Richard Lee Bigham, 66, died on Dec. 11, 2023 at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple.
A memorial service will be held at Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel in Lampasas at 11 a.m. Dec. 21, with burial to follow at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen at 2 p.m.
Richard was born on Aug. 5, 1957, in Stipshausen, Germany to Hansel Lee and Elenore Dautermann Bigham.
He graduated from Lawrence Bell High School in Hurst, Texas in 1975.
Immediately after high school graduation, Richard enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for 20 years. He served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and was the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal for his actions while serving as the Senior Emergency Actions Sergeant for III Corps. He retired in 1995, achieving the rank of sergeant first class.
After retiring from the Army, Richard began his second career with Killeen ISD as a teacher at Gateway Middle School. He spent his entire teaching career with at-risk middle school students and retired after 21 years in 2019.
Upon retiring from teaching, Richard began working at Baylor Scott & White in Marble Falls as a medical technician where he was employed at the time of his death.
Richard married Ruby in 1990 at Fort Hood, and they were married for 33 years.
His interests were quite varied. He had a love for all things electronic and all things history (more specifically, Civil Warrelated), but he greatly enjoyed buying and refurbishing antiques and spending time on shopping trips with his wife. Richard felt his greatest accomplishment was being a husband, father and grandfather.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Ulla Haines.
Richard is survived by his spouse, Ruby of Lampasas; daughters Heather (Jason) Henry of Lampasas and Tanya Runge of Colorado Springs, Colorado; stepchildren Teddy (Shayna) Limoz of Las Vegas, Nevada, Ricky Hodge of Austin, Lisa (Duane) Hudson of Lampasas and Regina Muse of Belton; brothers Steve (Donna) Bigham of Bedford and Terry (Sherry) Bigham of Arlington; grandchildren Morgan Savage-Butts, Tiana Limoz, Ethan Muse, Klein Muse, Payton Kreutziger, Paige Henry, Alina Limoz, Joleigh Muse and Sophie Runge; and great-grandchildren Reagan Vann and Sutton Vann.
The family requested memorial donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675 or online at https://support. woundedwarriorproject. org.
