Carr, a lawyer with a delightful sense of humor and a devotion to his hometown, is being honored this year at the Centerville-Washington Foundation’s 27th annual meeting May 29 at Yankee Trace Golf Club.
Born and raised in Defiance, Ohio, Carr moved to Dayton with his family in 1968 as a third grader. He attended Normandy Elementary School, Watts Middle School and graduated from Centerville High School in 1977.
“My father worked for General Motors and his job brought us here from Indiana,” Carr said. “Centerville had great schools even back then and all of my siblings and I were very behind in our studies.”
Carr, the elder of two brothers and one sister, remembers running through the woods at Grant Park during recess and having a fairly average suburban upbringing.
“When I was at Watts, everyone felt like it wasn’t very rigorous,” Carr said. “We had to get back to work when we went to high school!”
Carr discovered the speech and debate club as a high school sophomore and met his mentor and friend, Ralph Bender, who was his coach.
After graduation, Carr went on to college at Michigan State University and majored in political science and comparative politics. He went to Boston College for law school.
“I was always inclined to be a lawyer,” Carr said. “I can be argumentative, of course, enjoyed speech and debate.”
Carr’s then-girlfriend and now wife, Eileen, planned to apply to colleges in the northeast for her master’s degree and Carr decided to follow. Eileen, however, ended up getting a full ride scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“The people at Boston College would ask me what I was doing there,” Carr quipped. “I would tell them I was studying law and that my girlfriend was supposed to go to college nearby but ended up not doing that!”
The couple married in December of 1982 and Carr brought his New York native wife to Dayton after he accepted a job with Rogers and Greenberg law firm.
“I thought it would be a better fit here than somewhere else,” Carr said. “I knew the area and more importantly, I knew the people. I’m grateful to my wife for agreeing to come along!”
After their marriage, the couple rented an apartment and then moved to St. Anne’s Hill in Dayton before moving to Centerville in 1989. They have three children together — Richard, Simon and Rachel.
In 1995, Carr switched firms and started working for Auman, Mahan and Furry downtown. His focus is forming and litigating contracts, but his passion is his local community.
“After I returned to Dayton, Richard Bender reached out to me and told me I was going to help him coach a new program at the high school called Mock Trial,” Carr said. “I’ve been involved in that for 39 years.”
Ohio High School Mock Trial is the largest scholastic extracurricular activity in the state. Through the program, students learn not only about law and the legal system, but also build critical thinking skills.
“We tell the students they will learn three skills in Mock Trial that will help them be successful as adults,” Carr said. “We are not saying rich and famous, just successful!”
As in life, students in the Mock Trial program find that sometimes they win, and sometimes they lose. But they always learn from their experiences.
Over the past several decades, Carr has also become involved on local boards ranging from the Centerville-Washington Foundation to the local library.
“The first thing you want to do on a community board is try not to make big mistakes,” Carr said. “The second thing is to bring assets in to support the organization and manage those assets well. These could be both financial and human.”
Carr said that Centerville Washington Township’s “villages” collection describes people who work together in churches, on sports teams, and for local charities.
“Sometimes people in the villages don’t get along,” Carr said. “But ultimately, they all are working for the good of their villages.”
As for the future, Carr said he hopes to “work less and swim more,” one of his favorite free time activities.
“We are so pleased to recognize Richard this year,” said Brendan Cunningham, president of the Centerville-Washington Foundation, “Richard embodies the spirit of our community and his passion, dedication and selflessness have enriched countless lives and set an example for generations to come.”
Carr, who said he isn’t entirely comfortable with the honor, especially since he isn’t a “social media or publicity person,” but is pleased, nonetheless.
“It’s something that the Centerville-Washington Foundation does that I truly believe in,” Carr said. “I’m greatly honored by it.”
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