Richard Eagle

1947 - 2024

8-20-47 to 8-23-24

Rich was a lifelong Idaho Falls resident, the youngest of Henry and Dorotha Eagle's 4 children. Rich attended Hawthorne Elementary, O.E. Bell Jr. High, Idaho Falls High School, and ISU, where he studied art. One of his first jobs was with Vanguard Engineering, where Rich did design and drafting for the Vanguard All-Terrain vehicle. He was a talented designer/drafter/manager starting at Lehigh Design and through a 30-year career at the INL creatively utilizing 3-D technology.

Rich's passion in life was antique cars; he started by making model cars, and by high school, he was working on a 1930 Model A Ford Tudor Sedan. He loved researching vehicles and finding or reproducing the right parts. In order to complete his restorations, Rich taught himself a wide variety of skill sets, from machining to upholstery and painting to steam bending. During a summer working at the Eagle family store in West Yellowstone, Rich saved for a 1923 Yellowstone Park Bus; it had been made into a wrecker, but it was beautiful to Rich. This restoration took 18 years to complete, but the results were terrific. Rich artfully restored at least 12 cars and 1 motorcycle and was working on many other treasures. He toured these cars with family and friends into Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and one trip up Pikes Peak. Still, he especially liked puttering them around Idaho Falls and the surrounding landscape on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Rich married his wife Joy in 1978 and moved out to Lincoln, which was then on the outskirts of town, where there would be plenty of room to build garages and fill them with his magnificent automotive creations.

Rich appreciated and relished interaction with the eclectic mixture of hard-working people involved in the old car hobby. He was proud to be a 50+ year member of the Eastern Idaho Chapter of the Vintage Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA), serving as president and vice president for several years and ushering it from its heydays of barn dances, apple squeezes, and races through the foothills, through illustrating posters for the annual Swap Meet and Car Show, and planning/hosting several iconic tours with Joy that established it as the club it is today. He shared his knowledge with others who were working to restore their projects. Rich would check the Model T Ford Club of America (MTFCA.com) website daily to see if anyone had a question or comment. He also had a long-running "Off-Topic" story about Kalamity Dick that tracked the misadventures of Rich's alter ego. Rich also employed his creativity and love for storytelling in real-time to entertain everyone who knew him. Whether he was intricately outlining how exactly he had built his latest contraption or had figured out a particularly clever play on words, Rich knew how to tell a tale. His love of cars inspired Rich to pick back up his paintbrush and acrylics in retirement. He became a prolific artist, having his artwork featured in the MTFCA online forum, the Bulb Horn magazine, and at the Henry Ford Museum in Richmond Hill, GA. These paintings were also featured in his annual Christmas cards and calendars sent to friends and family worldwide.

Rich passed peacefully at home on August 23, 2024, after a long struggle with heart problems and lung cancer. He will be missed by his children, Matthew Eagle, Gretchen Eagle Chaffin (Jay), Oliver Eagle (Amanda), Sally Eagle, 5 grandchildren, and his wife, Joy.

The family will have a Life Celebration for Rich in October. If you should desire to donate to a memorial for Richard, please consider Mtfca.com/donate