Richard "Dick" Strauss

STRAUSS - Richard (Dick) Strauss, passed away unexpectedly at his home in Incline Village, Nevada on March 22. He is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Jane Strauss; his daughter, Lisa Prince of Scarborough, ME; his daughter, Karolina Miller of Incline Village, NV; his son, Eric Strauss of Sparks, NV; his sister, Patricia Pope of Ogunquit, ME and his sister, Paula Cummings of Palm Coast, FL. A private funeral mass will be held at St. Francis of Assisi in Incline Village on March 26th. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN.org). Dick founded Advance Packaging Corporation in 1966 with his business partner, Duke Gregory. He was President and CEO of Advance packaging until his retirement in 2000. Advance Packaging is the largest Independent Box plant in Michigan. Dick led the quality initiative in the corrugated box industry and APC was the first corrugated box company in the U.S. to become ISO 9000 certified. Dick was a supporter of local colleges and various community care agencies. When APC lost one of its largest customers in 1998, rather than leave many employees without work, Dick started a program called Outreach 2000 to place employees at work in a variety of community service agencies with full pay and benefits. At this time not a single employee was placed on lay-off and many employees chose to take multiple turns. This program was just one example of Dick's ongoing work as a teacher, educator and mentor. The community of Grand Rapids is a better place because of the ongoing volunteer efforts of APC employees and members of their families who had their first exposure to community volunteer service in Advance Packaging's Outreach 2000 program. Dick will be remembered for his strong work ethic and love of family.