It's with a sad heart that I have to inform you that Rich Phannenstill passed away early this morning.  Rich was in hospice at the VA hospital in Madison, WI at the time of his death. Rich will be long remembered by the class of 64 as the driving force behind erecting the Vietnam Memorial to honor our classmates who died during the war. This was one of his proudest  accomplishments. Details regarding his memorial service will be posted when known. 

The family is requesting that Classmates who are attending the Rich's memorial service wear their Vietnam Memorial shirts to the service.

In honor of Rich's dedication to the construction of the Vietnam Memorial I am posting the interview he did in 2024 for the local paper. Here is the transcript of that interview along with a link to the audio version.

McHenry High grads made sure classmates killed in Vietnam wouldn’t be forgotten

Memorial at Veterans Park fulfilled a promise made to best friend who didn’t return from the war November 09, 2024 "Written by Janelle Walker in Shaw Local"  

 "Richard Phannenstill still remembers a promise he made both to himself and his best friend in 1969."  

 "The promise to Carter Freund made as Phannestill was leaving the cemetery following Freund's funeral was that one day he'd do something to honor him."  

 "It just took me 40 years to do it," Phannestill said."  

 "In starts and stops over the years, Phannestill researched and talked to people who had created war memorials."  

 "I learned a lot of dos and don'ts," he said."  

 "Then, at a McHenry VFW post 4600 event, he started talking to Sue Low Meyer, McHenry's mayor from 2003 to 2017, about the project."  

 "Sue asked, 'Rich, when are you going to get this memorial built?'"  

 "He said, 'Sue, you'll know'”

 "That's when others, including members of his graduating class of 1964, got involved."  

 "On Veterans Day 2014, the memorial was dedicated on the southeast corner of McHenry's Veterans Memorial Park to Freud, Glen Davis, James Ambrose and John Grenath."  

 "Phannestill spearheaded the effort with help from the McHenry High School Class of 1964; Freud, Davis and Ambrose were their classmates."  

 "The black stone is etched on one side with the four men's names, their service branch and the date and location of their death; a map of Vietnam also marks where they died."  

 "The  opposite side is etched with the war's dates, the number of soldiers who were killed in action, wounded, missing in action or prisoners of war, as well as iconic images of the war."  

 "When it came time to place the stone, local contractors William Tonyan & Sons Inc. donated their labor and materials."  

 "They bought the crane to put it in place," said Ruthie Granger, Phannenstiel’s sister."  

 "Because of that donation, there were funds left over on August 17th this year at the Class of 1964's 60-year reunion."  

 "The remaining $200 was donated to Veterans Path to Hope, the Crystal Lake-based charity offers a drop-in resource center, food pantry, housing, job assistance and other services to veterans."  

 "The Phannestill said he should have done something with the excess funds a long time ago, but was happy that it went to Veterans Path to Hope."  

 "It worked out good," he said."  

Copy and paste the URL into a browser to listen to an audio version.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z7df2DYI6zrbaZGFXPof3eoL8SvydxE2/view?usp=sharing

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/richard-phannenstill-obituary?id=62424491