Richard A. Lord

Richard A. Lord

Retired Sgt. 1st Class Richard A. Lord, of Yelm, died Feb. 14, 2011, at Madigan Army Medical Center in Fort Lewis. He was 66.
Richard was born in Waterbury, Conn., on Dec. 21, 1944. He joined the Navy in 1962 and served for four years. He was among the first to arrive in Vietnam as a Seabee, and helped build roads and infrastructure as part of Mobile Construction Battalion 9.
When he got out of the Navy, he returned to Connecticut and bought a custom-built 1967 Corvette 427 Roadster. It was this car that first attracted the attention of his future wife, Katherine. They married in 1968. Ever the family man, he traded his Corvette for a wood-paneled station wagon when two daughters, Kristina and Kerry, came along.
In 1975, he joined the Army with the goal of providing a good life for his family. During his Army career, he worked as a recruiter, as a platoon sergeant of a Hawk missile firing section and as a senior instructor in Air Base Ground Defense, training approximately 2,000 Air Force security police a year in basic infantry tactics.
He received numerous ribbons, medals and accolades for his service before retiring in 1991.
In 1993, he and his wife decided to retire in "God's country" and moved to Washington state.
But Richard didn't stay retired for long. He did maintenance work for 16 years at Prime Locations in Lacey until 2009. He earned his electrician's license in 2002. Even though he retired a second time, he still went in to work a few days a week until his cancer diagnosis in 2010.
Richard was a member of the American Legion, Joseph Redberg Post 164 in Yelm. He loved the Yankees and baseball, playing racquetball with his friends on base, puttering around his garden, shopping at Home Depot, all-you-can-eat restaurants, buffets and greasy spoons, reading and a good game of Uno with his family. Those who knew him loved that he was quick with a joke, smile, hug or a handshake.
Richard is survived by his wife of 43 years, Katherine of Yelm; two daughters, Kristina Lord and her husband John Hulick of West Richland; and Kerry Lord of Spanaway. He was so proud of his daughters and loved to brag about their careers to anyone who would listen -- Kristina, a newspaper editor in Kennewick, and Kerry, a certified operating room nurse at Madigan.
The arrival of his two granddaughters gave him something new to brag about. Anyone who knew Richard knew about his grandkids, Klara, 4, and Kate, 2, of West Richland. He was quick to flip open his wallet to show off their pictures. They were his pride and joy.
Also surviving Richard are his sister Amanda Abel of Hudson, Colo.; Aunt Eileen Lombardo of Northglenn, Colo.; Uncle Donald Beaudoin of Plantsville, Conn.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and Doris Lord, and sister Maureen Barna.
The competent and caring Dr. Laura Newell at the VA Puget Sound Oncology Clinic in Seattle oversaw eight difficult chemotherapy treatments for esophageal cancer that gave Richard and his family another year together before leptomeningeal carcinomatosis took him from us.
Thanks to the compassionate care of the sixth floor nursing and doctor team, palliative care Dr. Anne Rossignol, and Dr. Stephen Salerno at Madigan, Richard spent the last week of his life in comfort and without pain, his family continually by his side.
A service is planned for 11 a.m. March 11 at St. Columban Catholic Church, 506 First St. S., in Yelm, followed by burial at Tahoma National Cemetery, 18600 S.E. 240th St., in Kent.
To honor Richard's memory, consider a donation to the American Cancer Society.