Richard Chance, founder of the Chance Manufacturing Company, has died aged 88.

Born on 25 September, 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, he graduated from Wichita North High School in 1939 and worked in manufacturing as a welder and tool and die maker until he was drafted into the United States Army in 1944. Chance began his eponymous company building miniature trains - one of the most popular being a small scale version of the 'C. P. Huntington' locomotive - and by the time he retired in 1985 had turned it into one of America's largest manufacturers of amusement rides.

In 2001, Chance Manufacturing merged with roller coaster builder D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, to form Chance Morgan. The new company's head office is in Morgan's former location of La Selva Beach, California, while construction is centred on Chance's former facility in Wichita, Kansas. For his contributions to the amusement industry, Chance was inducted into the Halls of Fame for IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions), Outdoor Amusement Business Association, and the Showmen's League of America.

He also originated the AREA Amusement Ride Safety Seminar in 1971, which has been continued by the Amusement Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers Association.