Richard Dale Bottorff
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After a brief illness, Richard Dale Bottorff, 90, of Benton Harbor, Mich., died peacefully on Aug. 3, 2021, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren.
"Dick" was born on Sept. 18, 1930, in Mishawaka, Ind., to the late Gladys McClurg Bottorff and Ralph Bottorff, of Mishawaka. Ralph and Gladys were two Marshall County, Indiana farm kids, who moved to the "big city" and met while working at the Mishawaka Rubber and Woolen Manufacturing Company (Ball Band). Dick and his brother Jerry Bottorff (1940-2013) attended Beiger Elementary & Junior High School and Mishawaka High School, where Dick played freshman basketball and graduated in 1948.
He graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1953 and received his master's degree there in 1962. He taught U.S. history at Niles High School (Mich.) from 1953-56. From 1956-1994 he taught history, government, sociology, psychology and world religions at Mishawaka High School. He taught sociology at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor from 1998-2001.
In 1960 Dick married Rebecca Hurst (1940-1969). They had two children, James Richard (1960) and Laura Elizabeth (1962).
In 1970 he married Sheila Powell Schulz (also a Mishawaka teacher) and adopted her son Jeffery Todd (1963-2010). Their son David William was born in 1975.
Dick is survived by his wife Sheila of Benton Harbor, and his children James (Laura) Bottorff of Chicago, Ill.; Laura Preston of Mishawaka; and David (Maria) Bottorff of Oak Park, Ill. His surviving grandchildren are Robert Anthony Preston of Holland, Mich.; Alexandra Preston of Benton Harbor, Mich., Jacob Bottorff of Oak Park, Ill., Margaret (Will) Nagai-Singer of Blacksburg, Va., and Katherine Nagai of Valparaiso, Ind. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Sophia Preston of Holland, Mich., and Zebb and Axel Preston of Benton Harbor, Mich.
Visitation with the family will be held on Friday, Aug. 6, from 4-7 p.m. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, Aug 7 at 10:30 a.m., both at Palmer Funeral Home - Welsheimer Chapel - North, 17033 Cleveland Rd., South Bend, Ind. Burial will immediately follow at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the name of Richard Bottorff to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee at uusc.org. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com.