Richard James Mueller passed away peacefully on August 27, 2026, at Albany General Hospital. 

There will be a public viewing from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, September 1, at AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home and a Memorial service at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, at Harrisburg Church of God Seventh Day, located at 820 Diamond Hill Rd., Harrisburg, Oregon. 

Richard was born on August 6, 1933, and deceased on August 27, 2026. He was born in Bell, California. His parents were William Mueller and Mildred Somerset Lane.

Richard is survived by his wife, Emma Howell (2/24/23 – Current), her children and their spouses, Debbie (John) Leckie, Gary (Lynn) Howell, Richard (Kathy) Howell, and Jeff (Dianna) Howell; ten grandchildren, Brandon and Amber Howell; Clinton Howell (Katie), Patricia Howell-Burnside, Ryan Howell (Sarah), and Vanessa Thomas (Casey); and John Leckie (Jennifer), Jolene King (Rachel), Jessie Degler (Nick), and Lynn Leckie; and 16 great grandchildren.

Richard’s three children from his former wife of sixty years, Susanna Margaret Mueller, are Grace Nelson (Randy), David Mueller (Yvonne), and Jon Mueller. His nine grandchildren, Amanda Larson (Aaron), Amanda Ihrke, Robin Adams (Austin), Sarah Ivy (Curtis), Samuel Mueller, Brandon Nelson (Sarah), Ashlee Rivera (Hector), Rylee Nelson (Jessie), and Courtney Nelson (Steven), nineteen great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild.

Richard was preceded in death by his first wife, Susanna Margaret Mueller, his sister and her husband, Barbara Nielsen (Doug) and his brother and his wife, Raymond Mueller (Shirley), and Tracy Michelle Howell.

Richard earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and physics and almost completed a Master of Administration degree in Athabaskan Linguistics. He began his journey of faith in Christ at age 16 during a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles. The core of his fifty-nine years of service with Wycliffe Bible Translators was learning the Gwich’in (Athabascan) language and culture, developing an alphabet for the Gwich’in language, and leading in translating the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament into the Gwich’in language. One of the other areas of service Richard participated in was mentoring new missionaries at overseas locations about the unique day to day details of being missionaries at overseas locations. Also, Richard

facilitated translating the Bible into the Hutterite language.

He supported the development of bilingual education in the Yukon Flats School District. Throughout Richard’s life, he volunteered in a number of roles such as teaching about the Myers-Briggs Personality types, serving as a Fort Yukon School Board Member, and serving as a church elder. His hobbies were photography and digital photo editing and reading Biblical and Christian related topics

Richard grew up in the Los Angeles area enjoying playing stickball and participating high school sports such as baseball and basketball. We also enjoyed fishing off the pier in Huntington Beach.

During Richard and Susan’s college experiences at different schools, they both met one of the founders of Wycliffe Bible Translators, William Cameron Townsend, who challenged them to consider becoming long-term missionaries with Wycliffe. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, they chose to consider an ultimately to serve in this ministry.

Richard and Susan moved to the Mennonite Village in 2015 and enjoyed living there due to it being closer to his children and grandchildren, the local weather, and opportunities to participate in gardening. Richard also enjoyed serving others as an area leader. It was in this community where Emma met Richard and Susan.

Richard delighted immensely with spending time with his second bride participating in the following activities: visiting the coast, dining out, attending church, going grocery shopping, preparing meals, and playing dominos. Basically, doing everything with his bride. This couple enjoyed the art and science of romance. Enough said!

Richard exercised humility by being open to receiving marital advice from his single son and participated in marital counseling with his wife from Pastor Greg Lincoln, the former pastor of Harrisburg Church of God Seventh Day. Richard really enjoyed learning and growing, especially in the area of technology stuff, and was blessed with a son-in-law who helped him with numerous tasks around the home.

He knew how to make his wife laugh and practice it religiously. One of the things that his wife, Emma, treasured was his commitment to prayer. Typically, when someone would ask for prayer, Richard would say, “Let's do it right now!” and he would pray.

Emma remembers Richard's first wife as being a joyful person who was truly interested in others. 

Arrangements by AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home.