My Uncle Dick - Saying Goodbye

I got the sad news this afternoon that my dear Uncle Dick had just passed away. Although he had turned 91 last week and had deteriorated this year I wasn’t really expecting that this might be imminent, so it was a bit of a shock and lots of tears have been shed today, both by me and my sister.

Dick was my mother’s brother, her only sibling, and, since my father was an only child, was my only uncle. The middle right picture is Dick and my mum together, I’m guessing from the 90s. My mother became ill in 2004 and Dick came to visit that summer. The middle left picture was taken during that visit - we’d taken him to one of our favourite restaurants in Reading where they served 20+ different meat pies. I think he liked his! It was my mum’s last outing other than medical appointments, so there are special memories from that evening. My mum passed away 2 months later.

The top left picture is of course Dick as a young boy and the top right was taken in 1948 when I believe he would have been about 19. Dick worked in his father’s painting business but later went to seminary and became a Methodist minister, serving in various places in Michigan. He had three boys and they all became Methodist ministers too, in both Michigan and Georgia.

Dick married young and his first wife Marion was a beautiful and warm-hearted woman, always making us welcome as children, with lots of colouring books and puzzles. Because we grew up in England, family visits to their home were infrequent but there are many happy memories when we did so. In more recent years I have made many visits to my family in the US, making up for lost time!

After Dick was widowed in his 60s, he married Eloise (centre far left), who had also been widowed about the same time. Eloise is 11 years older than Dick and amazingly is still with us at 102 (Eloise's 100th Birthday party here).  She has outlived THREE husbands!

Over the last 20+ years I have enjoyed many visits with Dick and Eloise in their Michigan home (Muskegon) as well as in their winter home in Florida. In more recent years they moved into a wonderful retirement community in Grand Rapids where they’ve lived independently but have been well looked after as they’ve needed more care.

The bottom left picture was taken when I was helping Dick out with his family tree a few years ago. (Blips here and here) This was no small hobby - Dick was a Selleck and had strong English roots. He served as the president of the Selleck research association for awhile and had organised different tours to both England and New England. Can you imagine a whole busload of people checking into a hotel, all under the name of Selleck??

The bottom centre picture was taken during a family reunion 18 months ago, and the bottom right picture was the last time I saw Dick, when I visited this last January. I’m so happy that I made these last two visits.

Dick was a well-loved husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather and uncle. He was also loved by so many in his church and community. He had a well-lived life and leaves a strong legacy. We will miss him!