Richard Taylor

To view the service use this link: https://youtu.be/KA4ClhVhCoI

Richard “Dick” Dean Taylor, age 77 passed away in his home, surrounded by loved ones on Sunday, May 1st, 2022.

            Dick was born March 4, 1945, to Robert and Stella Taylor. Dick was the second of seven children. He lived the first nine years of his life in Fort Peck, MT. He was in the middle of the fourth grade in 1954 when his family moved to Riverdale, ND. This would be the place he would come to know as home and would later describe it as the best place a kid could grow up.

            He attended high school in Riverdale where he participated in Drama, Football, Basketball and Track. He excelled in Track, especially in distance running. In his first Drama performance, he froze off stage which is uncharacteristic for the storyteller he would become. Dick graduated high school in 1963. After a brief stint at the State School of Science in Wahpeton, ND, Dick followed a girl to his next home, Grand Forks, ND.

            Dick became a railroad man, following in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather Muncie Grover Taylor. He began working for the company when it was Great Northern Railway in 1964 and retired in 2005 when it was known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. He also wore many other hats in his lifetime. His first job was as a pin setter at a bowling alley where he was paid 10¢ a line. A little later on in his life he worked as a weekend donut fryer at Mr. Donut where he would sometimes bring his kids. Here he tried to teach them that if you’re making raised donuts, you should never sing Jeramiah was a Bullfrog or the donuts wont turnout. He would eventually buy the Mr. Donut shop and turn it into Taylor Made Pastries. He also put his artistic woodworking talents into his company Brass Deck Construction, specializing in custom decks and shingling homes around Grand Forks.

            In 1965 Dick was drafted into the Army. He trained at Fort Dix, NJ, where he would proudly note, he once ran a four-minute mile in boots. In 1966 he was stationed at an airfield in Karlsruhe, Germany where his love of aviation grew. He received his honorable discharge from the Army in 1967 and returned to Grand Forks, ND.

            He met his first wife Patricia (Hollarn) at the Grand Forks train depot while working for the Great Northern Railway. They were married in 1969 and would have four children together: Jean-Marie (Klingl) of Elk River MN, Scott of Napa, CA, Ryan of Napa, CA and Jonathan of Grand Forks, ND.

            Dick did his best to leave his mark on the world. He was a member of the Lions Club for a time. He was a proud hockey dad and supporter of local sports. He had many passions and talents. He loved the outdoors, travel, piloting aircraft, and making people laugh. He was an artist and a craftsman. If there was a job he didn’t know how to do, he went about learning how to get it done. He instilled these traits in his children, taking them on many hunting, fishing, and camping trips or getting them to help with his construction projects. He was also an animal lover. He would chat with the crows in front of his house and loved all dogs. Dick especially cherished his dog Tucker and was heartbroken when he passed. Surely, they are sitting together in a warm patch of sunlight now.

            Dick is survived by his dear friend and ex-wife Patricia, daughter Jean-Marie (Klingl), sons Scott, Ryan and Jon, an  ex-wife Karen (Malmanger), five grandchildren, six great grandchildren, his sisters Jeani (Pierson), Laurie, his brothers Ron and Jerry, along with many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his brother Patrick, sister Peggy (Dodds), and his parents Robert and Stella (Clark).

            Wherever he went, he was quick with a joke and held little back.  With a twinkle in his eye, he may have told you how a Polack pulls up his socks, how people look like their names, or about the time Ole and Sven re-shingled the barn. Regardless which joke he told, he was most himself when making others laugh. If Dick was a part of your life, it is guaranteed he made you laugh at one point or another. That is the man he would want you to remember, the one with the twinkle in his eye and a slight smirk.

Memorial Service will be held Saturday, May 7, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at Amundson Funeral Home.
Visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the start of the service.