Richard Warren Fenwick, age 90, of Springfield, Missouri, died peacefully of natural causes May 15, 2024. Richard was born to Vernon Reynolds Fenwick and Martha Rose Baldwin in Appleton City, Missouri on December 6, 1933. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Clifford Fenwick, and his wife Fannie Lou Godley of 64 years. He is survived by his sister Wilma Fenwick Stephan, his sons, Jeffrey Richard Fenwick (m. Susan Jean Russick) and Jerry Lynn Fenwick (m. Cristina Grace Cerni), five grandchildren: Katherine Fenwick Dorsey, Carolyn Fenwick Kundert, Charles Marshall Fenwick, John Vernon Fenwick, and Richard Baldwin Fenwick, and eight great-grandchildren: Nolan, Susan, and John Dorsey, Jeffrey and Barbara Kundert, Charles and Walsh Fenwick, and William Fenwick.
After graduating from the University of Missouri ROTC with a BS degree in Agriculture, he served as an artillery officer in the US Army. Following his military service, he worked as a research assistant at the University of Missouri. He then joined the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Fulton, Missouri where he worked as a field surveyor, mapping southern Missouri. Richard was promoted to Assistant State Soil Conservationist for the United States Midwest Region in Lincoln, Nebraska. He retired from this position and moved to Kansas City where he served as a consultant for the USDA during the great floods of 1993, and in Kuwait with the US Agency for International Development where he consulted on soil conservation.
In his retirement he was a happy and accomplished putterer. He enjoyed gardening, hunting and fishing with his sons and grandchildren, antiquing with friends and family, and serving in his church as a minister. In his capacity as a minister, he married generations of family members and friends, the legacy of which he was very proud. He rose to the level of Patriarch in The Community of Christ and was an active church member throughout his adult life.
He is remembered for being a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, a kind and gentle man, a wise counselor, and always willing to help those in need. He abhorred violence and had a servant’s heart. He will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him.
The family suggests memorial donations to the Appleton City Cemetery Association and may be left at the funeral home.
