A native of Huntington, Indiana, Dick Wire received his B.A. in history (magna cum laude) from Houghton College, a Christian liberal arts institution in western New York, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland at College Park. From 1965 to 1977 he lectured in history for the University of Maryland, including a 1971-1974 full-time assignment in the Far East (Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Laos, and South Vietnam) as well as part-time assignments at such stateside locations as the Pentagon, Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Meade, and the College Park campus. During 1975-1976 he also taught history part-time for Montgomery College in Maryland. He has authored four articles for Delaware History and a book review for Fides et Historia.
From 1977 to 2004 he served as an appraisal archivist and a records management training program team leader for the National Archives and Records Administration in the Washington, DC, area. He also wrote records management handbooks and other policy guidance, including A Federal Records Management Glossary (1st edition 1989, 2nd edition 1993) and Disposition of Federal Records (1992).
Coming from Wesleyan, Southern Baptist (briefly), Presbyterian, and (since 1991) Episcopal/Anglican churches, he has long been active in Christian education and in worship leadership roles. He has led adult Bible classes and forums and served as Sunday school superintendent and adult education committee chair. He has also served as congregational lay leader and occasional speaker, lay eucharistic minister and lector, and welcome center coordinator. He authored two articles and numerous book reviews for The Wesleyan Advocate (now Wesleyan Life). He also edited, and wrote articles for, The Ambassador Guidelines newsletter of a large Presbyterian congregation. Finally, he served ten years on local church boards and was a delegate to three diocesan conventions.
A former member of Christ Episcopal Church (Rockville, Maryland) and The Falls Church (Falls Church, Virginia), he is now an active member of Christ the King Episcopal Church (Huntington, Indiana). There he coordinates the adult Christian education program (leading some of the classes) as well as the men’s breakfast. He also serves as a lay eucharist minister and lector. His current personal project is compiling a dictionary entitled Ecclesiastical Word Power.
