Richard R. Wiss, 61, former president of J. Wiss & Sons, Newark, manufacturers of cutting instruments, died Saturday while visiting in Chatham. Services were held yesterday at Christ Church.
Mr. Wiss, who was born in Newark, was a resident of Jefferson Avenue for many years before moving to Mantoloking six months ago. He retired in 1972 as president and director of the firm which was founded in 1848 by his great-grandfather, Jacob Wiss.
A director of the Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce from 1965-70, he also served on the board of managers of the Howard Savings Bank, Newark from 1967 and was president of the Robert Treat Council, Boy Scouts of America. He was the recipient of the Scouts' Silver Beaver Award and also of the 1966 Good Citizen Award of the Real Estate Board of Newark, Irvington and Hillside.
Mr. Wiss was an Army veteran of World War II. He was a member of the board of trustees and of the financial committee of the United Community Fund of Essex and West Hudson. He served as chairman of the Government Specifications and Relations Committee, a subsidiary of the Hand Tools Institute, and was a former member of the executive committee of the American Hardware Manufacturers Association.
A member of the Rotary Club of Newark, he also belonged to the Bay Head Yacht Club, the Ocean Reef Club of Florida and the State Committee of Ducks Unlimited.
Mr. Wiss leaves his wife, Mrs. Virginia Drake Wiss; a son R. Garin Wiss of Toledo, Ohio; two daughters, Mrs. Gail Heyer of Bay Head and Linda Trinkaus of Warrensburg, N.Y.; two sisters, Mrs. Ruth Ward of Jacksonville, Fla. and Mrs. Karl W. Corby of Washington, D.C. and six grandchildren.