The Adams County Fair Remembers Richard F. Venvertloh

Richard Frank Venvertloh was born on January 3, 1933, the son of Edward and Zeta (Grawe) Venvertloh. He was a servant of the United States, serving in the United States Army from 1953 until 1955.  Richard married Mary Lou (Martin) Venvertloh on April 20th, 1963. They celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2023. Together they raised seven children. They also have 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren together.

Richard has always been a big supporter of the Adams County 4-H program. He served as the leader of the Ellington Hilltoppers 4-H Club for 10 years.  In fact, he took the 4-H girl’s softball team to state during this time, where the girls won the state championship.  He passed down his love of 4-H to his grandchildren, who worked and created their own talents and projects to display at the Adams County Fair.  That legacy continues into the 4th generation, as his great-grandchildren are now old enough to enjoy creating their projects as well. 

While he was a proud supporter of 4-H, he also gave much of his time to the Adams County Fair.  Richard served as the poultry superintendent there for 20 years. He enjoyed working with the youth and adults that showed their birds and livestock at the fair each year. During his younger years, he also enjoyed “calling square-dancing”and took his dancing club in 1963 to Flora, IL.

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Richard enjoyed working in his 1/2 acre garden.

Richard could be found selling his garden produce at the Farmers' Markets in Quincy.

Richard's garden was always sight for plant lovers. He brought hsi produce to show at the Adams County Fair and was always eager to see the results of each judging.

Throughout his adult years, Richard enjoyed gardening. He worked and cared for an almost ½ acre garden. He enjoyed selling his vegetables at the Farmer’s Market in Quincy on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. He also enjoyed exhibiting his garden produce at the Adams County Fair. After the judging was over, he was eager to walk the domestic arts building to see if blue ribbons adorned his entries.  

Richard always enjoyed a good game of cards.

Richard enjoyed playing games with friends and family. A good card game always brought out laughter around the table.

In his spare time, he could be found playing games on the computer, Cardinal baseball, scratching lottery tickets and eating fish on Fridays. His Catholic Faith was very important to him. He prayed the rosary twice daily.

Richard​ retired from the United States Postal Service in 1991 after decades of service.  He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.  He was given the opportunity to participate on an Honor Flight to Washington D.C.

 Richard died at the age of 90 on May 24, 2023.