Draft:Richard Poethig

Richard Paul Poethig (July 13, 1925 - November 22, 2021) was an American Presbyterian minister and Labor rights activist. Poethig's activism in the Christian community has spanned over 60 years. Poethig was ordained by the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1953. He spent 15 years in The Philippines as a missionary and community organizer. An avid Democratic Socialist, Poethig was influenced by his professional and personal relationships with figures such as Tommy Douglas, Norman Thomas and Reinhold Niebuhr.

Early Life


Richard Paul Poethig was born on July 13, 1925 in the Manhattan borough of New York City to Ernest Poethig and Henrietta Poethig (née Schoelzel); His grandfather, Alwin Richard Poethig immigrated from Germany in 1871. In his formative years Richard lived in a Tenement flat in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan where his father worked at Sunshine Biscuits. In 1941 Richard got his first job working for Fred Waring and his radio show in the shipping department. Richard would decide to attend the College of Wooster to study theology, he would soon become active in the Student Government being elected senator for the junior class in 1946 and later president in 1947. Through Poethig's leadership in the Student League for Industrial Democracy he found himself studying the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan. While representing the Student League at the Canadian Cooperative Commonwealth University Federation Convention he met Tommy Douglas, agreeing with him that "socialism has to come through the church".

Ordination & Mission years in The Philippines
Poethig was educated at Union Theological Seminary where he took classes from Reinhold Niebuhr. After his ordination Richard and Eunice moved to Manila in 1957. In 1970, Poethig was instrumental in the founding of the Zone One Tondo Organization.

Return to America
In 1986 Richard and Eunice moved to Buffalo, where Eunice served as Executive Presbyter of Western New York and Richard wrote for Presbyterian Historical Society journals and worked part time as a pastor for West Avenue Presbyterian Church, in 1990 Richard recommended that his congregation fire him to cut costs; this request was not met. Richard resigned from West Avenue in September 1990 and was succeeded by The Rev. Ewan Aitken but remained active in the Church. In 1997 Richard and Eunice sold their house in Buffalo and moved to Louisville, Kentucky.

Personal Life
Richard met Eunice Blachard While studying at Union Theological Seminary, he proposed to Eunice after 3 weeks of dating, they would have 5 children together; Scott (born 1953), Kathryn (born 1955), Johanna (born 1956), Margaret (born 1962) and Erika (born 1971). The Poethigs lived in Chicago from 1998 until Eunice passed away in 2018, Richard would then move to Philadelphia where he lived until his death in 2021

Richard was a lifelong fan of the San Francisco Giants.