Richard Gottlieb was the only child of Judith (Gordohn) and Gustav Gottlieb, he was born Sept. 5, 1925 in Brooklyn, NY. Richard was a proud alumnus of Horrace Mann, NY, class of 1943. He attended the Citadel, then entered the Army Air Corp. Richard was a skilled gunner and instructed all aspects of aerial gunnery at the Loreto, Texas and Walla Walla, Washington bases. He was then assigned to the 15th Air Force and served as a gunner on twelve B-24 aircraft missions during WWII.

Richard married Helen Kaufman in 1954 and had three children together: Scott, Jill Einhorn and Nancy Gottlieb Geller. He has four grandchildren: Justin, Jared, Jordyn and Carli. He moved to the San Luis Valley, Colorado in 1990. Richard met many new friends while working at The Great Sand Dunes National Park, Narrow Gauge Bookstore, Zapata Inn and Adams State University's Nielsen Library.

Richard was an avid photographer, reader and nature lover. He made Colorado Homelake Veterans Center his home since 2007. He is proceeded in death by his son, Scott, his self-proclaimed-adopted son Steve Goldstein and his prior wife, Helen. He will be deeply missed by his family and countless friends.

There will be a Graveside service on Monday, September 8, 2025 at 1 p.m. at the Homelake Veterans Cemetery in Monte Vista, with Military Honors. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Wild Animal Sanctuary www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org