My "second dad"—Richard "Dick" Wickliffe—passed away on Thursday, December 11, after a brief but severe bout of pneumonia. He and two of his three young'uns, Gretchen and Todd, had been over for Thanksgiving dinner only two weeks earlier, and he had been doing very well at the time, so his death came as a shock. Dick was 93 years old. His funeral was this morning.
Dick and his wife, Martha (who passed away in 2013), and my parents were long-time best friends, and since we all spent so much
time together, the Wickliffes literally became our second family. Gretchen is
my age, Todd is a couple of years younger, and Scott is five years younger
(the same age as my late brother), so we had a lot in common, especially in
the mischief department. Dick and Martha always seemed to catch on to the
mischief sooner than my parents did, and this was always a blessing because
they tended to have more patience than my folks.
Dad and Dick worked together at the
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. plant here in Martinsville for
many years, which was how they got to know each other. Mom and Martha hit it
off immediately, and though their personalities were oil and water, they
somehow managed to get along better than human beings in general have a right
to. It was Martha's habit to call Mom on the phone every afternoon, no matter
what, about 2:00 p.m. After Martha died, Dick took up the mantle and called
her daily without fail until Mom became too debilitated to even use the phone.
His faithfulness always meant the world to me.
In his younger days, Dick was an avid scale modeler, and in more recent years,
he took up the activity again, building plastic scale models of airplanes,
tanks, ships, and even the starship, USS Enterprise (essentially
the same model kit that I had when I was a kid). These were intricately
detailed and painted, and his collection had become impressive indeed. Lately,
every time I'd go for a visit, he'd have some new model in the works.. A large
spread of his models were at the funeral today.
All of Dick's family, as well as Kim and I, were pretty well shocked when he
passed so suddenly. But while that shock is hard to deal with, I think that,
in the long run, the fact he didn't suffer a long, debilitating illness is, in
its way, a great relief.
The funeral service today was a fitting tribute to Dick—intimate, uplifting,
and reassuring. I know his family, Kim and I, and so many good friends will
remember him with love for the rest of our days.
Here is his official obituary from Roselawn Funeral Home: Obituary, Richard E. Wickliffe
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| Martha and Dick in our living room in the early 1990s |
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| Dick, Martha, and Mom, Christmas 2008 |
