Richard Middleton, 77, of Muncie, passed away at 4:25 pm on Sunday, September 28, 2025 at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital with family by his side. Richard was born on October 28, 1947, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He was a 1965 graduate of Muncie Burris High School. After 37 years, Richard retired from Muncie Newspapers where he held several positions, culminating in supervisor of the mailroom. Coaching Little League baseball and youth basketball was a passion he pursued for many years. He also served children as a bus driver for Blue River Valley School Corporation in the seventies and eighties. Many still speak fondly about the positive memories they have from youth athletics under his guidance. Richard also officiated high school basketball in Delaware and surrounding counties.

Richard was an avid sports fan, namely Ohio State and Notre Dame football, IU and Muncie Central basketball, and Boston Red Sox baseball. He spoke proudly of his childhood spent attending Fenway Park and other various sporting venues with his father. Serving four years for his country in the United States Coast Guard was, as he put it, one of the best times of his life.

Richard is survived by his loving wife of 25 years, Charlotte; his three children, Jeremy (Kristi) Middleton of Anderson, Indiana, Nick (Sarah) Middleton of New Castle, Indiana, and Kelli (Bob) Garczewski of Yorktown, Indiana. He was also the grandfather of 9 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. His sister Janet (Robert) Huffstodt and brothers, Robert (Shelly) Thomas and Jeff (Kathy) Thomas are also surviving.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Ward Middleton and Elizabeth Hinkley Middleton; birth mother Catherine Edna Floyd Thomas, and one brother Joseph Thomas.

Family and friends may call at the Garden View Funeral Home from 10:00 am until 11:00 am on Thursday, October 9, 2025, with the funeral to follow at 11:00 am.