Richard George Blauvelt

Richard George Blauvelt, 86, of Southfield, Michigan, passed peacefully at home on October 19, 2020. He was born at home in the middle of a blizzard in Ferndale, Michigan on March 21, 1934. Richard graduated from Lincoln High School and attended Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1956. While at Wayne State, he met and married Connie (Crew) Blauvelt in 1956. Richard and Connie have three children: Richard A. Blauvelt (Marjorie) of Royal Oak Michigan, Mark R. Blauvelt (Susan) of Grand Haven, Michigan, and Thomas S. Blauvelt (Patsy) of Farmington Hills, Michigan. They have eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Richard is survived by his wife Connie, and his children and grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Patricia Stolman and a brother, William Blauvelt. Richard is pre-deceased by his parents George and Frances Blauvelt, sister Jean Blauvelt and brother Robert Blauvelt. Richard had a long career as a contract negotiator. He started out at Bendix and worked there for many years. After he worked at Bendix, Richard moved to Williams International and then later retired from General Dynamics. During his career, Richard travelled to Newport News, Virginia and occasionally to Europe to lead negotiations on government contracts. Having sat at both sides of the negotiating table, Richard remarked that negotiating purchases was much easier than sales. As the leader of a negotiation team, Richard was admired for quietly listening and taking notes during presentations, asking a few pertinent questions, and then producing a completed contract. Richard was always mindful of his coworkers, his staff, and the environment of the workplace. In one particular instance, he was offered a promotion. He was aware that a female coworker was equally qualified and suggested that they give her the promotion to help address the gender inequity in mangement. The level of respect he commanded from management and coworkers was evident when Richard spent an extended time in the hospital due to an illness and the staff at Williams International supported and cared for him and his family. Richard was a longtime active member of Wellspring Church, formerly Northwestern Baptist Church. As a practicing Christian who walked in the path of Christ, Richard led a life of quiet service and preferred to lead by example. Richard served on the board of his church in many roles and was always involved in church life. Richard assisted members of the congregation who needed help. For many years he helped care for a disabled member of the congregation at the member's home. Richard loved music, both listening and in performance. He was a trumpet virtuoso, sitting first chair in the orchestra at Interlochen, at Wayne State University, and playing with the Scandinavian Symphony in Southfield for many years. While Richard had a wonderful singing voice, he preferred to watch his wife Connie direct the church choir. His family only got to hear him sing in the annual rendition of Happy Birthday he and Connie sang to every member of the family on their special day. Richard had many other hobbies including camping, fishing, dirt-biking, and home improvement projects. Whatever the task, Richard was known as someone who built things to last. Richard's main love was his family. When he was a young man, he worked at the service station that his father owned in Detroit. He developed his love for working on cars by doing car repairs with his dad. When he was older and had his own children, they used to love when Richard took them to visit their grandfather at work, especially when Richard would put them in a car and give them a ride on the hoist in the garage. Richard imparted his tenacity and strong work ethic to his children who learned to repair and maintain their own cars. Richard's sons are never afraid to take on and complete any endeavor. Richard spent time with his kids working around the house and helping them with their interests. There are many stories of Richard going to police auctions to buy used bicycles for two or three dollars, and then repairing and painting them for his kids. Richard also repaired bikes for his sons' friends. He bought used trumpets at garage sales and auctions, paid to have them refurbished, and donated them to school music programs. Richard extended the same devotion to his sons' spouses and their children. Grandpa Blauvelt was always a favorite person to his family, and he rocked every grandchild to sleep. Private funeral service on October 28, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Please join the service virtually by clicking on the Zoom link that will open at 1:00 on October 28, 2020: Richard G. Blauvelt funeral service The family appreciates all the warm messages of love that have been received. In lieu of flowers, donations to the following would be greatly appreciated: Friendship House 9540 Conant Hamtramck, MI 48212 Wellspring Church P.O. Box 3071 Farmington Hills, MI 48333-3071 Capuchin Soup Kitchen 1820 Mt. Elliott Street Detroit, MI 48207

Richard George Blauvelt

March 21, 1934 - October 19, 2020