OBITUARY
RICHARD KEMBLE
Richard Kemble died at his winter home in Key West on April 21st after a long series of illnesses.

Richard was well known in Nantucket for his work with the Nantucket Historical Association especially along with his husband George Korn for being the chairs of the Festival of Trees and Wreaths at the many venues where these popular events were held until they were finally established at the new Whaling Museum Complex. Richard and George were the owners of the Forager House Collection which operated for 20 years on Nantucket with most of that time at their store on Centre Street. They closed the store in 2003 when it became apparent the Richard's health was declining. They exhibited at the Nantucket Antique Show from the very beginning and were responsible for the interior decorations of any number of Nantucket homes. They participated in the designer houses for the Nantucket Preservation Institute and their design of the "Ice Cream Parlor" at the Starbuck Kilvert house a few years ago was featured in a special PBS television episode. Their home and garden on Pleasant Street was filmed for several television specials and featured in a number of popular books and magazines

Richard was born on Nov 7, 1932 in Erie Pa. He moved to England in his first year with his parents where he was raised during the war. He spent his early years with grandparents in East Anglica to avoid the bombing in London. At 18 he returned to the U.S. Having dual citizenship he enlisted in the Air force.

After his discharge he moved to Buffalo and taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo and danced with the Buffalo Ballet. He later taught at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. After nearly twenty years, he gave up academics after having received one of the first printmaker's fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974, and devoted his career full time to creating art.

His artwork has been included in well over 200 exhibitions worldwide and he is represented in the public collections of over 100 museums and corporations. A few of these museums include the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Newark Museum, The New Jersey State Museum, The Smithsonian Institution, The Key West Museum of Art and History and the Nantucket Historical Association

He met his partner George Korn in 1965. They were one of the first same sex couples to be married in Massachusetts in 2004. They recently celebrated their 42nd anniversary with a number of friends in their Key West home.

In the late 1970s they bought and operated Forager House a restaurant in New Hope, Pennsylvania where they earned a two star rating in the New York Times.

From their first meeting they became interested in antiques and became collectors, anticipating trends before they became popular. After they closed the Forager House Restaurant in 1983, they opened an antique business in Nantucket where they spent their summers. They exhibited nationally at over 15 antique shows a year such as The Delaware Antique Show, The Boston Antique Show, The Rhode Island Antique show, The Pier Antique show for the Museum of American Folk Art, Hunt Valley, Alexandria, Va., New Hope, Pa., The Nantucket Antique Show and were the founders of the Key West Antique Show.

Richard is survived by his husband George and brother David of New Jersey.

Contributions may be made to the Nantucket Historical Association and the Nantucket Lightship

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