Richard W. Guenther exemplifies everything that is great about America. Although he is the grandson of immigrants who came to this country in search of a better life, his family tree also stretches back to the American Revolution and some of America's earliest settlers. At an early age Richard's love of country led him to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, continuing a tradition of military service in the spirit of his Civil War ancestor (Sergeant Daniel Tompkins, 46th Pennsylvania Infantry, veteran of Antietam and Gettysburg).

Although Richard's roots are humble, coming from a working-class family, he combined an excellent public-school education?€”an engineering degree from the California Polytechnic State University at San Louis Obispo?€”with hard work, determination, and integrity, to compile an impressive career in the banking industry, retiring as Vice President of one of the largest banks in the country.

Anyone who knows Richard is immediately struck by his intense curiosity and breadth of knowledge about the workings of the physical world. Combining this curiosity with his knowledge of engineering has resulted in a life-long passion for building marvelous mechanical and electrical devices that help solve everyday problems, from the mundane (is the garage door closed?) the the vital (how to distill clean drinking water in third-world countries). After retirement, his adventuresome nature led him and his wife Connie to clear land and construct a ranch in the uplands of Ecuador, where they developed an appreciation of and love for the indigenous people among whom they lived. Later in life, Richard and Connie finally settled down in an idyllic home on the Oregon Coast, where they indulge their passion for gardening, as well as continuing to make the occasional mechanical or electrical invention.

In his personal life Richard is a thoughtful and deeply spiritual man, although, as with the Country he loves, he doesn't try to force his views on others, and believes that love, compassion, and forgiveness are key spiritual traits to nurture.