Richard E. Harpster, reporter, editor, columnist, photographer, public speaker, and radio commentator, died Friday, October 6, 2006 at Easton Hospital after a brief illness. He was 82 years old.
Born: He was a son of the late William Herrold and Erma Smith Harpster. Personal: A native of Danville, Pa, he lived in Washington, NJ since 1935. He was a 1942 graduate of the old Washington High School and earned a degree in journalism from Rider College in Trenton in 1949. After graduating, he began his career as a reporter for the Washington Star. In 1950, he joined the Newark Evening News covering Warren County for 22 years. When the Newark News ceased publication in 1972, he became editor of the Phillipsburg Free Press until 1975. His coverage of Warren County politics won him wide acclaim. An outline of his coverage in the county was featured in a publication of The Center for the Analysis of Public Issues of Princeton. In 1979, he was selected by the Easton Express as one of Warren County's seven power brokers, along with the late Governor Robert B. Meyner; State Senator Wayne Dumont; Assemblyman and Chairman of the State Republican Committee, Garabed Haytaian, and Freeholder, Irene Smith. Throughout his career, he was known as "muckraker" for his blistering attacks against crooked politicians and government entities. He joined the staff of the Morristown Daily Record in 1983 where he covered politics and crime, wrote columns and editorials, and served as Sunday Editor. In 1989, during the administration of Governor Thomas Kean, he became Public Information Officer for the State Department of Community Affairs. He retired from full time work in 1989 and wrote columns for the Star-Gazette of Hackettstown, the Warren Reporter of Washington, Today in Hunterdon in Flemington, the Knowlton News in Columbia, and Fifty Plus in Succasunna. He covered the story of the Tocks Island Dam from its inception in 1962 to its demise in 1975. He was the only newsman who reported on the plight of the Delaware River property owners and their aggressive treatment by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1973, he won a nation-wide editorial-writing contest sponsored by the International Conference of Weekly Newspaper Editors, School of Journalism, Southern Illinois University. The editorial, entitled "Harassment," described the oppressive treatment of property owners by the Corps during the taking of their property for the dam. His articles against the dam, its effect on property owners and its environmental consequences are credited with bringing the project to a halt. In 1996, he began a commentary program with radio station WRNJ in Hackettstown. He was a public speaker on politics, current events, government, and newspapering. He collected antique glass negatives from which he made photos which were sold in antique shops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He also collected, framed, and sold antique sheet music. He served in the old Army Air Corps during World War II as a radio-teletype operator, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served two years at Hickam Field, Hawaii and a year on Guam. He was a lifelong member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a member of the Warren County Cultural and Heritage Commission and a contributor of articles on Warren County history to their newsletter. He was also a member of Greenpeace, an international environmental movement.
Survivors: He is survived by two sons, Richard A. and Thomas W., both of Washington; a daughter, Susan Yates of New Hope, Pa; two brothers, Fred of Milton, De, and Bruce of Venice, Fla.; five grandchildren, Robert, Amy, Jennifer, William and Danica; and one great-grandchild Hailey. He also leaves his dearest friend and companion, Joyce McLaughlin of Carpentersville. His wife, Mary Parnak Harpster, died in 1998. A granddaughter, Alessandra, died in 2004.
Services: Visitation will be held Tuesday from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Warren Hills Memorial Home, 234 W. Washington Avenue, Washington, NJ 07882. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the funeral home. Interment will be in Washington Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the Warren Hills/Ford Memorial Home, Washington, NJ. To send online condolences please visit www.warrenhillsmemorialhome.com.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Richard and Mary Harpster Scholarship Fund in care of the funeral home.

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From: Ron Wynkoop Jr.
Condolence: My condolences to the family of Mr. Harpster.As a kid, I worked with Mr. Harpster at the Phillipsburg Free Press back in the early 70's.He gave me my first job as a newspaper photographer.
Ron Wynkoop Jr. Cape Canaveral Florida
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From: Plaza Chiropractic
Condolence: Our prayers and thoughts are with you during your time of loss. May you find peace in knowing we all have you in our hearts. May God give you strength.
