Richard "Dick" Hammann

Richard Henry Hammann "The Million Mile Man" RACINE - Early on Christmas morning of 2019, Richard went to meet his daughter, Karen Christine. The two of them continued to Heaven to celebrate the Holidays with all the rest of his previously departed family and friends. Richard was born on November 24, 1938 in Plymouth, WI - the fourth child of August and Ruth Hammann. He was the first child in his family to be born at the local hospital. Richard grew up in Elkhart Lake, WI with his two older brothers, Frederick (Freddy) and Robert (Bobby), and his older sister, Ruthie. During his childhood years - he always wanted to help out at the family service station - Cal &Gus Motors. He was affectionately nicknamed "Supt", as everyone enjoyed talking to him when they stopped at the garage. His mother even made him wear clothes embroidered with his nickname "Supt" on them. Richard was good in sports and loved basketball. Richard attended Lakeland College in Sheboygan, WI where he received his degree - Business Administration with minors in Accounting and Math in May of 1960. He played on the school's basketball team, where he lettered all four seasons. In later years, Dick was inducted in to the college's Hall of Fame. While in college, he met his wife, Karen Christensen, and the two were married in January of 1961. Richard served in the United States Army, and was stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO in the early 60's. he worked in a few areas during his basic training, though he eventually ended up in the kitchen - where he learned a few tricks, like cracking five eggs in one hand at a time, and making his famous grilled cheese sandwiches. When Dick was still in the Reserves, Karen and he moved to Elkhart lake, WI while Karen was finishing her last year of college and he was working at Cal & Gus Motors. Dick then went to work for his father-in-law, Marty Christensen, at Motoresearch, Inc. in Racine, WI. While working at Motoresearch - he learned all about small electric induction gear motors from Marty, as well as learning the trials and tribulations of owning and managing your own business. During his college days, Dick's father had a school bus operation along with the garage so this is where he first learned to dive a bus. His first bus was an ACF-Brill (ex-Greyhound vehicle) that was used for school charters and for Milwaukee Braves games. After he graduated - the bus was sold when Dick went into the Army. Richard and Karen were growing a family og three daughters - Elizabeth, Katherine, and Karen Christine while living in Racine, WI. They spent their weekdays in Racine, though most weekends were spent at the A-frame in Elkhart lake as well. Both Marty and Dick had a love for coaches, which led the two of them to purchase a couple of refurbished Greyhound Scenic Cruiser coaches in the early 70's. This was the start of Richard's accumulation of miles and traveling the country with all kinds of people and groups from WI and IL, including many celebrities and sports teams, and the list goes on. In the spring of 1976 - Royal Coach Lines was incorporated with three coaches (two scenic cruisers and a 05 model Eagle) serving southern Wisconsin schools, senior groups, churches and many other businesses. Richard's brother, Fred was brought on as the super-mechanic to service the coaches. The charter company grew quickly due to the personal service of Dick and his team of well trained drivers. Richard expanded the company along with Bob Nelson and his wife, by purchasing the daily coach run (previously Tri-State_ between Milwaukee and O'Hare Airports out of a rented space in Milwaukee. This 24/7 service used Model 10 Eagles to transport customers between the two airports and states. Dick loved the motor coach business and devoted most of his time throughout the 80's and 90's to growing the business, which grew to almost 30 coaches. Karen ran Moto-Search most of the time so he could be on the road more, doing what he loved. Richard's passengers on his executive Coaches included many entertainers from the 50's, such as; Fabulous FOUR Reunion tour of 1978 (The Four Tops, Four Freshman and the Four Lads), The Pointer Sisters, Billy Joel, and REO Speedwagon. In 1979 - Richard drove Pope John Paul II during his visit to Chicago, IL in one of the deluxe coaches. He drove the kids from Wisconsin to all of their appearances throughout the state for a number of years. He served on the Kids from Wisconsin board for over 12 years, and was even chairman for a few years. Richard's love of sports led him to drive the visiting MLB teams to play the Milwaukee Brewers. He also drove both the Chicago Cubs and Brewers Winter Caravans for a number of years. While going through the process of converting his bus into an executive coach and making a coach for his own family to travel in - he learned about an organization called Family Motor Coach. He began to get involved in the association and with the family attending their rallies of other motor coach operators. This eventually led him to become the President of the group, and he had some of the largest rallies in the history of FMCA in cities like Puyallup, WA (near Seattle), Pomona, CA, San Antonio, TX, and Florida. In 1989, Richard even had President George Bush and Barbara Bush attend the rally and speak to the association members in Richmond, VA. Dick also worked with the United Bus Owner/Operators, and was on the safety committee, working with all coach operators as well as U.S. government officials, such as Elizabeth Dole, in getting legislation for all coaches on the road to have safety inspections, Many people did not know they were riding in buses that did not meet certain guidelines and have regular maintenance inspections. Richard also had a "minor" role in the movie, "Major League". that was filmed in Milwaukee, WI. The movie used one of Royal's older coaches and he was the driver in one scene. Royal Express Tours was started by Dick and his tram to organize many local trips as well as trips throughout the United States. In 1982 - he had weekly trips to the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN, and had many trips to the NCAA tournament as well. Dick worked with many local schools; such as Prairie School, Case High School, Horlick high School, Lakeland College, Carthage College - Football, UW - Milwaukee Basketball, as well as schools in the local Kenosha and Milwaukee markets. During the 2000's - Dick started doing mostly local trips, such as senior groups to visit local attractions, like Fireside Theater, Madison, Lake Geneva, and other local landmarks. He also organized gambling trips, as casinos were now in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Dick traveled throughout the United States while racking up over a million miles, during his 50 plus years of driving motor coaches as well as family trips. His life was very full and never a dull moment living with him, according to Karen, his wife. Richard was the best husband, dad, dog lover (many poodles, even two as wedding presents), and friend. Many will miss him - especially his "Breakfast Buddies" as he called them - as Dick was always there, every morning wanting to be the first one there no matter the weather or what was going on. Now Richard is "flying" around heaven with all his departed family and friends, continuing to put on air miles with his signature grin!

Tributes

Richard "Dick" Hammann

November 24, 1938 - December 25, 2019