Richard Albert Tilghman (March 8, 1920 – February 23, 2017) was a politician who served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 17th district from 1969 to 2001. He also served in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the Montgomery County district from 1967 to 1968. He died on February 23, 2017, at the age of 96.

Early life

Tilghman was born in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, to Benjamin Chew and Eliza Middleton Fox Tilghman. He graduated from the Fountain Valley School in Colorado,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1943 and the

Berlitz School of Languages Berlitz Corporation is a language education and leadership training company which is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States. Berlitz Corporation is ow ...

. He served as a

First lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in the U.S. Marine Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and received the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

for action during the

battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

Business career

He worked at Smith & Barney, at the General Coal Company and as a plastics manufacturing executive at Contour Manufacturing Company.

Political career

He served as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee from 1974 to 2001. As State Senator, he was an advocate for veteran organizations. He supported state funding for the construction of the Pennsylvania Veterans Memorial at

Indiantown Gap National Cemetery Indiantown Gap National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in East Hanover Township, in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it occupies approximately , and has over 6 ...

. In 1999, he sponsored legislation providing $2 million in funding to support the construction of the

National World War II Memorial The World War II Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, national memorial in the United States dedicated to Veteran#United States, Americans who served in the United States Armed Forces, armed forces and as civilians du ...

in Washington D.C.

References

External links

* - official PA Senate website (archived) 1920 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Politicians from Manchester Princeton University alumni Recipients of the Silver Star British emigrants to the United States {{Pennsylvania-PASenate-stub