Lifelong Nazareth resident and 'icon' Richard M. 'Dickie' Kahler remembered

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Walking around Nazareth on any given day, chances were good that you might run into Richard "Dickie" Kahler.

Whether he was standing on a street corner, dropping by borough hall or sitting on a bench, Kahler was always ready to strike up a conversation.

Once he moved to Gracedale nursing home, he turned to the telephone and all the numbers he had memorized. His older sister, Arlene K. Smith, of Nazareth, recalls her brother's daily phone calls always started her morning.

A lifelong borough resident and icon of sorts, Kahler, 79, died Thursday at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill after struggling with kidney failure and other health problems for several months, Smith said.

"Everyone enjoyed talking to him," said Larry Stoudt, a councilman, who grew up with Kahler and his wife, Arlene, who died in 2007.

Stoudt was also a member of Vigilance Hose Co. No. 1 with Kahler, who devoted much of his time as a volunteer and chaplain. A 58-year member, Kahler remained active until about six months ago when his health began to decline, said Carl Strye, fire company president.

To honor one of its longest active members, the company plans to name its engine bay after Kahler, Strye said. For two months, plans have been in the works and members hoped to dedicate the bay while Kahler was still alive, he said.

"He unfortunately just fell too fast," Strye said.

Strye did manage to visit Kahler on Tuesday in the hospital and share the news with him.

"I told him, 'Dickie, it is Carl. Can you hear me?'" Strye said. "He opened his eyes. ... I'm really glad I had the opportunity to go over and at least tell him. I'm at ease with that."

In his younger years, Kahler helped fight fires and over his almost six decades of membership probably took more courses than all the members put together, Strye said.

"Everybody knows Dickie," Strye said. "He is just an icon. He was a fun guy to be around."

Smith said her brother never missed the department's monthly meeting or a fire drill.

"The guy liked to eat," Strye said with a laugh, recalling Kahler's monthly phone call before the department meeting. "He'd call and say, 'Hey, Carl. What are we having to eat?'''

Smith said her brother became enamored with the department after watching his father drive firetrucks.

"He lived for the fire company," Smith said.

Before her brother was forced to move into Gracedale, he volunteered at the nursing home, she said. He took classes to learn how to serve the homeless and provide pastoral care to patients in hospitals

"He was a great guy," Stoudt said. "Dickie would do anything for you. He always wanted to help somebody."

His classes tied in well with his duties as department chaplain, as a Safe Harbor volunteer and as a member of Epworth United Methodist Church.

"He liked to visit the sick people from his church and he was very faithful with that," Smith said. "He was always very kind to everybody."

Kahler loved to visit with friends and go out to eat. But he never liked to drive on highways so he became a master of back roads.

"If you tell him a destination he would find a way to get there," his sister said. "He would know all the routes."

Kahler worked in the maintenance department at Binney & Smith Co. for more than 26 years, Smith said.

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Services set

Relatives and friends are invited to call 9:30 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at Epworth United Methodist Church, 3245 Oakland Road, Bethlehem Township, Pa. Funeral services will begin 11 a.m. with burial to follow at Hope Cemetery in Hecktown. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the church or fire company.