Richard C. West (Dick) attended high school in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. and, as a sophomore, found himself with five failing grades and one “A”, coming in physical education. He found renewed focus after guidance from a coach, improved his grades, set his sights on excelling in physical education and attended Springfield College (Mass.) to play baseball and football.

Dick’s second season at Springfield was interrupted when he and classmates were called for military duty in World War II. He spent four years in the army, as a medic, and was stationed in France, Germany and England.

After the war, West returned to college and then quickly earned a tryout with the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) baseball franchise. He was ultimately offered a manager position by the club, but would need to forego the rest of college to accept. West chose to instead finish his degree at Springfield.

His first job out of school would be at Otterbein, where he spent eight years (1948-55) as a one-man show heading the physical education major and also serving as the head basketball coach, head baseball coach and assistant football coach.

A hard-working administrator that did whatever he could for the department, West lived on Grove St. in a campus home and molded many young men into teachers. He also ran the intramural program and taught five classes… on a salary of under $4,000 per year.

Dick left Otterbein for what would be an outstanding stretch back at Fairmont High School, where he would teach, coach baseball and become the school’s guidance counselor for over 25 years. It was there he met his wife, Nancy, to which he would marry in 1973.

The couple launched a new counseling service following his time at Fairmont, serving as pre-marital counselors for churches. An incredibly good listener, Dick describes his opportunity to be a counselor as a “Gift from God.”

Later diagnosed with abdominal lymphoma, West experienced an epiphany and became motivated to pursue a doctorate degree. He earned his PHD in divinity at the age 88 and then, clean of cancer, ultimately wrote a book and had articles published in library congress.