Richard L. Archer (Dick, PD, Grandad, Reds, Dr. Dick), 74, of Columbus peacefully passed away on April 14, 2014, with his daughter, Valerie, holding his hand, at the Masonic Home of New Jersey in Burlington. Dad had been sick since Christmas and on March 18 he went to Virtua Memorial Hospital. We would find out that a medicine he had been put on in May 2013 for his heart had started damaging his organs to the point of non-repair. On April 13, he was taken to the Masonic Home to try and do some rehabilitation, but unfortunately his body was tired from the fight he had given to get better. Dad was a graduate of Bordentown High School and the Bordentown Military Institute. He was past chief and administrator of the Mansfield Township Ambulance Corps and past chief of the Franklin Fire Company. Dad and Mom were volunteers for the ambulance squad for many years and would answer calls at all times of the day and night. Dad was one of the first NJ certified paramedics in 1977, serving Burlington County through 2006 when he retired from Virtua Health Systems. Dad was one of the personal pilots of Mr. Amerada Hess, Hess Oil Co., and as Mr. Hess got older he flew as his personal paramedic as well as pilot. When dad had his heart attack in flight in 1999 and landed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and had a quadruple bypass, Mr. Hess sent his private plane to pick us up and take us back home. He was president of the Burlington County First Aid Council from 2000 to 2007, where he was also an AHA and EMT instructor. He is survived by his loving wife of 56 years (April 7, 1957), Dorothy A. (nee Flurer) Archer; Richard Archer (son), Gail (daughter-in-law) and Julius and Nicholas (grandsons); Carol Archer (daughter), Sierra, (granddaughter) and Lily and Haven (great-granddaughters), Dakota (grandson), Valerie Belardo (daughter), Angelo (son-in-law), Angelo III and Nico (grandsons), Diane Archer Snyder (favorite daughter), Jeff (son-in-law), Croix (grandson), David Archer (son), Laura (daughter-in-law), Hunter and Haylei (grandson and granddaughter), Dawn Richardson (daughter), Greg (son-in-law), Zachary and Ryan (grandsons); his brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Jean Archer, and his nieces, Rebecca and Andrea and their children; his brother-in-law, Jack Flurer and his niece, Michelle Flurer and nephew, Christopher Flurer and their children. He was pre-deceased by his brother, Milton Leon Archer, and his sister, Patricia Spencer. Our father was an amazing, kind, giving, intelligent, funny, loving man whose life touched many people across the world. We were lucky to have had him in our life and are eternally thankful for all of the many friends he made during his lifetime. Please come pay your respects on Monday, April 21, 2014, for a viewing from 4 to 9 p.m. at Huber-Moore Funeral Home, 517 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown, NJ. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Andrew's R.C. Church, 2489 Monmouth Rd., Jobstown, NJ. Interment will follow in the Columbus Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dick's memory to the Mansfield Township Ambulance Squad, 41 Fieldcrest Dr., Columbus, NJ 08022.

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Published in The Times, Trenton, on Apr. 17, 2014