Sean,June,Dawn and Lorraine
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From: Dave and Dawn Higgins
Condolence: Our prayers and heartfelt condolences our with you at this most difficult time. Richard's wit and charm will be greatly missed. The town has truely lost an icon.
Sincerly,Dave and Dawn
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From: Lillie Anderson
Condolence: Dick was a fantastic guy and I know you will all miss him greatly. I remember him from my days as a novice reporter in Warren County, working for WCRV. Dick gave me my first full-time job as a newspaper reporter for a daily newspaper, the Daily Record. We worked together again when he was public information office for DCA and I was communications director. We drove to Trenton together every day for three years and he regaled me with stories from his earlier years as a reporter. What a guy! He was indeed a legend in his time. My deepest condolences to all the loved ones he leaves behind.
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From: Bruce Hotchkiss
Condolence: Old newsmen never die. They just go to work for another paper. I'm sure there is one Up There. We shared many years - and many stories - in days gone by. You, his family, are in my prayers. Mourn his loss but celebrate his life. He lived it to its full. God bless you all.
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From: Pat Proctor
Condolence: Dick,Sharon and family, To your entire family I send my prayers. Shed that tear than celebrate, he so loved life.
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From: Don Singleton
Condolence: My heartfelt condolences go to all of Dick's family members and other loved ones. He was one of the great ones.
I worked with Dick on the Newark Evening News in 1963 and 1964 at the time I was a night reporter in the Morristown Bureau, and as he dictated copy I would relay it to Newark on an old-fashioned Teletype machine. Occasionally he would have to drive to either Morristown or Newark to drop off a photo or a roll of film, and on those occasions he and Dick Reeves and I and whoever else was around would go to the Lackawanna Diner for coffee, eggs and talk. I'll never forget the sight of him driving up in his big old Oldsmobile, head barely showing over the steering wheel, big cigar poking straight out of his mouth, ready for anything.
When he was on a story in Warren County, the story was his -- nobody had contacts like he did. Officials who would give me or any other reporter the cold shoulder would open their doors to him, pour him a cup of coffee and tell him whatever he wanted to know.
He lived a memorable life, had throngs of friends and admirers (me among them), and his passing leaves a major void in this world.
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From: Dr. Rebecca Price Janney
Condolence: Richard Harpster gave a little girl with big dreams a start in journalism back in the 70s with the Phillipsburg Free Fress. When I told him, "I want to write for your paper," he replied, "How old are you, kid?" I didn't let that cigar or his ink-stained sleeves intimidate me. I showed him articles I'd written for other publications, and he gave me a two-week trial. Maybe it was the satire about Watergate that got to him, but at the end of two weeks, he gave me a job. When I told him that I wanted to cover the Phillies, he knew enough not to bat an eye. He called Larry Shenk at the team office, and I was off to a great start. He taught me not to use cliches and to follow my instincts. I paid tribute to him in my 1994 book, MAJOR LEAGUE MYSTERY, and we stayed in touch over the years. He was my first, and to date best, writing mentor. I will miss him. God's blessings on you, his dear family.
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From: Kathy Merola
Condolence: To The Harpster Family,
Although we don't know each other, I want to express the sincere condolences on behalf of myself and my parents. My parents are in their 80's and many of Richard's columns truly hit home. We all looked forward to the column. May he find a notebook and a pen waiting for him in the hereafter for his next big assignment.
Kathy Merola, Middlesex, NJ
Catherine Strahle, Phillispburg, NJ
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From: Kathy Fiore
Condolence: Dear Sue,Beebe,Tom and family, Please accept my heartfelt sympathy on the loss of your Father. I can still hear him and my Mother bantering back and forth about local politics. I treasure the articles he wrote about my Dad and Wayne. We are so lucky to have had such great Dads.
