Arno E. Richter

Arno Enrico Richter of Lancaster, PA, died on Friday, February 15, 2013 at Hospice and Community Care following a lengthy illness. He was 88. He was born in Rho, Italy, and raised in Leverkusen, Germany, the son of Dr. Ludwig Richter, a research chemist, and Martha Kahn Richter. He was married for 51 years to the late Eleanor Brubaker Richter who died in 2003 and, for the past five years, to Linda Sharp Richter. He moved with his family to the United States in 1938 and settled in New York. He entered Lafayette College in 1943 but soon left to enter the Army Specialized Training Program 84th Division. He was later assigned to the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps whose job it was to apprehend German war criminals and bring them to justice. He served as the youngest agent in the Corps. In his most exceptional exploit, he was assigned to test Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s security in occupied Germany in 1946. He succeeded in getting into Eisenhower’s outer office undetected. The Army immediately increased the general’s security. He returned to the United States and graduated from Lafayette in 1950 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He served as vice president and general manager at Lancaster Pump and Manufacturing Co. He later worked for Genova in Flint, Mich., and D.A. Fehr in Friedensburg, PA. Lastly, he founded his own company, AM Selling Systems, in Lancaster. A former board member of the Lancaster Tennis and Yacht Club, he was instrumental in the merger of the Tennis Club with the Lancaster Riding Club. An avid reader, he particularly was interested in World War II. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Scott Ludwig Richter, husband of Sandi Harris Richter, of Ligonier, and Bruce Karl Richter, of Lancaster; and one granddaughter, Jane Elizabeth Richter, of Lancaster. Besides his parents and first wife, he was predeceased by two brothers, Bruno Karl Richter and Bodo Ludwig Otto Richter. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at The Groffs Family Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc., 528 W. Orange St. (corner of Orange and Pine Streets) with Linda Berger, Celebrant. The family will greet friends from 9 a.m. until the time of the service. Private family interment will take place at Bird-in-Hand United Methodist Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made either to Hospice & Community Care, P.O. Box 4125, Lancaster, PA 17604-4125, or to Dr. Julie Brahmer’s lung cancer research at Johns Hopkins, payable to Johns Hopkins University. Send to Kimmel Cancer Center Development Office, One Charles Center, 100 North Charles Street, Suite 234, Baltimore, MD 21201, designated in memory of Arno Richter.