In an obituary, his colleague Margaret Bennett wrote: “As a businessman with investments in South Africa, Dick became aware of our environmental and social problems, especially those worsened by energy and water shortage. … He was determined that any technology designed for rural people had to be within their power to purchase. The SunStove, still selling today, is the result of many hours of drawing, dozens of trial models and eventual capital input from Dick. He was a tireless and enthusiastic attendee at solar conferences both in his US homeland and elsewhere in the world.”