Richard George Strippel, 85, of East Petersburg, formerly of Chatham, NJ, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 13, 2015 at Landis Homes. Richard was born in New York City in 1929 and was the son of the late Otto Strippel and Bertha (Kolbe) Strippel. He was married for more than 54 years to Doris Marie (Varklet) Strippel. Richard was the father of Carol Anne (Strippel) Wilson and Christopher Strippel, and grandfather of Scott Strippel. Richard was a Public Relations executive and retired from the New Jersey engineering firm, Foster Wheeler Corporation, in 1996. He was the author of Amelia Earhart – The Myth and the Reality, a book cited as a seminal work regarding the crash of the female pilot's plane. He was working on a sequel, Amelia Earhart – A Reality Check. He wrote numerous articles about Earhart for many publications, and after retirement served as a public speaker on the topic. Richard earned a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY in 1951 and pursued a graduate degree in public relations. He was a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force and served in Germany during the Korean War. Richard enjoyed building radios and was an amateur radio enthusiast. He combined work and pleasure for several years, writing a column on amateur radio for Popular Communications. He also was an avid reader, particularly books about World War II. Friends are invited to attend the memorial service on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at 11AM at the East Bethany Chapel at the Landis Homes Retirement Community, 1001 E. Oregon Rd., Lititz, PA. Please omit flowers, making contributions in Richard's memory to Hospice and Community Care, 685 Good Drive, Box 4125, Lancaster, PA 17604-4125 or to the Caring Fund at Landis Homes Retirement Community at the above address for Landis Homes.