Obituary of Richard B. “Dick” Weiss

Richard Barry Weiss (Dick), age 84, died in Washingiton DC, on November 10, 2024. He leaves behind Nancy Flinn, his partner/wife of 22 years and his daughters, Robin Boies and Kelly Weiss, and a combined eleven grandchildren.

Dick was born in Oak Brook, Illinois, on March 13, 1940 to Julia Meehan Weiss and Louis Weiss. He grew up in Elmherst Illinois and matriculated to Elmhurst High School where he was President of his class. He went on to Dartmouth College, graduating with a major in Spanish in 1962 and an MBA from the Amos Tuck Schooll at Dartmouth in 1964. While at Dartmouth, Dick married Karen Shields, his high school sweetheart. His two daughters were born while finishing his college years.

Following college, Dick Weiss’ work experience took him into marketing and management and included Sales and Product Management for Curad brand products. In the late ‘60s, he was Product Manager for Alberto Culver Company where he was promoted to Caribbean Marketing Manager, based in Puerto Rico. He became Latin America and Canada OTC Marketing Manager for Abbott Laboratories, establishing functions in six Latin American countries and introduced Sucaryl artificial sweetener, a multimillion-dollar consumer product, into Canada. Weiss moved to The Keebler Company as Group Product Manager, guiding advertising and promotion for Keebler. In the late 1970’s, Weiss became Director of Marketing for Hollister, Inc., establishing product management systems and consumer marketing techniques for the $45 million disposable health care line. Dick served as Director of Public Relations for National Paint and Coatings, where he oversaw a $1 million campaign for the restoration of historic edifices. The campaign won the White House Private Sector Initiatives Award in 1987. These efforts included San Francisco’s Coit Tower, Bronx’s “Last Hope Building” and a Miami art deco hotel. He oversaw a half million-dollar generic “Picture it Painted” campaign, reaching over 80 million consumers and assisted the association with strategies to deal with solvent and lead issues.

Dick served the National Dairy Board as Senior VP for Public Relations, and was the industry spokesperson on the introduction of BST, a controversial artificial hormone for increased milk production in dairy cows. He brought the association’s education programs in line with advertising messages and enlisted the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry to support chocolate milk.

For seven years, Dick ran The Weiss Consultancy, an independent consulting company. Clients included the International Food Information Council, where he developed and implemented a crisis management plan to deal with the onset of “Mad Cow Disease”; for the National Dairy Board, he managed the response to the introduction of BST; for the American Digestive Health Foundation, he created a strategic plan to obtain funding for medical research on food borne illnesses, especially E Coli 0157:H7. For the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Weiss crafted a strategic plan to increase voter registration among disabled veterans. He consulted to the National Grange, and joined them in 2002, as full-time COO.

Dick Weiss served as the Chief Operating Officer for The National Grange, the nation’s oldest rural advocacy organization with a presence in all 50 states. Under Weiss, the National Grange was reorganized into functional areas of lobbying, sales and marketing and communications using a new departmental budgeting system. He moved the organization from dues dependence to outside income sources, expanded member benefits, developed and built coalitions with like organizations and corporations. As Grange COO, Weiss oversaw an extensive grassroots education program on Medicare Part D, the new prescription drug plan. His work has left a legacy that has benefited so many.

Dick Weiss was a member of The Washington Ag Roundtable, a group of legislative and public relations professionals. After retiring in 2007, Weiss continued to consult for the National Grange as well as health care clients. He chaired the BOD of Retire Safe, an advocacy organization representing retired Americans and served on the the National Grange Advocacy Board of Directors.

Dick is remembered as a “Lovely Man” to his many friends and family, always supportive, kind, and a forever friend. Dick was a consummate golfer.

The world is a much better place for Dick Weiss having been in it! A celebration of his life is planned for March 13, 2025, his birthday!