most, was handwriting analysis. He was able to combine his love of teaching with a personal passion. He wrote his doctoral thesis on how handwriting is not only a reflection of personality but that the act of changing your penmanship can actually change your personality. He wrote books, frequently lectured, appeared on television and landed an article in a national publication. He also worked with the personnel departments of several local companies and aided them in hiring and job placement. He would do this for another thirty years.

Dick is survived by his beloved wife of 64 years, Eleanor; three sons, Terry (Michel), Tim (Jane), Tom (Venice) and daughter, Jennifer (Hank) Semerda; 7 grandchildren, Brian, Carly (Brian), Janell (fiancé Mark ), Josh (Mari Jo), Eddie (Lindsey), Danielle and Stephanie and 3 great-grandchildren, Zoe, Olivia and Naomi; step-grandchildren, Chris, Tina, Dennis and Nicholas.

Visitation will be held at St. Eugene Parish, 7600 N M. Port Washington Rd., Fox Point, on Saturday, February 2, from 10 to 11 AM, followed by Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 11 AM. Entombment to follow at Resurrection Cemetery. Memorials appreciated to Christian Relief Services, 2550 Huntington Ave., Suite 200, Alexandria VA 22303.

Obituary provided courtesy of Feerick Funeral Home