Dale F. Richard

Longtime Alaskan resident Dale F. Richard, 84, died May 18, 2009, at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna. A celebration of Dale's life will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Peninsula Grace Brethren Church in Soldotna. Pastor Keith Randall will officiate. Military honors will be performed by American Legion Post No. 20 and VFW Post No. 10046. Dale's ashes will be combined with his wife Lorraine's ashes and laid to rest next to her parents in Estherville, Iowa. Dale was born Sept. 14, 1924, to George and Elma Richard in Wallingford, Iowa. He served in the U.S. Army infantry during World War II and was a prisoner of war and a Purple Heart recipient. After the war he married Lorraine Kroenke. Dale sold his welding shop in Iowa in 1964 and moved to Alaska with his wife and two sons. He had been a resident of Alaska since 1965. He joined the Iron Workers Union, Local 751, in 1966 and retired in 1984. After selling his Anchorage home he moved to his home on the Slana River in 1978. He remained there until he sold that home in 1998 and purchased a home in Kenai to be near family. Dale loved building things and found great satisfaction in his work. He loved reading his Bible and telling others about what the Lord had done for him. Dale was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Lorraine; parents, George and Elma Richard; and brothers, Leroy and Merle Richard. He is survived by his brothers Laverne and Duane Richard; sister Maureen Pinegar; son Craig Richard and daughter-in-law Johana of Anchorage; son Steve Richard and daughter-in-law Cecelia of Kenai; grandchildren Chad Richard of Anchorage, Chris Richard of Portland, Ore., Brent and Diana Nelson of St. Louis, Mo., Corey and Bob Ball of Forks, Wash., and Lori and James Spinka of Kenai; and great-grandchildren, Rory and Cameron Nelson, Mya, Ben and Canon Spinka, and Rowan Ball. The family wishes to especially thank the nurses at CPGH. Their loving care made a trying time less difficult.