Richard M. Urban, 81, of Fall River passed away August 11, 2023, at his home.
Born in Fall River, he was a son of the late Walter and Mary (Drewniak) Urban and had been a lifelong resident of this city.
At Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, Richard Urban studied cabinet making and carpentry for four years. Outside of the classroom, he joined the school band and baseball team for one year. During Mr. Urban’s four years at Diman, he demonstrated above average skills at the sport of soccer. Enrolling into the school as a freshman, he attended soccer tryouts and was immediately selected for the varsity team. In his fourth year on the team, Richard became Captain. He graduated earning three (3) varsity letters for soccer and one school jacket. After his graduation, he played as an amateur on several local soccer teams. From carpentry work experience he was provided by Diman, Mr. Urban followed his graduation with jobs in the trade. Later on in life, he participated in the Diman five-year planning committee and was a judge for a few years on the Diman SKILLS USA vocational competition. Mr. Urban was inducted into the Diman Hall of Fame in 2010.
His talent in sports did not end with high school. Around 1983, Mr. Urban, as Captain once again, lead the Fall River Tennis Team Association to a championship victory. In years to follow, Richard also became Captain for numerous teams in the Scholarship City Softball League where he was awarded the Joseph Martins Memorial trophy for sportsmanship. He maintained his first-rate abilities in soccer by playing on amateur teams in Fall River, and while in the military in Asia and Europe. In his home office, there are numerous sports awards on display that Mr. Urban earned.
In 1962, he joined the United States Army and obtained a military occupational specialty (MOS) in microwave electronic communication in the Signal Corp. As part of his assignment in Europe, he was sent to a German language school for eventual duty directly under his Company Commander. During his three-year enlistment, Mr. Urban spent a continuous period of two years deployed in Asia and Europe. He sailed by troop transport from Europe, Germany, and across the Atlantic Ocean to New York. He was discharged honorably with a Good Conduct Medal at the most impressive rank of SP5, Sergeant, for such a limited time of enlistment. From 1965 – 1968 he remained part of the Army Reserve on standby call. This total six-year period of service was during the Vietnam War. He has a daughter and son-in-law also in the military, First Sergeant Vanessa Urban and Master Sergeant Michael Ricitelli, currently on active duty with the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Mr. Urban had participated in Fall River’s annual military parades and had marched in the Fall River Celebrates America parade.
His travels have taken him to Europe over ten times, to Asia and Africa, Canada, and many states in America for not only pleasure but also for study and work. He spent two summers, 1978 and 1979, at the Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej University in Lublin, Poland, completing course work in cultural and language studies that included numerous field trips to museums and historic sites.
After his leave from the military, Richard Urban entered U-Mass Dartmouth where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree and then utilized the skills he learned from high school and his pursuits outside of school to teach at Diman for one year (1969-1970) in the General Shop Program and to become self-employed in real estate and construction from 1972 to the present in his company - Urban Realty and Construction. He had real estate licenses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts along with a Construction Supervisor’s license in Massachusetts.
However, Richard’s main pursuits involved the Jurist Doctorate in Law he obtained over 30 years ago at the Southern New England School of Law where he went part-time for approximately eight years and graduated close to the top of his class while at the same time supporting/raising a family and working as a contractor. He was a full-time self-employed attorney in Fall River who had spent his free time writing articles for the Herald News, the Fall River Tribune and other publications, maintaining and coordinating annual honoring and scholarship program (which he established and organized under the Internal Revenue Code as a 501(c) 3 charitable foundation) and celebrations for the Tadeusz Kosciusko Monument here in Fall River.
Mr. Urban had for many years been an active member of the Fall River Domestic Violence Coalition, the anti-LNG Coalition, and many other productive and educative activities to include the We Love Children organization. He was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization in which he had held the position of Adjutant for many years and served on its board of directors, and Judge Advocate at the district level, and he was a member of the American Legion, Post 314, where he served on the board of directors and as the Judge Advocate. Also, a past director of the Fall River Preservation Society.
Using his court room skills and history of World War II knowledge he wrote, directed, and produced a play titled “Slaughter and Cover Up, a Mock War Crimes Trial” about the historical Katyn Forest Murders. This play has been published and copyrighted with the federal government copyright office in Washington, DC. The intent of the plays has been to educate the public regarding World War II in general and specifically this event.
Richard also helped produce, direct, and host a weekly television program that was titled “Veterans’ Issues”, but eventually changed the name to the Richard Urban Show which aired over ten years each Thursday on cable television channel 95 at 6:30 p.m. from the Bristol Community College studio and on YouTube. This was not a paid position, just volunteer, where he has had numerous community individuals and groups appear. Further, he was the owner/operator of Katyn Film Productions that had filmed many community activities in the Greater Fall River area at no charge to anyone.
He was the founder and president of Friends of Cook Pond, a Fall River Charitable Organization that he formed under M.G. L. Chapter 180 to help restore the use of the pond and had worked with the Trustees of Reservation and Mass. in Motion for that purpose.
The Corporal David Miller monument ceremony is held each Memorial Day that he started several years ago to honor this fallen WW II veteran and all those who served at that time from the South End of Fall River. Richard also was the Master of Ceremonies of the General Pulaski annual ceremony every October at Pulaski Park in Fall River to honor not only the General but once again all who have served our fine country.
He had run a number of charitable dances for the Diman Alumni Association, the Fall River Preservation Society, the South End of Fall River and the Friends of Cook Pond. Also, he participated in clean-up events for the City of Fall River.
Richard filmed monthly the South End Neighborhood Association’s meeting that he had aired on the local cable access channel. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Chamber of Commerce through the Diman Bengal Education Foundation of which he was a founding director and sub-committee member of its housing program.
Finally, Richard volunteered for about twenty years, without any payment, assisting low income elderly people with their legal estate planning for the South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc.
Most recently, he enjoyed woodworking, playing pool, soccer, and tennis but above all else, he loved taking leisurely trips to Newport, Rhode Island.
Family members who loved him very much include his daughter, Vanessa Urban and her husband Michael Ricitelli of Upton, MA, and his grandson, Rhett. He was the brother of the late Phyllis Sliva, Ann Kalil and Frank Urban.
Chapel service with military honors will be held Monday, August 28, 2023, at 1 PM at the Massachusetts Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, 111 Glenallen Street, Winchendon, MA 01475.