Worcester: Richard J. McGahey, 87, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 24 ^th , in his home at the Willows Assisted Living community, Worcester, after a long illness.

He was predeceased by his wife, Barbara A. (Williams) McGahey and his first wife, Beatrice (Ruggeri) McGahey.  He leaves his two sons, Richard McGahey of Mashpee and Kevin McGahey of Leicester; his three daughters, Eileen Burtt of Leicester, Deborah Gosselin and her husband Stephen of Grafton and Linda McGahey of Worcester; his step son, Kevin Auger of Houston, TX; his ten grandchildren, Sean Burtt, Craig Burtt, Mark Burtt, Jamie Burtt, David Gauthier, Pamela McGahey, John McGahey, Lauren/Dillian McGahey, Megan McGahey and Ryan McGahey; his step granddaughter, Danielle Magnan; 10 great grandchildren; and 1 great great grandchild.  He was predeceased by his grandson, Edward Burtt.  He was born in Worcester the son of John and Mildred (Bruso) McGahey.

Richard had a long career in quality control for companies that manufactured the space suits for NASA.  He retired as the Director of Quality Assurance for ILC Dover, Dover, DE in a career that spanned 35 years. He gained invaluable space suit and quality experience while working for the David Clark Co. and Hamilton Standard before joining ILC.   Richard often worked directly with and for NASA while at ILC.  His work with NASA spanned from the Apollo program, to many years with NASA in Houston, TX, to working on the Shuttle program, just to name a few.  In 1970 he was awarded the prestigious NASA Snoopy Award and received a NASA Achievement Award in 1988.  He retired in 2002 and was named to the ILC Dover Hall of Fame.

He lived in Dover, DE and Houston, TX for many years and moved back to Worcester in recent years.  He was an avid reader and loved fishing, especially in Dover, DE.

His family would like to thank the staff of the health center at the Willows and of the Salmon Hospice for all of the care and compassion they gave Richard during his illness.

Richards funeral service and burial in Sharon Hills Memorial Park, in Dover, DE, will be private. There are no calling hours.

The Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home, 130 Hamilton St., Southbridge, is directing arrangements.