Richard Burns Schealer

22 September 1924 – 19 October 2013

    Born in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, the youngest of nine children, to Franklin and Sallie Schealer, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather left this mortal life as the result of a stroke to walk with His Lord Master on Saturday, 19 October, at 12:45 pm.
    Dick shared 63 wonderful years of marriage with his soul mate and true love, Nancy (McNey) Schealer.  They have six children, 22 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
    Richard Schealer was raised in the southeast portion of Pennsylvania, less than 100 miles from Philadelphia.   In high school he trained in cross-country but his greatest passion was scouting, earning his Eagle Scout designation in 1942.  He continued this passion into adulthood and served in almost every capacity as a scout, being an Assistant Scoutmaster, Scoutmaster, Neighborhood Commissioner, Assistant District Commissioner, District Commissioner and Explorer Post Leader.  A natural inventor, Richard’s first invention was a dive helmet created from a milk can, then he later invented a hinge in a casket factory where he worked, and an underwater dive air compressor that he fabricated and used on his own dive expeditions during WW II.
    Richard enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II where he was assigned to a Carrier Aircraft Service Unit which deployed to the south Pacific islands of Guam and Saipan.  There Richard discovered the amazing undersea world of the Pacific reefs.  There, before the patent of the SCUBA diving gear by Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagan, Richard Schealer was diving on the south Pacific reefs.   Transfixed by the astonishing, natural beauty, Richard Schealer became a lifelong diver extraordinaire, exploring the undersea world off the coasts of over 15 countries worldwide and leading a SCUBA diving Explorer Scout Post.  Ultimately, Richard would design the ventilation system of one of only four operating undersea habitats in the world in 1997 and there would earn his Aquanaut Certification by completing a 24 hour mission underwater in the habitat he helped design and build. 
    Immediately after his discharge from the US Navy, Dick married Nancy McNey of Boyertown, Pennsylvania.  Thereupon Dick attended Penn State University where he earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1955.  After graduation, he was employed by the Glenn L. Martin Company as a test flight engineer.  In 1966 Dick made the jump to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration assigned to the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. His KSC career spanned 25 years and included work on the Gemini, Apollo, Spacelab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle and the Space Shuttle Orbiter launch facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base.  Dick earned the prestigious Silver Snoopy award from the NASA Astronaut Corps for his outstanding work as a NASA Engineer.
    Dick and Nancy enjoyed a robust travel itinerary, visiting more than 26 countries around the world.
    On the following pages, please enjoy the witness and the heartfelt sentiments of those who have known and loved him best!
    You are invited to leave your comments on the guestbook here!