More detail on this person: Richard Lee
Lambert, 63, of Wooster, died Friday, June 22,
2012 in a plane accident near Morgantown, W. Va.
Friends may call Wednesday, June 27, from noon
to 2 p.m. at Roberts Funeral Home-Sherwood
Chapel, Wooster. Memorial services will be
Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the funeral home, where
military rites will be held. A private burial will
be at Sherwood Memorial Gardens at a later date.
Online tributes may be made at
www.RobertsFuneralHome.com
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be
made to his family.
Richard ("Dick," "Dickie," "Rich," "Rick") was
born Oct. 27, 1948 in Winamac, Ind. to Ernest
Clifford and Hilda Faye (Roller) Mays. His father
died when Richard was nine months old, and he
was later adopted by his stepfather Chester
Lambert for his 12th birthday.
He graduated from North Judson High School in
1966 in North Judson, Ind. and then attended
Purdue University for two years. He later enlisted
in the United States Army in order to pursue his
passion of flying helicopters and airplanes. He
was a Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) helicopter pilot
in the 1st Calvary Airborne Division during
Vietnam, where he earned multiple awards and
honors, including three Distinguished Flying Cross
medals.
He met his wife Sharon Stout on a 4-H People to
People tour of Europe and Russia in 1966 where
they had their first date in Munich, Germany. They
were married two years later on September 1, 1968
in Plainfield, Ind.
After his military service, he continued a career
in aviation. He started his own commuter airline
in Pennsylvania, and later founded Lambert
Aviation with his wife Sharon. He was a flight
instructor, charter pilot, and corporate pilot for
multiple companies and individuals including Rayco
Manufacturing, Gerstenslager, Al Klaben, Aviation
Training Management (ATM) and various companies
owned by Rick Osborne. He could fly anything.
Richard was also a dreamer with many ideas, who
went on to co-develop a mobile heli-pad with his
pilot friend Duane Steiner. He was a teller of
puns and jokes and always had a smile on his face.
He lived his life doing what he loved.
Rich, "The World's Greatest Pilot" (WGPilot) will
be deeply missed by his wife; daughters Tina
Lambert, currently of Irving, Texas and Dr. Lisa
(Sean) Kaiser of Beavercreek; grandsons Emerson
and Benjamin Kaiser; mother Faye, currently of
Lawrenceville, Ga.; sister Diana (Mark) Podorsky
of Winamac, Ind.; two nieces, one nephew, one
great-niece and one great-nephew.
Richard was preceded in death by his fathers, and
some of his favorite aunts and uncles.
Lambert, who died in a plane crash, remembered as
"generous, silly" man
By STEVEN F. HUSZAI Staff WriterPublished:June
26, 2012 4:00AM
WOOSTER -- Richard Lambert, known to friends
and family as "Rich" and "Fat Albert" during his
time in Vietnam, was called generous, caring, and
silly by his family Monday.
"He never said 'no' to anyone," said his wife,
Sharon. "His whole life was aviation. ... He was
on call 24/7 and gave up a lot of time with his
family."
Lambert taught his daughters how to play sports
and interact with people.
The 63-year-old Wooster resident died in a plane
crash Friday morning near Morgantown, W. Va.,
according to reports from the Associated Press.
Lambert's two daughters and wife know he died
doing what he loved in life -- flying.
Born in Winamac, Ind., he lived in Wooster for the
past 32 years and raised his family here. Sharon
Lambert talked about the many jobs he had after
being sent to Vietnam. The two lived in Colorado,
Texas, Alabama and Pennsylvania (just to name a
few places) before moving to Wooster.
He started flying when he was 18 years old, said
Sharon Lambert. He enlisted in the United States
Army after two years of college at Purdue
University to continue his flying. He was sent to
Vietnam to fly troops in and out of various
locations during the conflict. While there, he
flew helicopters, his passion.
"He loved to fly helicopters, that was his
preference," his wife said.
After the Army, he spent his days flying charter
planes for people and corporations, giving
instructions, and even started his own commuter
airline to provide trips to college students at
Penn State University named Trans-Pennsylvania
Airlines.
But in the struggles of starting a small business,
Lambert was asked to fly a Penn State basketball
coach out to Wooster to watch Triway legend Mary
Jo Swartz (now Logee) play basketball.
"We moved to Wooster 32 years ago," Sharon
Lambert said. "He had a great reputation here,
great friends ... it's our home."
While here, the Lamberts owned and operated
Lambert Aviations and leased an airplane to fly
charter flights numerous companies and people,
such as Gerstenslager's, the Dix family and Rick
Osborne, as well as working at the Wayne County
Airport.
Besides his lifelong goals to own his own
helicopter and plane, he also wanted to take off
and land in all 50 states, which he completed in
February.
"I didn't want to go until later in October,"
Sharon Lambert remembered. But now she is
extremely happy to have gone. "I am so happy he
got to do that."
One of the family's fondest memories of Lambert
included the many flights they took with him.
Lisa Lambert explained they would play a game
called "Whoopsie."
With Sharon Lambert in the backseat (she gets
queasy during flights) and one of the two girls,
the other girl would sit in the co-pilot's seat.
The game was jerking the throttle forward and back
quickly to give what Lisa Lambert described as a
"feeling of weightlessness" sometimes lifting them
out of their seats.
"One time I was in the co-pilot's seat and Tina
was in the back. I pulled back on the throttle and
pushed it in and all of a sudden the plane went
silent and apparently the engine stalled," she
said. "I said 'Daddy, did I do it too hard?' which
he responded 'yes,'" she explained, before he got
the plane back on track.
Tina Labert said she and her father were very much
alike. She said they both have a "tendency toward
insubordination."
"I have a lot of memories of always debating with
him ... but now I'm not sure where I will get my
tax advice from or car maintenance advice from,"
she said. "There are a lot of unanswered questions
(regarding the accident)."
But what the family does know is "he didn't suffer
and he died doing what he loved," added Tina
Lambert said.
Sharon, who had surgery June 19, spoke with her
husband about an hour before his last flight
Friday morning.
"He asked how I was doing and we loved the
Cleveland Indians, so we talked about the game for
a little bit," she said. "I told him I wish he
didn't have to go and I wanted to have him here
with me.
"We were just starting to have fun being older and
retired with our grandsons."
A full obituary appeared in Monday's eDaily
Record.
Friends may call Wednesday from noon-2 p.m. at
Roberts Funeral Home-Sherwood Chapel, in
Wooster. Memorial services will be Wednesday at 2
p.m. at the funeral home, where military rites
will be held. A private burial will be at Sherwood
Memorial Gardens at a later date.
Reporter Steve Huszai can be reached at
330-287-1645 or shuszai@the-daily-record.com. He
is @GeneralSmithie on Twitter
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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