Dr. Richard Eric Hartwig, 83, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, died at his residence in Corpus Christi on April 25, 2026.He was born on December 14, 1942, on Governors Island, New York City harbor, when his father was stationed in Brooklyn during WWII. His parents were Hellmut A. Hartwig and Beata Erickson Hartwig. He grew up in Carbondale, Illinois, spending a year in Hannover, Germany with his family when his professor father was a Fulbright teacher there. Back in Carbondale, he graduated from University High School, and later Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, after a year as an exchange student at the University of Hamburg, Germany. After summer experiences at camps in Scotland and Mexico, he attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, earning MA and PhD degrees in Political Science with a specialization in Latin American politics. He spent a year at the University of La Plata in Argentina on a Rotary fellowship, and a year in Bogota, Colombia on a student Fulbright scholarship gathering information for his dissertation, which he later published as a book.

Richard’s teaching career was extensive and varied, teaching comparative politics, international relations, public policy, public administration, and American government courses at Coe College, College of Charleston, Illinois State University, Wesleyan University, Vanderbilt University, and Valdosta State College, plus visiting overseas posts at the Australian National University, three universities in Mexico, and US military bases in Europe via Troy State University. He then settled down at Texas A&M University-Kingsville(TAMUK) in 1993 and taught political science courses and served for over six years as departmental chair.

Besides many academic publications and professional presentations, he engaged innumerous organizations at TAMUK and in the Kingsville community, and in hobbies ranging from tennis to juggling to music to ping pong. He played classical guitar and loved dancing, helping to form a local Latin dance group. He also threw fabulous parties, gathering folks from all walks of life for music, dancing, food, and laughter. He was very active in the Kingsville Rotary Club, serving as their international affairs chair, and backing projects such as the Growing Rabbit Program in Nepal which aimed to support families by increasing opportunities for generating income and improving health and nutrition. He also worked tirelessly with the Democratic Party on a local level, supporting voter registration, getting students involved, and fighting uranium mining in south Texas. He had a great gift for friendship, connecting to people locally in Texas as well as those spread across the world, and is remembered for his humor (and distinctive laugh), kindness, and dedication to helping those in underserved communities.

In addition to his many friends, Richard is survived by his daughter Sophie Hartwig (Drue Hocker) and their daughter Maya Hartwig-Hocker in Atlanta, Georgia; a brother Charles(Mary) Hartwig in Jonesboro, Arkansas; a cousin/acting sister Sigrid (Roy) Rogers in Peoria, Illinois; a nephew Markus (Jena) Hartwig of Whitefish, Montana; and niece Karin (Grant) Gleisner, enroute to another US Embassy overseas.

A funeral service led by Rev. Jan Dantone will take place on Monday, May 4th at the Epiphany Episcopal Church in Kingsville at 1 pm, preceded by a visitation from 11 am-1 pm in the church. Burial will be in the Chamberlain Cemetery in Kingsville, after the funeral. A live broadcast and then recording of the service will be available on the obituary page of Turcotte-Piper Mortuary’s website.

In lieu of flowers, any memorial tributes may be made in the form of charitable donations to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).