Richard Allen Musgraves, 86 of Geff, IL passed away at 5:53 PM, Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at Fairfield Memorial Hospital. Richard was born June 24, 1937, in Fairfield, IL, the son of Edgar Preston Musgrave and Beulah Iris Hill. After graduating from Fairfield High School in 1955, he joined the Navy and studied electrical engineering. Richard served 4 years, spending time on aircraft carriers USS Bennington, USS Bon Homme Richard, and USS Ticonderoga.
After the Navy, he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. Richard became a student worker at the Central Research Shop, a facility serving the various schools at the university, and eventually became the Shop Supervisor. The shop designed and built projects requested by university faculty from the Life Sciences to the SIU Marching Band. He built carts to carry the band’s kettledrums into the stadium, and the weathervane that sits atop Pulliam Hall.
Marsha Ann Smith and Richard married in 1961, beginning a romance for the ages and a partnership that included family, and many projects that they accomplished together.
In the 1960’s, when Buckminster Fuller was a professor at the SIU School of Design, Fuller’s students, including Richard, built a prototype for a geodesic dome which was erected on Campus Lake Drive. It is still on display at the SIU campus.
Richard was active in community service, including the Boy Scouts of America and the SIU fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. While working at SIU, he became the Ranger at the Egyptian Council Little Grassy Boy Scout Camp south of Carbondale. Richard and his wife, Marsha, lived there 14 years. The Scout Camp was the delight of his life.
Richard retired from SIU in 1994 after 32 years of service, and he and Marsha moved to the family farm southwest of Geff, IL. For many years he was active in the Geff Ruritan Club and the Sons of the American Legion in Fairfield. Richard was an inventor, builder, and philosopher.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Marsha Ann Musgraves; son Timothy Allen (Linda Hill); daughter Laura Christine; grandchildren Rigdon, Jack, Kate, and Maria; sister Doris Elaine Musgrave Born; and six nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, sister Rebecca Rae Edgington, and niece Teresa Elaine (Edgington) Stanford.
There will be a Celebration of Life at 1 PM, Saturday, October 21, 2023, at Johnson and Vaughn Funeral Home in Fairfield. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to SSM Health Hospice of Mt. Vernon, or to the Alzheimer’s Association, and will be accepted at the funeral home.
