Richard Beard Lamkin

A celebration of the life of Richard Beard Lamkin will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Cape Girardeau Country Club. All Southeast Missouri friends and acquaintances are invited to share stories and drinks at the club founded in part by his grandfather.

Dick, as he was known, was the son of John and Kathrine Lamkin and last of the family line of true merchants. He died at work Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, still applying the principles practiced at Buckner-Ragsdale for most of the 20th century -- www.sites.google.com/site/bucknerragsdaleclothingco/. A Cape native, he graduated from Central High School in 1971.

The ascension of the Southeast Missouri State College water tower by Dick and other scalawags while at CHS did not mar his permanent record, and he began his Buckner's career shortly thereafter -- the only third-generation family member to do so. With the arrival of national retailers and the store's demise in 1982, the largest of them quickly hired Dick to manage its new mall facility.

Subsequently, retailing took Dick, wife Sue (Johnston) and three sons on a Southern tour from New Orleans to Montgomery, Alabama. It was there Dick was offered the opportunity to apply his marketing prowess to something other than merchandise. The transition to club management proved that no matter the service offered, customer emphasis and staff respect are universal keys for success. This was confirmed again when he joined Cracker Barrel as the eldest manager ever hired.

Concurrent with his career, Dick and Sue's family expanded over 43 years to include Richard (Debby), Russell (Michele) and Byron (Rachel); 10 grandchildren; and a great-grandson. In addition to the immediate family, Dick is survived by his father, John "Jack" Lamkin; sisters, Kathy and Melissa; and brothers, Tucker, Walter and Clayton.