In Memoriam: Richmond Gorham Littlefield
Richmond “Dick” Littlefield, who served in Middlebury’s finance office for nearly 25 years, died at Porter Hospital on March 13, 2025. He was 97.
Littlefield was born in Providence, R.I., on Feb. 2, 1928, a son of Mary Richmond Seabury Littlefield and Alden Llewellyn Littlefield. He graduated from Pawtucket East High School and from Bryant College, magna cum laude, in 1950. He was a member of the National Guard and served in the Occupation of Germany as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He was a member of the 43rd Division, 169th Antiaircraft Battalion from 1950 to 1952. He then entered Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, from which he graduated in 1954 and passed the CPA exam soon afterward.
He worked for the accounting firm Ernst & Ernst in Rhode Island, BIF Industries in Rhode Island, and as a financial analyst at Mobile Chemical in Macedon, N.Y. In 1967 he was hired by Middlebury College where he worked until retiring as assistant treasurer in 1997.
Former colleagues recall his diligence and integrity on the job. “His long days and, many times, long nights, were evidence of his insistence that records or reports were absolutely accurate,” said former colleague Rhoda Rader. “Dick left a legacy of uncompromised professional standards.”
Littlefield had a lifelong love of music, especially jazz, dating back to his days as a high school drummer. He coached youth hockey and was a regular at hockey games. He was an avid gardener who loved to start seeds in the house for his vegetable garden.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Eleanor Raybold Roberts; children Robin Forest Littlefield, Gretchen Raybold Littlefield Maginnis, Duncan Alden Littlefield and Thatcher Waterman Littlefield; six grandchildren, and a great-grandson.
He was predeceased by his parents, his 9-year-old son, Bradford Seabury Littlefield in 1970, his brother, Charles Seabury Littlefield, in World War II in New Guinea, and his sister, Elizabeth Alden Buxton.
Calling hours will be held Saturday, March 29, from 3-5 p.m., at Sanderson Funeral Home, 117 South Main Street, followed by a buffet reception at 5:30 p.m. at Middlebury’s Kirk Alumni Center.