For more than four decades across courtrooms, classrooms and fairways, Richard “Dick” Goldinger carried himself in the same humble manner that made him a towering presence in the Butler community.

The county’s longtime chief public defender and private attorney died Wednesday at his home. He was 84.

Born in East Butler on April 30, 1941, his path to becoming a respected legal figure was anything but ordinary.

After two years at Grove City College, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the height of the Cold War. He quickly learned Russian and was tasked with flying over the Bering Sea to intercept Soviet radio transmissions.

“He literally spoke Russian until the day he died,” his eldest son and current Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger said.

Following his military service, Dick Goldinger finished his degree at what was then Slippery Rock State College and was hired as an elementary school teacher at Clearfield Elementary School.

While raising two young sons, he attended Duquesne University School of Law at night.

“To be teaching school, raising kids and going to law school at night for four years — that was just who he was,” Rich Goldinger said. “He had this incredible drive to succeed in everything he did.”

The elder Goldinger passed the bar exam in 1976 and opened a private practice. He also joined the county public defender’s office — eventually being named chief public defender in 1985, a part-time role he served in until 2006.

Even as one of the most recognizable faces in the county, Dick Goldinger never viewed himself as a public figure.

“He came from modest roots,” Rich Goldinger said. “He cared about the little people and the people who needed someone in their corner. He wasn’t interested in recognition. He just always wanted to help.”

Friends also reminisced about Dick Goldinger’s love of golf and wine.

That included friend of 50 years Jerry Patterson, who grew close to Dick Goldinger while watching their sons play baseball in East Butler.

“We just shared so much together,” Patterson said. “We’d go golfing and have a glass of wine or two afterward. We’d travel together and play at different events together. We were just really good friends.”

Along with his time on the links, Rich Goldinger spoke highly of his father’s athletic abilities in his early years. He recalled a time when his father played collegiate baseball in Alaska against future major leaguers and later in life running half-marathons.

“He taught me to play golf when I was 11,” he said. “We’ve played golf together my entire life.”

Off the course, Dick met plenty of other friends while building up his reputation.

For years, Bill Kemper ran his own private legal practice just across the street in downtown Butler.

“That’s probably the thing that put us close together,” he said. “We could go back and forth and talk about cases, give each other advice and discuss the legal things. It was always good to have someone like that.

“He had a good sense of humor, and you knew he was a guy that would be easy to talk with,” Kemper said. “It was somebody that I figured would be a pretty good lawyer, too.”

Another friend, Chuck Nedz, credited Dick Goldinger for numerous achievements during his career.

“He was an absolute wonderful man,” Nedz said. “He’s been a mentor, friend and almost like a father figure to me over the years. He was also probably the best criminal defense attorney I’d ever met in my entire career. He was as passionate as they come — always looking out for the little guy, the underprivileged and the downtrodden.”

Nedz also mentioned that Dick Goldinger never steered the conversation toward himself.

“He always had time — no matter how busy it was — to sit down and have a chat with you,” he said. “He was just an incredible man. His humility was amazing considering what a talent that guy he was and what an intellect he had. I’m really going to miss him.”

Goldinger’s influence stretched into his son’s legal career, who said he would not have become an attorney, or run for district attorney, without his father’s encouragement and guidance.

“Everything I have in this profession is because of him,” he said. “He was my mentor, my sounding board, my dad. Losing him leaves a huge void.

“He wasn’t perfect — none of us are — but he was an amazing, funny and caring person. I’m blessed he was my dad. He’s practically irreplaceable.”