Richard Dayringer

Dr. Richard Lee Dayringer, 88, went to be with his Lord and Savior on October 13, 2022, at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa. Richard was born on February 3, 1934, in Carthage, Missouri.  He was the son of Sarah Marlin (Ruppert) and Joe Allen Dayringer.

Richard Dayringer was an Adjunct Professor at the Oklahoma University School of Community Medicine-Tulsa in the Bioethics Center. He supervised a dozen pastoral counselors in Tulsa and taught clinical pastoral education in Joplin. He was the Director of Care Ministry at the First United Methodist Church in Grove, OK.

Richard was also Professor Emeritus and for 23 years was Professor and Director of Psychosocial Care in the Department of Medical Humanities and Professor and Chief of Behavioral Science in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield.

Richard was a pastoral psychotherapist for over 30 years, Dr. Dayringer was Director of the Department of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Kansas City for ten years before joining the faculty of the SIU School of Medicine in 1974. He has also served as a pastor in Missouri, Kansas, and Louisiana prior to beginning his academic career.

Richard served as a consultant to various organizations including Texas A & M School of Medicine, the Department of Allied Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Ohio State University School of Medicine, the Cleveland Clinic, Walter Reed Army Hospital Department of Pastoral Care, and the American Correctional Chaplains Association.

Richard has given countless international, national, and regional lectures and workshops on topics such as ethical issues in medicine or pastoral care, depression, pastoral interventions for the sick or bereaved, and the spiritual and psychosocial aspects of AIDS.

Dr. Richard Dayringer holds a Doctor of Theology degree from the New Orleans Theological Seminary. He has been certified as an Approved Supervisor in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy; a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors; a Chaplain Supervisor in the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education; a Certified Sex Therapist in the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists; a Certified Hypnotist in the Society for Clinical Hypnosis; and has been a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society for Pastoral Theology, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

Richard has written or edited six books and is the author of more than 70 journal articles in the fields of medicine and pastoral care and counseling. For ten years, he served as the Editor of the American Journal of Pastoral Counseling and is on the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Psychotherapy and the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling.

Dr. Dayringer served as a Spiritual Care Representative for the Red Cross at the Alaskan Airline disaster in Los Angeles and at Ground Zero in New York City.

He and his wife, Janet, who was a nurse, were married for 68 years until her passing they had five children and eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, a son Daniel Hymer Dayringer, and a brother James Allen Dayringer.  He is survived by his children; Stephen Lee Dayringer, David Carter Dayringer, Deborah Evelyn Egerer, and James Ray Dayringer, his brother and sisters Edgar Dayringer, Judy Francisco, and Jane Parsons. Grandchildren Jason Dayringer, Sarah Dayringer, Katie Winkler, Evelyn Wulf, Joshua Burns, Zeke Burns, Landan Dayringer, and Lily Dayringer, as well as four great-grandchildren Atli Dayringer, Tommy Winkler, Jack Winkler, and Edith Dayringer.

His funeral service is scheduled for 10:00 am, Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at Grove’s First United Methodist Church.  Richard will be laid to rest in Park Cemetery in Carthage, Missouri, see website for time. Services under the direction of Worley-Luginbuel Funeral Home, Grove, Oklahoma.