Submit: Send Condolence
----------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Kenneth A. Noll
Condolence: When I am gone, release me, let me go I have so many things to see and do You must not tie yourself to me with tears Be happy that I have had so many years I gave you my love, you can only guess How much you gave me in happiness I thank you for the love each have shown But now it is time I traveled on alone So grieve a while for me, if grieve you must Then let your grief be comforted by trust It is only for a while that we must part So bless the memories in your heart I will not be far away, for life goes on So if you need me, call and I will come Though you cannot see or touch me, I will be near And if you listen with your heart, you will hear All of my love around you soft and clear Then, when you must come this way alone I will greet you with a smile and a “Welcome Home”
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From: Fran Wood
Condolence: My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Dick Harpster. I worked with Dick at the Daily Record, but our history went back even farther, as he worked with my dad, Jack McCarthy, at the Newark News. Dick was admired by everyone who knew him, and he will be immortalized as one of New Jersey journalism's treasures.
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From: Bette J. Dean
Condolence: I have enjoyed Mr. Harpster's newspaper column for many years and always have found something there that I could identify with. Especially meaningful to me was his touching account of caring for his beloved wife, Mary, until her death from Alzheimer's Disease. I still have the article and I take it out and read it every now and then as my family travels with my mother down the long, dark road that is Alzheimer's. I am glad that I got the opportunity on one occasion to tell him how much the article means to me. My condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
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From: Frank Leggio Jr.
Condolence: Please accept our condolences for your loss. My father Frank Leggio graduated from High School with Dick and my mother and father always enjoyed visiting with he and Mary at reunions. They both send theri condolences to your entire family. Dick was an exciting person who always was in the thick of things. I remember the Harpster household well during my youthful days in the sixites. It was always the frenetic hub of whatever was happening in the county with the squelch of police radios in the background, Dick or Mary at the desk with a headset on dictating a story to someone in Newark and many friends and associates coming and going. He and his extensive contributinos to reporting the news will be missed.
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Condolence: To the family of Richard Harpster To Joyce McLaughlin
Dear Joyce,
We met some years ago at a party for Libby Staples, and I recall thinking at the time that you meant a great deal to Richard in the last quarter of his life. I want to express to you and his family my deepest sympathy on his loss. Dick and I met in the summer of 1952 when I worked at a gas station that Dick and his buddy Jim Staples frequented, and I envied anyone who dared charge cigars to his company credit card. Dick was a great role model because that September I started my own journalistic career that spanned the lifetimes of both Dick and Jim.
Most sincerely, Bob Ford
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From: Rosemary Butler
Condolence: Dear Susan and Family, Please accept my condolences upon the passing of your Dad. Not too many people remember what a bustling place old Washington was with Mountain Lake, Oxford and even Hampton having lots of history and personality. Dick was a terrific writer and observer of the local scene. What a supportive,talented individual. I remember seeing his work displayed in the lobby at Overlook and hearing from him as well.
My prayers are with you. Rosemary
----------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Kathleen Eick(Jones)
Condolence: My sincere condolences to the Harpster family and Richard's long time friend and companion--Joyce McLaughlin. I just wanted to let all of you know that I knew Mr Harpster from when I was still in grammar school through his son Richard.I often seen Mr Harpster in the town of Washington and spoke to him occasionally.I really think he is a wonderful,comical,and thoughtful person. He always made my day when I came to Washington for a visit.I would look forward to reading his writeups in the Warren Reporter.I would stop at my brothers and say "Where is the Warren Reporter?I just wanted to let all of you know how nice it was knowing such a wonderful man--He will surely be missed and loved by all
--------------------------------------------------------------------------.From: CAROL RATZMAN
Condolence: IT WAS A PLEASURE TO KNOW HIM - I WOULD FREQUENTLY SEE HIM AT THE POST OFFICE AND HE WAS ALWAYS SO UPBEAT. I LEARNED SO MUCH ABOUT THE HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY FROM READING HIS COLUMNS IN THE LOCAL PAPER.
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comments: Lived in Washington a dozen years, met Richard Harpster, read his "Reporter" articles, invited him to my eighth grade classroom, became friends, just learned of his death, and will miss him greatly. Please convey my condolences to family. Thanks, Joe Daku
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I have fond memories of Dick from working with him at the Daily Record. He was a terrific reporter, and a great all-around guy. My thoughts are with his family. Bruce Crawford
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