Richard N. Creswell, Johns Hopkins retiree, pilot

Richard N. Creswell, 95, passed away peacefully Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Florida. He was born June 20, 1929, in Washington, D.C., to George and Gertrude Creswell. 

He graduated from George Washinton University in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Richard married Shirley Brown in 1953 and spent the next three years in the U.S. Navy as the gunnery officer aboard a destroyer escort operating out of San Francisco on the West Coast. After discharge in 1956, he and Shirley returned to the D.C. area and resided in Silver Spring, Md.  For the next 30 years, Richard was employed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory located in Howard County, Md., where he was a member of the Principal Professional Staff and served as supervisor of the Administrative Services Department. During this time, he, Shirley and their two daughters, Kathleen and Janis, spent many enjoyable vacations and weekends on the ocean at their summer beach cottage in Middlesex Beach. Richard was known for his award-winning sandcastles and July 4th rockets.

After retiring from Johns Hopkins in 1986, Richard earned his private pilot license and built his airplane in the basement of his home in Silver Spring. He was an active member of the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. In 1999, Richard moved to Eagles Landing, an aviation community in Winter Haven, Fla. He spent the next 25 years dividing his time between lolling on the beach during the summers in Delaware and flying his RV-4 airplane during the sunny winters in Florida. He was an active member of the Winter Haven Pilots Association and thoroughly enjoyed numerous fly-out lunches to airports all over Florida.

Richard was preceded in death by his sister, Maryland in 1996; his beloved wife, Shirley in 1996; his daughter, Janis (who was also a pilot) in 2007; and his brother, Robert in 2018. He is survived by his daughter, Kathleen and her husband Glen Grundhoefer; and two grandsons, Shane and Jeffrey Grundhoefer, all of Winter Springs, Fla. He is also survived by his brother, George Creswell of Maryland; and many nephews, nieces, and a great-grandchild.

Funeral Services will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 16, at the Ocean View Chapel of Melson Funeral Services, 38040 Muddy Neck Road., Ocean View, where friends and family may gather after 9:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Mariner’s Bethel Cemetery, Ocean View.

Online condolences may be sent by visiting melsonfuneralservices.com.