By Nicole Hamilton
Enquirer staff writer

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP - Lawrence Richard "Dick" Harpring was known for his smile.

"Everyone who wrote me after his death said that they remember his smile. He was always smiling. And he was gentle," said his wife of 54 years, Joan Harpring of Anderson Township.

Mr. Harpring died of cancer Aug. 25 at Vista Care Hospice at the New England Club in Anderson Township. He was 77.

Raised in Paris, Ind., Mr. Harpring graduated from Paris High School and entered the Army to serve in World War II.

Stationed first at Yale University to study Japanese, he was sent to the Port of Seattle, bound for the South Pacific, when the war ended.

He later studied at the University of Colorado and Indiana Business College, then moved to Cincinnati and began his career with Ford Motor Co.

He also attended night school at the University of Cincinnati and eventually became a lab technician at Ford.

After he retired in 1983, he enjoyed golf, travel and spending time with the Ford Retirees Group.

Besides his wife, survivors include a daughter, Susan Faulkner of Chapel Hill, N.C.; a son, David Harpring of Anderson Township; four brothers, Robert of North Augusta, S.C., Donald of Paris, William of Greenfield, Ind., and Thomas of Temple, Ga.; three daughters, Joan Harpring and Patricia Cashen, both of Milwaukee, and Nancy Nealy of Shreveport, La.; and four grandchildren.

Services were held. Burial was in Oakhill Buckhart Cemetery, Roby, Ill.

Memorials: American Parkinson Disease Association, 165 W. Galbraith Road, No. 218, Cincinnati, 45216.

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E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com