Dr. Richard Thames
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Dr. Richard Thames, 82, died Friday, November 20, 2020, in his home.
He was born March 6, 1938, in Bentleyville, a son of the late John C. and Lucille Twardek Thames.
On July 11, 1959, he married Joyce N. Mitchell Thames, who survives.
Dr. Thames was a 1956 graduate of Bentleyville High School. After graduating from high school, he worked for Bell Telephone Company for about a year and a half. He then attended California State Teachers College and then Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. Dr. Thames earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron. He then earned his Doctorate at Kansas State Osteopathic College in Missouri and interned in Cuyahoga Falls in Ohio. Dr. Thames then came to the Punxsutawney area, where he worked with Dr. Frank Bizousky Sr. until he started his own practice.
He loved working in the emergency rooms and rotated between six hospitals. In the mid-90s, he closed his practice but continued to work in the hospital’s emergency room until his retirement in 2007.
Dr. Thames loved God, his family, practicing medicine, fishing, hunting and flying. He was a member of the Elks, National Rifle Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and a member of the Charleroi Mountain Club. He also fished as an amateur in PWT.
In addition to his wife, Joyce, Dr. Thames is survived by three children, son Richard Thames Jr. and wife Leslie of Avella, daughter Michele Villiger and husband Rodney of Mountain Home, Ark., and son Cary Thames and wife Kelli of Ann Arbor, Mich.; eight grandchildren, Misty and Alissa Thames, Rebecca, Brady and Reese Villiger, and Neal, Lindsey and Anna Thames; three great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, John Thames Jr., Edward Thames, Theresa Selvoski, Donald Thames and an infant sister, Anna Thames.
Friends were invited to attend a memorial service for Dr. Thames at 11 a.m. Tuesday, November 24, in One Life Church in Punxsutawney, officiated by Pastor Guy Smith.
In lieu of flowers, make memorial contributions, in memory of Dr. Thames, to the Punxsutawney Area Hospital Patient Care Fund, 81 Hillcrest Drive, Punxsutawney, PA 15767.
Condolences may be made at www.deeleyfuneralhome.com.