By TIFFANY RAZZANO
He was 82.
Oppenheimer, born in 1925, was born and raised in the village, attending South Side High School through his junior year. His parents moved the family to New York City when his father fell ill, and he graduated from Commerce High School.
He joined the service right after high school, in 1942, joining the Marines during World War II. He served in the South Pacific until 1946, remaining in the reserves until 1951, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant.
After returning home from the war, Oppenheimer went back to a job as an entry-level accountant at Clarence Rainess & Co. He worked there during the day and attended classes at New York University at night, eventually graduating with a B.S. in accounting in 1950. He obtained his Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.) license a few years later.
Oppenheimer met his eventual wife, Sue Bernstein, while playing tennis. The two married in 1948 and had two children together, Edward and Jill.
He began working for the New York City branch of Alfred R. Bachrach & Co. and was asked to head up a new branch office in Chicago in 1953. He and his wife spent three years in Illinois before that branch was closed. They moved to Rockville Centre in 1957.
When Oppenheimer moved back to New York, he resumed his position at Bachrach & Co. He eventually moved on, however, working as controller for various private companies in New York.
Then, in the late sixties, he opened his own company, Richard A. Oppenheimer & Co. in New York City. By 1974, he moved the business back to Long Island, eventually bringing it to Rockville Centre in 1990.
Oppenheimer belonged to many local civic, charitable and religious organizations. He was committed to the Masons, served as Master of his Lodge six times and was appointed to District Deputy Grand Master in 1985. He remained active with the group until his death.
As a C.P.A., he served as treasurer for many of the organizations to which he belonged, including Central Synagogue for five years and the Masonic Sixth Manhattan District Association for eight years. Oppenheimer also served as president of the Committee for Better Education, a precursor to the Rockville Centre Education Foundation, assistant scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop #214, the troop he belonged to as a boy, a Little League coach and manager, and a coach and treasurer of the Boys Basketball League.
"He was very involved in the community because he was a citizen of the community and that's the way he felt about it," said his wife, Sue Oppenheimer.
He received many awards throughout his lifetime, honoring him for his work. Some of the notable awards he received include being named Man of the Year by the Men's Club of Central Synagogue in 1991 and being named an honorary member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also been recognized for 10 years of unpaid service to A-Way Out drug rehabilitation program.
"He was an ex-marine and everything that meant," said Sue Oppenheimer. "He felt there was a right way and a wrong way to do things and it should always be done the right way."
His wife said he also had very fond memories of Rockville Centre and loved to swap stories of growing up in the village with Mayor Eugene Murray. "He loved to trade stories with the mayor because they were both of the same age and both grew up here," she said. "They were always swapping stories of where something was, where a business was located and who was where and the crazy things they did as kids."
Oppenheimer is survived by his wife, Sue; his children, Edward Oppenheimer and Jill Berman; their spouses, Ethel Oppenheimer and Howard Berman; and four grandchildren, Sarah, Jonathon, Andrew and Eric. The family has requested that donations in Richard's memory be made to the Rockville Centre Community Fund or the Floodlight Rescue Company of the Rockville Centre Fire Department.
Comments about this story? TRazzano@liherald.com or (516) 596-4000 ext. 221.
