SCHAUMBURG - Richard Lee Amendola, son of Phillip Darrow Amendola, (deceased), and Janet Ruth Nelson, (formerly Amendola, nee Hank), (deceased), is survived by his sister, Jill Marie Pitts, (nee Amendola), and half-sister, Kelly Jean Ellis, (nee Nelson), nieces Angela Rae Whitehead, (nee Pitts), and Amber Lynn Ellis. No service is planned. Due to Richard's love of astronomy and his longtime support of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and the Planetary Studies Foundation, a donation to those organizations in his name would honor his memory. He has now reached the stars.