Rendleman, Richard James, 1920-2002

Richard James Rendleman was born in Salisbury, N.C., on 21 November 1920. After graduating from Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., he worked for two years as an assistant manager at a chemical company. During World War II, Rendleman enlisted in the United States Navy and was commissioned an ensign on 26 December 1942. Upon completing probationary training at Dartmouth College and Princeton, N.J., he was assigned to the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, Calif. He was on temporary duty in Vallejo, Calif., when, on 17 July 1944, two ammunition ships exploded in Port Chicago, Calif., killing 320 sailors. From 1945 to 1946, Rendleman was stationed in Guam; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Okinawa, Japan. After being separated from active duty, he returned to Salisbury, N.C., and resumed work in the chemical field, becoming a well-known businessman in the Salisbury, N.C., community until his death on 2 January 2002. Rendleman was the father of Richard James Rendleman, Jr. (b. 1949), music composer and professor of finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

From the guide to the Richard James Rendleman Papers, 1921-1969, (Southern Historical Collection)

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