Obituary of Lt. Col. Richard Raymond Sawyer

Lt. Col. Richard “Buzz” Raymond Sawyer, 80, of Whiting, NJ died peacefully at 5:30pm on Friday, March 15, 2019 at Millennium Memory Care in Ocean, NJ.

   A visitation will be held at Manchester Memorial Funeral Home, 28 Schoolhouse Rd. in Whiting on Thursday, March 21st from 4pm to 6pm.  A Memorial Service will be held at 5:30pm at the funeral home.  Inurnment will be at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, 350 Provinceline Road in Wrightstown on Friday, March 22nd.  A ceremony, with full military honors, will begin in the chapel at 10am. 

   Richard was born on October 4, 1938 in Lowell, MA, the son of Armand and Lucienne Sawyer.  A Vietnam Veteran, he proudly served in the United States Air Force and the United States National Guard from 1961 to 1988 as a pilot.  Richard was a resident of Southampton for nearly fifty years, moving to Whiting in 2016.  He also owned a summer home in Forked River from 1972 to 2005 and was active with sailing on Barnegat Bay.  His enthusiasm for cars was well known and he often visited New Egypt Speedway and regional car shows.  Richard was a former member of the Church of the Holy Eucharist in Tabernacle.  He married Janet Bertha Kabat on December 27, 1966 in Green Bay, WI and she survives him.

   Other survivors include his children, Teresa Sawyer (Sameh Uzzaman) of Lower Merion, PA, Keith Sawyer (Lisa Gassaway) of Arlington, MA and Deborah Sawyer (Carey Netherton) of Carbondale, IL; sisters, Janet Ricci (Ted) of Pelham, NH and Paulette Thomas (Phil) of Honolulu, HI and numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.

   In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making donations in Richard’s name to the Associated Humane Society, PO Box 43, Forked River, NJ 08731.