Richard "Dick" Priest

It is with great sadness that the family of Richard "Dick" Priest announces his passing on June 28th at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos with his family at his bedside. Richard was born in the Hollywood Hospital in Los Angeles, California on November 24th, 1930. He was the first child of Donald and Dorothy Priest. After graduating South Pasadena High School in 1949, Richard attended Mount San Antonia College attaining a degree in business. With the Korean War beginning, he voluntarily joined the Navy. Richard was sent to radar and sonar school in San Francisco, and then served two tours on wooden mine sweepers, sweeping along both the North and South Korean coasts. After the war he went back to college, attending Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo. Richard graduated in 1959 with dual majors in Electronical Engineering and Applied Mathematics While at Cal Poly, he worked his way through school with a wide variety of odd jobs. It was while attending Cal Poly that he met his future wife, Dianne. Out of college, Richard went to work for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company at Vandenberg Tracking Station during the beginning of the US space programs. There, they worked out of trailers, spending many nights in sleeping bags so they could continuously track satellite orbits. He spent the entirety of his thirty-five plus year career with Lockheed. At his retirement in 1995 he was working on the Milstar Satellite Communication System program. After retirement he had a "fun" job ushering at the San Jose Arena Richard and Dianne moved to the Bay Area in 1963 after the birth of their oldest son, Richard "Rich". The following year they moved into their home in Saratoga. Three more sons, Darryl, Donald, and Brian soon followed. As the boys grew, Richard was very active in his son's various activities starting with Indian Guides. He held many offices in both Little League and AYSO soccer, being President of Little League when the first playing field was developed on Glen Brae Drive. With all his sons highly active with the high school music programs, Dick served as President of the Saratoga High School Music Boosters for two years. He was so dedicated to the cause that he went back to his odd job days in college, renewing his bus drivers' license to help alleviate the High School Band's transportation expenses. He was also actively involved with the music department's Bingo fundraising, calling games every Tuesday night for several years. Following the tradition of going fishing and camping in the Sierras when the boys were younger, a new tradition began with Richard's 75th Birthday- a bi-annual salmon fishing trip to Sitka, Alaska. This year would have been Richard's tenth trip with his "boys". Richard was a member of King David's Masonic Lodge in San Luis Obispo, the San Jose Scottish Rite, the Asiya Shrine, the South Bay Shrine Club, the Camel Herders, the Jesters, and the Shrine Comics. He held several offices in the groups, and never tired of wearing his Donald Duck costume to the delight of children along parade routes. He enjoyed his monthly SIRS meetings and his donuts and coffee get-togethers as a member of the American Legion. As a Veteran, Richard was especially proud of his trip to Washington DC in 2018~, being accompanied by two of his sons, as part of the Honor Flight program to celebrate his service in the Navy. He is survived by his wife of sixty-four years, Dianne; his four sons: Richard and his wife Margaret, Darryl, Donald, and Brian and his wife Alyssa; as well as three grandsons, three granddaughters and two great-grandsons. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, August 23rd at the Saratoga Federated Church at 11:00 am with a luncheon to follow next door at the Saratoga Foothill Club. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Northern California http://www.shrinerschildrens.com or Saratoga Foothill Club, or a military veterans support program of your choice.