HENDERSON, Md. - John Alan Richard passed away at INOVA Fairfax Hospital, on December 2, 2015 surrounded by his family. He was preceded in death by his son. Christopher; and is survived by his wife of 61 years, Helen; sons, Paul and Stephen; daughter, Margaret Richard Poppe; brother, James Purdy Richard; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Alan was born on February 12, 1930 in Sandtown, Delaware, and grew up in Henderson, Maryland on a farm near the headwaters of the Choptank River. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Civil Engineering and subsequently entered the US Air Force. He retired as a Major from active reserve in 1967. During his long career, Alan pursued his Masters degree in Civil Engineering at Catholic University, and completed his professional engineering license. He met his future wife, Helen Phyllis Miller of St. Paul, Minnesota, while stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany. They were married in September of 1954 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The couple then lived in Baltimore while Alan worked on various public works including the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and Interstate 70 in western Maryland. In 1967 Alan took a position with the US Agency for International Development and he and the family moved to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and then to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. After a stint in Washington, DC working on the northeast corridor railroad renewal, Alan returned to Foreign Service and he and Helen moved to Kuwait. Alan retired from the US Government in 1984 and continued project management consulting in the US and Kuwait. He was an avid golf player, and also enjoyed playing tennis, card games, watching football and soccer, fishing, and traveling. During the past 25 years, Alan and Helen have interspersed trips to various parts of the world with winters in Texas and (more recently) Florida, and summers at their home on Bass Lake in Minnesota. A funeral Mass will be said for Alan at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Ridgely Maryland, on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 10:30 a.m., to be followed by interment at Greensboro Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Alan's name to Volunteers Repairing Homes (VRH) at www.vrhvolunteers.org. To share online memories and condolences, please visit www.fleegleandhelfenbein.com .