Richard A. Linstead

Richard (Dick) Allen Linstead passed away in the afternoon of February 10, 2010 with his wife and family by his side. Dick was 81 years old. Born in Seattle, WA on August 13, 1928 to Carl M. and Florence M. (Longbottom) Linstead, Dick lived his early life in Seattle until at age 9 he, his brother and mother moved to Portland, OR. He attended Gregory Heights Grade School and Benson Tech High School, where he was the Vice President of his senior class and Sports Editor for the school’s paper, The Tech Pep, writing the sports column, ‘Dick Predicts.’ He then enrolled at Oregon State College, joining the Delta Upsilon fraternity and continuing his ‘Dick Predicts’ column as Sports Writer for The Oregon State Barometer. Dick was introduced to his future wife, Donna Payne, by longtime friend Louise Lehl while celebrating V-J Day in downtown Portland on August 14, 1945. They were married on June 5, 1948 and over the next 10 years, starting in 1951, celebrated the births of their four children: Gail, Robert, Kathie and Tim. Dick joined the United States Air Force Reserves during the Korean War, reaching the rank of Medical Staff Sergeant while serving in Japan. Upon returning to the States, Dick went into television sales and service, and in 1958, opened his own business, Del’s TV Sales and Service. During that time, he was President of the Gateway Boosters, and an active member of the Moose and Lyons. He then went to work for United Radio, managing one of the company’s parts stores before being employed by Philco-Ford. In 1987, he changed careers, getting contracted by Boeing of Portland for the company’s landscape maintenance, until retiring in 1993, at age 65. His wife, Donna, also retired at that time from Jantzen, allowing the couple to spend many years traveling. Dick spent many happy hours with his family, including countless camping, clamming and beach trips as well as the infamous annual backyard Fourth of July picnics where family and friends gathered to play horseshoes and volleyball with food and libation. The two most important things to Dick were his family and the American Legion, in that order. Dick joined the American Legion Allied 150 in 1981, where he was very active in cooking and hosting dinners. He, along with other legion members, were instrumental in organizing the merging of seven posts to form Post #1. He and his wife Donna were very active in the Post and auxiliary, where their activities helped support the David Douglas School District and the Veterans facilities in the Oregon and Vancouver, WA areas. He held many offices in the Post, including Commander, First Vice, Second Vice (many times) and Historian, before retiring from the Post as Adjutant. He was known for chairing the annual Friendship dinners, his crab feeds, Friday night dinners, infectious laughter and love of the Oregon State Beavers. Dick is survived by his wife of 61 years, Donna, daughters Gail (Paul) and Kathie (Kevin), son Tim (Janet), as well as eight grandchildren, Holly, Amy, Julie, Lori, Tyler, Kelsie, Jenny and Megan, and one great-granddaughter, Madison. He was preceded in death by his son Robert in 1995. A public memorial service with Military Honors will be held on February 17, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Willamette National Cemetery, followed by a reception for friends and family at American Legion Post #1, located at 1803 SE 122nd Avenue. The family welcomes online postings of your memories and thoughts of Dick.