Richard Corna

Richard Corna passed away peacefully on July 1, 2024. Richard was born at home in Columbus on July 23, 1928, the son of Italian immigrants Giuseppe and Sofia Corna. Richard was the youngest of seven children. Richard lived what he considered the best possible childhood with his siblings and neighborhood friends in the Milo-Grogan area of Columbus. Richard remained close to these early friends for the entirety of his life. Loyalty was an important virtue for him. Richard was entrepreneurial from an early age, always working to provide for his family. Friends and family have many cherished memories of Richard’s stories of the numerous ways in which he earned money, and secured assorted items for the family. Richard graduated from Linden McKinley High School in 1947, and went to work for his father as a stone mason. After a few years, he went out on his own working as a stone mason. He soon started a homebuilding business, Richard R. Corna Builders. One of his proudest achievements was building a home for his parents in Upper Arlington. Richard was an excellent pool player at the old Clock Restaurant, where he met several influential businesspeople, some of whom gave him his first opportunities in commercial construction. In the 1960’s Richard became friends with Dave Thomas, who was working for Kentucky Fried Chicken at the time. Their friendship led to Richard becoming an original investor in Wendy’s and he went on to build all of the Wendy’s stores in central Ohio, as well as their headquarters building in Dublin. Richard and his friend Benny Ciotola were co-founders of LaScala Restaurant and co-owners of the Refectory Restaurant. Richard worked hard and played hard. He built a successful business, while at the same time enjoying his favorite pastimes, including travelling the world – especially to his beloved Italy. Richard was an avid golfer, and gin player. He and his card playing friends spent many hours in the card rooms of Riviera Country Club and Muirfield Village Golf Club. Richard was a raconteur and could always be relied upon for an entertaining story or joke. He was once described in a magazine article as a “Runyonesque character,” and indeed he was. Richard was a past president of the American-Italian Golf Association, a board member of Buckeye Boosters, a member of the Buckeye Golf Association, a member of Nationwide Children’s Hospital Planning Board, a member of the Columbus District Golf Association, Vice Chairman of the Memorial Tournament, a member and Captain of Muirfield Village Golf Club, and a past President of the Riviera Country Club. Upon his 90th birthday, he was awarded the keys to the City of Dublin, Ohio. Richard was preceded in death by his adored son Christian, his parents (Giuseppe and Sofia), and siblings (Peter, Angelo, Anna, Rosemary, Albert, and John). He is survived by his beloved wife Nadine, as well as stepchildren Michael Biagi and Jennifer Noble, step grandchildren Brooke, Mark, Sophia and Jordan, and numerous nephews, and nieces. Family was especially important to Richard.

Richard Corna

July 23, 1928 - July 1, 2024