Richard Gnyp, 81, of Charlotte, NC, passed away peacefully at the Turner Hospice House on July 15, 2024.

Richard was born in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada, one of three sons of William and Ina Gnyp.

He spent his early years on his parents’ farm, surrounded by his many uncles, aunts and cousins who were also farmers on neighboring plots of land. As he and his brothers reached middle and high school age, they spent weekdays in town, attending school and weekends helping the family.  Richard graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and he went on to attend graduate school at the University of Texas and in London, England.

He met his wife of 58 years, Barbara, in New Orleans, LA and soon afterward, they married and moved to England. Later, they returned to the US, settling in New York City, and had their children, Michelle and David.

Richard owned several of his own small businesses throughout his life, including a modeling and marketing agency that hosted many parties in the 1970s at some of NYC’s biggest night clubs such as the Limelight and Studio 54. Though Richard loved his adopted cities of London and then New York City, he was often happiest enjoying the outdoors, doing the activities he began as a child, including fishing with his father and brothers, searching for mushrooms in the woods and picking berries to enjoy over ice cream.

Richard was a life-long learner, enjoying non-fiction books and magazines on a huge variety of topics. Both of his children, David and Michelle, credit their interest in science, mechanics, science fiction and nature to the books and periodicals that surrounded them growing up.

In the last decade of his life, when he dealt with dementia, he found great joy in caring for and sitting among plants and trees in his backyard and watching squirrels and birds on their daily travels.

Richard is survived by his wife Barbara, his daughter Michelle (John) and son David (Melissa) and four grandchildren, Colin, Zach, Madeleine and Maxwell, his brother Ken (Jennifer) and his nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Bill and Ina and his brother Lawrence (Zoria).