Richard Clayton Zima

Richard Clayton Zima of Flossmoor, Illinois passed away unexpectedly on September 11, 2023, due to complications following surgery.  He was born on April 14, 1944, to Beverly and Zygmunt Zima in Geneva, Ohio and grew up in Jefferson, Ohio with his two younger sisters Mary Ann and Jennifer. During childhood, he enjoyed playing with his dogs, fishing, participating in Boy Scouts, where he earned the rank of Eagle, and helping with the family farm and farm equipment company. In high school, he ran track, sang in the choir, played basketball, took part in theater, was class president, and graduated as his school's valedictorian.

Throughout his childhood and early adult life, Dick was an avid collector, mainly of insects, coins, and stamps (entomological collecting, numismatics, and philately, he would remind us). He created organized books and catalogues of his findings, highlighted by a series of professional-quality butterfly and beetle specimen trays that exemplified his lifetime love of entomology.

After qualifying for acceptance and then being turned down for attendance at the Air Force Academy due to mild asthma, Richard attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. While at Miami, he studied zoology, was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and graduated with honors. During his first week at college, he met the love of his life at a freshman mixer. He and Lynn graduated together in 1966 and were married on February 15, 1969.

During the Vietnam War the Air Force felt differently about mild asthma, and Dick was cordially invited to participate. Deferring an opportunity to attend medical school, he graduated from Officer Training School and Undergraduate Pilot Training and was moved to active duty. He served two tours in Thailand, where he was a KC-135 pilot refueling fighter planes mid-air. He also piloted fire rescue helicopters (his beloved "Pedro"), leading rescues of the crews of damaged and downed planes, and also flew the "Huey" helicopter. Throughout his active-duty military career, he and Lynn were stationed in Maine, Texas, Nevada, and South Dakota. Following the birth of their daughter Tracey, he spent 13 months on an unaccompanied tour in South Korea.

Lynn, Richard, Tracey, and their new son, Todd rejoined civilian life and moved to Flossmoor in 1974, where Richard was a lieutenant and EMT in the Flossmoor Volunteer Fire Department for 30 years. He also remained in the Air Force Reserves for another 25 years, rising to commander of the 928th Tactical Airlift Wing at O'Hare Air Reserve Station until its closure in 1999. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Throughout his life, Dick had a large number of jobs, as varied as picking strawberries, painting bridges, selling corn, working at a chemical plant, and interning at a funeral parlor. After college and active duty, he was an insurance underwriter and a banker. During the latter part of his professional life, he acted as a quality assurance officer for the Air Force, training units on how personality types affect the way we work together in groups. In his last job, he used all of his previous experiences to become a freelance quality assurance expediter for industrial manufacturing companies. Dick was always fascinated to learn about the massive engineering projects in which he participated, and he had the mind and curiosity to be especially valuable as an independent witness and analyst.

Dick was a kind and caring man who was known to his family as "the go-to guy." If you needed something done or advice about anything, he was the man to ask. More often than not, you didn't even need to ask; he noticed what needed to be done and did it quietly. He was incredibly humble, and at the same time extremely proud of his family. He could always be counted on.

He is survived by his children Tracey (Michael) Scodro; Todd (Sally Benson) Zima; five grandchildren, Jack, George, and Annie Scodro, Milo and Sam Zima; his sisters, Mary Ann Zima, Jenny Gardner, niece Emily Zima, nephews Tom and the late John Aquilino; and the most important person in his life, his wife of 54 years, Lynn. He will be terribly missed.

A celebration of Dick's life will take place at Flossmoor Community Church, 2218 Hutchison Road, Flossmoor on Saturday, September 23rd at 1:00 pm with a reception following in Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Richard Zima's name to Fisher House Foundation would be appreciated. Fisher House Foundation is a charity that builds comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay free of charge while a loved one is in a military or VA hospital.

Donations to the Fisher House Foundation can be made at the link below:

donations@fisherhouse.org or 301-294-8560