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 1924 - 2007 (82 years)
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| Name |
Richard Edwin Webb |
| Birth |
17 Nov 1924 |
Decatur, Van Buren, Michigan  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
22 May 2007 |
Lawrenceville, Gwinnett, Georgia |
| Burial |
24 May 2007 |
Canton, Cherokee, Georgia |
| Person ID |
I912 |
Georgia Society Member Graves Registry |
| Last Modified |
16 May 2010 |
| Father |
Edwin Francis Webb, b. 16 Jul 1897, Paw Paw, Van Buren, Michigan d. 03 Jan 1944, Yardley, Pennsylvania (Age 46 years) |
| Mother |
Alice Eva Virginia Wigginton, b. 07 Aug 1896, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania d. 11 Dec 1952, Orlando, Orange, Florida (Age 56 years) |
| Marriage |
27 Jan 1918 |
Paw Paw, Van Buren, Michigan |
| Family ID |
F1 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- From the 1850’s, the Webb family had tilled the earth of southwest Michigan for sustenance. Richard Edwin Webb, the third child of Edwin and Alice Webb was born November 17, 1924, and was taught early lessons of industry and honesty which would be of advantage to him throughout his life. He grew up in Paw Paw, Michigan, and excelled in both scholastic and community activities. At age 19, during WW II, he enlisted in the Navy, and assisted, as Storekeeper First Class, with support and supply during D-Day. He wrote of that experience:
“We hit the beach and dropped the ramp and the GI’s headed out in about 2 feet of water. Machine gun fire was everywhere and about 5 or 6 just dropped as they left the boat. A couple never made it off the boat and we raised the ramp and carried them back to the ship.”
After the end of the war, he attended the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, from 1946 through 1949, and received his BS in Pharmacy. His father having died in a farm accident in 1944, this accomplishment was hard-won, as he supported his mother and worked a full-time job.
He had joined the Army Reserves during school, and in 1950 was activated and sent to Korea, where he served in the 121st Evacuation Hospital as Pharmacist (Sergeant First Class). He wrote “My job was to keep the Corpsman in the front supplied…I would ride out to the front with the medical choppers with supplies and help pick up the wounded in the return trip.”
Korea behind him, he moved to Florida with his mother, for whom he cared until her death in 1952. In 1953 he opened his first business, Northside Pharmacy, which was the beginning of what became Webb’s Fabulous Pharmacies, a chain with over 20 drug stores around the state of Florida. Richard married Carolyn Louise Johnson, in July of 1955, and they had three children, Mark, Ann and Dale.
Richard sold the stores in the mid-1970s, scaling back to one store, then later working for Walgreens. His wife died in 1992, after which he continued to work, finally retiring in the late 1990s. His compassionate nature was further demonstrated while caring for his son Dale, who died of complications from AIDS/HIV in May 1999.
In 2003, he settled into a comfortable lifestyle, living with daughter Ann and her husband Lee on Lake Lanier.
He also loved history, and had become a voracious reader of books about the various events that make our country great. He was sponsored by his son Mark in membership to the Sons of the American Revolution, who also presented him with a SAR medal to commemorate his service in WW II and Korea.
Richard Edwin Webb passed away at Gwinett Medical Center, Lawrenceville, Georgia, on 22 May 2007. He will be missed by his family, friends and compatriots.
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