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1929 Richard 2022

Richard Lloyd Bingham

October 29, 1929 — April 15, 2022

Richard age 92 died peacefully with family members at his side at the University of Vermont Medical Center on April 15, 2022. He was preceded in death in 2012 by his beloved wife Anne Alexander Bingham after sixty-one years of marriage full of "loads of love", raising kids, creating family, immersing in nature. Richard was born on October 20, 1929 in Lincoln, Nebraska to Lloyd and Isabelle Bingham. He met Anne in Boulder, Colorado while at a rock-climbing class; he taught her to tie a knot, the secure and trustworthy bowline, and four years later they tied the knot of marriage with the strength to last sixty-one years. Richard completed a BA and MA at the University of Colorado in Economics. In 1955 he completed an MDiv at Union Theological Seminary in NYC and was ordained a United Church of Christ minister. He had parishes in New Jersey and Colorado before making a lateral professional move to social work. After completing his MSW at Denver University he became a psychiatric social worker in Rapid City, South Dakota and a one of many pioneers in the new JFK initiated national model of Community Mental Health Centers. In 1969 he brought his family to beloved Vermont where his roots go back generations. As a boy he started spending summers with his family at a "camp" on what became Featherbed Lane, South Hero, VT. He worked in and contributed to the University of Vermont (UVM) Department of Psychiatry moving from the inpatient unit, to the crisis unit, and then to the outpatient program. His proudest achievements came during his work at the UVM Given Health Clinic integrating mental health care into primary care, an idea that was thirty years ahead of its time and now considered best practice. The written fond farewell when he retired stated that he was a "truly gifted, superb teacher...in supervision with Richard when I was an internal medicine resident I learned the deep relationship between emotional and physical health...but even more about myself." He was Clinical Associate then Emeritus Professor at UVM Larner College of Medicine. He published a number of papers and spoke nationally on the integration of mental health services and primary care internal medicine. Following retirement Richard was a volunteer at the Medical Center, Board member at C.I.D.E.R. (Champlain Islanders Developing Essential Resources), and at the VNA Vermont Respite House. He was a member of the Ohavi Zedek Synagogue Wednesday Morning Group. Richard and Anne built a family home in South Hero, VT with construction done mostly by themselves and extended family. They were active members at College Street Congregational, UCC in Burlington and South Hero Congregational Church. Richard started playing tennis as a boy on a clay court in South Hero that he helped maintain by cutting weeds with a razor-sharp hoe; he played into his 80's. Richard and Anne loved to travel. During trips in Europe, they often travelled by foot and camped into their 60s. Travelling this country in a fifth-wheel camper brought great joy, with the teamwork typified their relationship, Dad driving and Mom navigating. They volunteered together at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles, Haiti. They spent a sabbatical year in New Zealand where Richard volunteered at Ashburn Hall Psychiatric Hospital. They are survived by their children: Laurence, Richard, and Robin, their children's spouses: Deborah, Julie, and Ted Anderson, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and Richard's brother Bill Bingham and his wife Shirley. There will be a memorial service on Saturday, April 23rd, at 2:00 PM at the College Street Congregational Church in Burlington, VT. In lieu of flowers you may give to CIDER (see above) or the UVM Hospice Respite House.
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