Richard Burkhardt, Sr., a drafting engineer with the DeVilbiss Co. for 34 years who supplemented his income by making dental appliances in his basement, died Thursday in the Heatherdowns Convalescent Center. He was 80.

Mr. Burkhardt died of Alzheimer's disease, but had been in good enough health to live in his Toledo home until just two weeks before his death, said Christine Dybala, a daughter.

A lifelong Toledoan and graduate of Macomber High School, Mr. Burkhardt started his home business at age 19 and also worked in a local dentist's office before his brother, Alfred "Pete" Burkhardt, referred him to the job at DeVilbiss.

There, his work involved designing robotic arms for automotive painting.

But he continued to moonlight making orthodontia, dental bridges, and dentures in his basement lab, a profession that Mrs. Dybala acknowledged was somewhat unusual.

"When you have eight kids, I guess you need the extra income," she chuckled.

Mr. Burkhardt devoted much of his leisure time to playing sports with his children and their neighborhood friends, the daughter said.

"He was always out there in the yard with all of us. He played basketball, baseball, and kickball in the street," she said. "We started having this family picnic every Memorial Day and he'd always be out playing with the kids. We'd play Wiffle ball in the street and he'd yell louder than anybody."

As his children grew up and moved into their own homes, Mrs. Dybala said, "He was the handyman for the whole family.

"He was the first person we'd call when a water heater went out."

Surviving are his wife of 58 years, the former Helen Dultmeyer; daughters, Patricia Lake, Susan Wilson, and Christine Dybala; sons, Richard, James, Thomas, Charles, and Brian Burkhardt; brother, William Burkhardt; 21 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

The body will be in the Coyle Funeral Home after 2 p.m. tomorrow, with a recitation of the Rosary at 6:30 p.m., followed by a vigil service. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Patrick of Heatherdowns Catholic Church.

The family suggests tributes to the church or the Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

First Published March 24, 2007, 9:06 a.m.