Residents, councilmen and Mayor Merle Gorden honored the memory of a Beachwood resident who died last week.

Richard “Dick” Adler 79, owned Adler Sporting Goods and was active in city government in Beachwood.

“He was just a gem of a person,” said Councilman Fred Goodman at Monday's City Council meeting. “I will miss him. He’s just a genuine person that you don’t meet a lot in your life.”

Like Adler did, resident Dick Barsen attends Council meetings regularly.

“We always sat in the back row, and we had our executive meetings during your meetings,” he said to Council, “and I got to know Dick quite well.”

Barsen spoke about Adler’s service in the military as a rocket scientist — literally — in New Mexico. Adler wrote a manual for launching rockets, said Barsen.

“I wish I had a tape recorder, but it just boggled my mind that this genius was sitting next to me,” said Barsen.

“I think that very few people served Beachwood more than he did, and he was just one great fellow.”

Adler is survived by his wife, Adele (nee Simon); children, Mark and Julie; three grandchildren; and brother, Fred.

Family will receive friends from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 170 Honeybell Oval, Orange.

Donations may be made to the Richard Adler Memorial Fund for Nephrology Research or the Sam Simon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research, c/o The University Hospitals of Cleveland Institutional Relations and Development, P.O. Box 74947, Cleveland, OH 44194-4947.

Alana Baranick contributed to this article.