Richard W. Tennant, a retired business owner who served in World War II, died of a stroke Wednesday at his Summerfield, Fla., winter home. The West Friendship resident was 85.
Born in Baltimore and raised on Gilman Terrace, he was drafted into the Army immediately after his graduation from Polytechnic Institute in 1943. As a young man, he played baseball with the Catonsville Bluejays.
He fought in the Italian campaign and landed on the coast at Anzio in January 1944.
"He often told the story of having his backpack blown off on his back during the first day of combat," said his daughter, Nancy Tennant of Ellicott City.
He advanced to a heavily fortified hilltop monastery called Monte Cassino held by the German forces. Family members said he spent his 21st birthday in a foxhole there and was so close to the monastery he could see its brick walls.
He also recalled leaving headquarters to deliver a message, only to return to find that the headquarters had been bombed and his commanding officer killed in his absence.
"Like a lot of those World War II vets, he did not talk about the war for many years. He had a lot of close calls," said his sister, Elizabeth Keller of Towson. "He lost a lot of his buddies and he retained contacts with his friends long after the war ended."
Mr. Tennant also told of seeing hungry Italian children standing at the end of the Army chow lines. He said they scraped food from garbage bins to take to their families.
Mrs. Keller recalled the war's end in August 1945. "Everybody on Gilman Terrace seemed to gravitate to our house," she said. "Dick was a generous and lovely man and the neighborhood came out for him."
After the war he came back to Baltimore and at a party to celebrate his safe return, he met his future wife, the former Mary Wagner, then a student nurse.
While they had never met before that day, she had written to him during the war. They married in 1948 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Roland Avenue.
He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Maryland College Park. He worked in marketing at the Westinghouse Corp. throughout the fifties and, in 1960, opened his first of four Midas automotive franchises in Baltimore and Washington. He retired 21 years ago.
He enjoyed woodworking - he made furniture for family and friends - gardening and boating.
In retirement he was an active member of the Tristate Chapter of the 34th Infantry Division Association. In 2003 and 2005, he and family members visited the battlefields where he had fought.
"He was always impressed with the reception given him when he visited Italy," said his sister.
In addition to his daughter and sister, survivors include his wife of 11 years, the former Bettie Gray; three sons, Mark Tennant of San Francisco, Calif., Douglas Tennant of Ellicott City and D. Stephen Tennant of Potomac; a stepson, Mark Gray of Severn; a stepdaughter, Lynn White of Elkridge; another sister, Anne LeCompte of Towson; and six grandchildren. His first wife of 40 years died in 1988.
A memorial service will be held June 27 at Hebron House in Ellicott City. No time has been set.
