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Richard Francis Fanning

1927 - 2013

Richard Francis Fanning obituary, 1927-2013, Eugene, OR

Richard Fanning Obituary

Richard Francis "Dick" Fanning

1927 - 2013

Richard Francis "Dick" Fanning died on July 2, 2013 as the result of a head injury sustained during a hike at Mount Pisgah. He was 86.

Dick was born on March 16, 1927 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to Richard Francis and Annonciade (St Jacques) Fanning, one of eight children. He was an avid outdoorsman from a young age but was less enthusiastic about school, frequently "bunking" classes to go camping in the woods outside Woonsocket. He worked through high school in the printing offices of the local newspaper, the Woonsocket Call. He joined the Army Air Forces while still a student, hoping to be trained as a pilot, but with the war ending just as he entered the service, he became a weather observer, stationed in Italy and Germany. Dick developed his love of reading during his military service and was rarely without a book close at hand through the rest of his life. Returning to the US in 1947, he used the GI Bill to attend Michigan State University. While working as a dishwasher in one of the dorms, Dick met the love of his life, Jocelyn "Jo" Spike, of Birmingham, Michigan, as she played "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" on the piano in the dormitory lounge. For his remaining year at MSU, they were inseparable. They married after he graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Forestry in 1952.

On graduation, Dick found a temporary job as a tree trimmer for the city of Detroit Department of Parks and Recreation while Jo finished her degree at Wayne State University. Their grand plan was to move out west, but his high civil service exam scores led to rapid promotions, and he eventually became Assistant General Superintendent. His 30+ years with the city were characterized by his astute administrative skills and his refusal to be compromised by city politics. Dick was instrumental in organizing and managing the Detroit Ethnic Festivals in the early 1970s. Through his contacts with the Irish Festival, he and Jo became regulars at the Irish American Club near old Tiger Stadium where they became acquainted with scores of visiting Irish musicians, many of whom became personal and lifelong friends. There was many a lively party on summer evenings in the Fannings' backyard where the sounds of Irish pipes, guitars, penny whistles, singing and storytelling went on late into the night.

Dick and Jo had four children with whom they spent every available moment camping, hiking and canoeing in Quebec and Ontario north of Lake Superior, on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula, and every fall in the Smoky Mountains. When Dick retired from the city in 1983, he and Jo finally moved west to Eugene, Oregon. They continued to be avid tent campers and hikers throughout the Pacific Northwest; they camped on the Rogue River in the month before his death. They were also adventurous and unconventional international travelers who made numerous trips to Europe, visited Turkey five times, and spent a month each winter in Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Dick was appreciated for his analytical thinking, his irreverence and dry wit and his weakness for dreadful puns. His life was defined by his passions for reading, music, the outdoors, and especially his enduring romance with his wife Jo. He was a powerful personality, a figure larger than life, dearly beloved by his wife, his children and grandchildren, and the many friends he made and kept over years. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Jocelyn (Spike) Fanning; his four children Jennifer (John) Rowan-Henry, Kathleen (Thomas) Sampson, Lisa Balabanlilar, and Christopher Fanning; his sister Andree Fanning; eight grandchildren: Madeleine (John Paul) Rowan-Davis; Kyle, Corey, Connor and Carson Fanning; Julie and Amy Sampson; and Sara Balabanlilar; and numerous nieces and nephews. In accordance with his wishes, no service is planned. His family suggests memorial gifts to Mount Pisgah Arboretum and the Eugene Public Library.

Published by Eugene Register-Guard on Jul. 21, 2013.
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Jen said their first review was "too wordy." Indeed, how can you condense the phenomenon that was Dick Fanning into a few paragraphs?
I remember our times in Merida, trips to the beach, listening to music at "the umbrellas," walking on Paseo de Montejo, breakfasts at the Colonial, symphonies on Sundays, his easy way of making friends (but only if they were Democrats!).
He loved peanut butter, club sandwiches, and spaghetti Bolognese. I remember one time we talked him into ordering a drink that was green, much to everyone's surprise.
But most of all I remember watching him and Jo together, their dynamic as a couple, his solicitous attention to her.
I will always see him still here in my adopted city, reading a book, teasing me sometimes unmercifully, or taking Jo's hand carefully as they navigate the unpredictable streets.
Jo, my heart goes out to you and to all your family.

Anny Schrader

July 23, 2013

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