Obituary: Richard L. Arkin

Richard L. Arkin, age 82, formerly of Gaithersburg, Md., died on Aug. 7, 2026. Born July 3, 1944, in Washington, D.C., to William and Zenda Arkin, a husband-and-wife lawyer team unique for its time, he was a National Merit Semifinalist and graduated from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va., in 1962.

In high school, Richard, a gifted artist, was inspired by mid-century “Pogo” cartoonist Walt Kelly, creating a comic strip featuring his own anthropomorphic character, Buttercup Catcatcher. Blessed with a golden tenor voice, he played the male lead in Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon,” the tale of an enchanted village that reappears for a single day once every 100 years.

A true renaissance man, Richard entered the University of Pennsylvania as a budding folk singer, traded his $30 guitar for a mother-of-pearl inlaid banjo, and promptly stopped going to class. He then spent two years as a copyboy for United Press International, a front-row seat to fast-paced wire-service journalism.

Drawn to feature writing, he followed the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Circus, famous for its big-top tents and wild animal acts. One night, the circus clowns anointed Richard as one of their own to guide him through their pranks under the big top. Still in full clown face, he crept home to terrorize his slumbering 10-year-old brother.

Richard graduated from The American University in 1968 with a B.A. in history. Among his prized possessions at that time was a bust of 1952 Nobel Prize laureate Albert Schweitzer, to which Richard had appended a dangling cigarette beneath the doctor’s large, bushy walrus mustache.

After college, Richard pursued graduate degrees in history at the University of Virginia and the University of Michigan before leaving academia for journalism, where his work spanned editorial writing, freelancing, photography, public relations, and political consulting, including as press secretary for the gubernatorial campaign of Maryland Judge Wilson K. Barnes, who lost the Democratic primary to Gov. Marvin Mandel. In 1980, he graduated from The American University Washington College of Law, accumulating myriad honors and relieving his still-worried parents, who felt circus performance was not the best career path.

Richard’s professional life featured national, state, and local positions, including as regulatory counsel at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and as vice president and Shop Steward of the FDA Chapter (Local 282) of the National Treasury Employees Union. His many honors include FDA Awards of Merit and commendations for leadership, innovation, writing excellence, and superior performance.

Richard’s interests included city planning, smart growth, and historic preservation. He served as co-chairman of the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission Commercial Zones Task Force and chairman of the Rockville Planning Commission. A founding resident of Kentlands, a pioneering 352-acre planned community in Gaithersburg and an early, celebrated example of New Urbanism, he served as president, chairman, vice chairman, secretary, and trustee of its homeowner’s association, and as vice president of the Kentlands Community Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to local arts, volunteerism, and education.

It comes as no surprise that Richard was an active member of Mensa, where he was known as “best hugger,” a folk dancer, and aficionado of Celtic music. Rarely does one find a person of such varied interests and accomplishments.

Richard was preceded in death by his first wife, Alice (Rubin) Arkin (married 1969); his second wife, Diane Goddard (Bliden) Arkin (married 1988); his stepson, Matthew Goddard; and his older brother, Michael B. Arkin, also a lawyer. He is survived by his daughter, Whitney Arkin of Annapolis, Md.; his younger brother, Robert D. Arkin of Atlanta, Ga., yet another lawyer; and assorted nieces and nephews.

Richard’s funeral took place at Chabad of Upper Montgomery County, 11520 Darnestown Rd., Gaithersburg, Maryland, followed by interment at Garden of Remembrance in Clarksburg, Maryland. A Shiva at his brother, Robert’s, home occurred at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 12.