Richard Lee Kaiser

Richard Lee Kaiser of Dallas, Texas died peacefully in his sleep on May 30, 2019 at the age of 85. He was born on February 12, 1934 to Lee and Irene (Chaney) Kaiser near St. Joseph's, Missouri. Richard is survived by his wife of 58 years, Norma Lu Kaiser, his brother Larry (Barbara), his sons Mark and David (Joy) and his grandchildren, Tabitha, Leo, Genevieve, Rebecca, and Charlotte.

He attended Missouri School of Mines at Rolla where he was a member of Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society. He graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1955. He served as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Signal Corps and taught night school for microwave technicians at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. He attended Ohio State University, where he met his wife Norma Lu. He graduated with a Master's in Science in 1960 with a focus on antennas. He went on to study radio astronomy at Stanford University from 1966-1968.

Since 1957, Richard developed ground communications for the manned missions of Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, and the Space Shuttle. He developed ground communications for multiple military and commercial satellites, including active and passive communication satellites and surveillance satellites. He came up with accurate methods to track satellites and methods to improve and expand the use of navigation satellites. He designed techniques to test large ground antennas.

Richard was most proud of his work to put men on the moon by designing, building, and testing all manned spacecraft's ground end of control and communication links. In order to talk to the astronauts the Apollo program used about 30 ground stations strung all around the world, as well as ships and aircraft.
Richard served as a volunteer librarian for Scofield Memorial Church for 45 years. He enjoyed the outdoors, especially hunting in Texas. He read widely and was ready to converse on nearly any subject besides sports.

A memorial service will be held at Scofield Memorial Church on Tuesday June 4 at 11 am. The family asks that you contribute to the Jesus Film Project or Union Gospel Mission.