Richard Smart Culver, age 86, a resident of Newbury Court in Concord, MA, formerly of Binghamton, NY, passed away on February 5, 2024. He was the beloved husband for 61 years of Margaret Harriet "Smuggles" Culver.

He was born in Berkeley, CA on July 26, 1937, as the son of the late, Joseph Simpson Culver and Ella Elizabeth (Smart) Culver. Dick spent his first five years living in California, after which his family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee where his father was one of the first engineers to work at the Oak Ridge National Labs. Dick was a member of the first graduating class from the newly founded Oak Ridge High School. He worked in the Oak Ridge Labs while obtaining an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University where he was class valedictorian for the School of Engineering. Subsequently, he earned a master's in Engineering Mechanics from Stanford University in 1960, and his PhD in Mechanics of Materials from Cambridge University in Cambridge, England in 1964.

A Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professional Engineer, Dick led a distinguished multi-national career in research and education, including roles as a Professor at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria and University of Calgary, Canada. At the Colorado School of Mines, Dick served several years on the Engineering faculty and as Dean of Students. Dick's longest professional stay was at Binghamton University, in the Thomas Watson School of Engineering where he was the inaugural Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. He spearheaded the establishment of the Watson School's nationally renowned lower division program from 1994 to 2000 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2007. A passionate pioneer in engineering education, Dick understood the imperative of nurturing the holistic growth of students within the engineering curricula. To read more about his career and professional legacy, please click here .

While a resident of Binghamton, New York, Dick was a dedicated community volunteer and an active member of the Tabernacle United Methodist Church. He also enjoyed singing with the Binghamton Downtown Singers for over thirty years.

In the 1950s, Dick's family built a cabin on Watts Bar Lake in Rockwood, Tennessee where Dick and his brothers were avid trick water skiers. In later years, Dick and Smuggles enjoyed gathering "at the lake" with extended family for annual summer vacations, and where Dick continued stunt skiing into his seventies.

Dick was a lifelong skilled craftsman and artist who enjoyed drawing, woodworking, and stained glass. As a child, he built balsa wood and tissue paper model airplanes with which he won many flight competitions including holding a national record for indoor hand-launched gliders. He designed and built many things from furniture pieces to the family home in Golden, Colorado. In later years, he developed an extensive portfolio of original stained glass designs. Several of his pieces have been shown in galleries and are installed in homes and buildings in Binghamton. One of his later pieces hangs in the North Lobby at Newbury Court.

Dick and Smuggles built lifelong communities of close friends who shared international travel, cycling, skiing and celebrations for decades, including a group from Cambridge University who call themselves the Blackbirds.

Dick was a loving, kind, unassuming, and tirelessly helpful husband, father, and friend. He will also be remembered as a creative problem solver and master of the home project.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children, Joseph Culver and his wife Mary of St. Louis, MO, Robert Culver of Durango, CO, Thomas Culver and his wife Polly of Amherst, NH and Kande McDonald and her husband Michael of Concord, MA, along with seven grandchildren, Easton, Owen, Audrey, Hannah, Marlena, Eliot and Naomi, and three brothers, Ed Culver of Maryville, TN, David Culver and his wife Ginny of Columbus, OH and Gene Culver of Maryville, TN. He also leaves behind several nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends will gather for a celebration of Dick's life in the Duvall Chapel at Newbury Court, 80 Deaconess Road, Concord, MA on Sunday, May 26 at 2 p.m. For those that were not able to attend in person, you may watch the recorded livestream here .

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Dick's memory may be made to Rivercrest Wellness and Rehab , c/o New England Deaconess Association, 80 Deaconess Road Concord MA 01742, Parkinson's Foundation or Tabernacle United Methodist Church , 83 Main Street, Binghamton, NY 13905.

Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord, MA.