Richard Edward Young
Published 3:51 pm Friday, March 25, 2016
Richard Edward Young was born September 18, 1919 in Port Arthur, Texas to Ruby Marie Davis Young of North Baltimore, Ohio and Richard Young of Sulphur, Louisiana, into a family which lost a son at the Alamo. He had three sisters, Guyneth (Owen) Summerlin, Naomi (John) Kocurek and Wynona (Eugene) Devillier, all of whom predeceased him. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of more than 70 years, Mary; their two children, Jenene (Ernest) Sowell of Nevada City, California and Scott (Sandy) Young of Reno, Nevada; grandchildren Justin (Melinda) Young of Pleasant Grove, Utah, Austin (Jentry) Young of Boise, Idaho and Marcy (Jason) Labrum of Logan, Utah; great granddaughters McKinley, Addison, Paiton, Lorin, Emerson and Greta; great grandsons Landon and Luke; two great grandchildren, Jacob and Hailey, preceded him in death. He also leaves numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews and other extended family in Texas and Louisiana, including his brother-in-law Eugene Devillier.
Dick grew up hunting and fishing in the bayous of Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. When WW II began in Europe and before the United States entered the war, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, assigned to the 10th Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was sent initially to Iceland as part of the American military presence designed to deter an anticipated Nazi invasion. After Pearl Harbor, he deployed to New Zealand and then spent three years in combat across the South Pacific, participating in the historic battles on Guadalcanal, Tarawa (known as “The Bloodiest Day in Marine Corps History” due to the heavy casualties), Saipan and Tinian. As a Master Gunnery Sergeant, he later commanded the Marine detachment at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, California, where he met his wife, Mary, a Navy WAVE.
Dick received an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and embarked on a long career in business and manufacturing, owning and partnering in several businesses in the San Francisco Bay area and Reno, Nevada. He held several patents for safety valves. He served as a trustee of the California Metal Trades Association and was a Board member of the Nevada Policy Research Institute founded by his dear friend, Judy Cresanta.
He was active for years in the congregations he attended, Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship and financially supported many missionary efforts and various charities, especially those serving children, as well as personally ministering to prison inmates.
Dick, a long time member of the Richmond Yacht Club, loved to sail his boat on San Francisco Bay and take trips with his family. He was loving, kind, compassionate and selfless, always putting the needs of others before his own and completely dedicated to his family. He joined his departed family and comrades in Heaven on Sunday, March 6, 2016, at the home of his daughter and was buried in the Utah Veterans Cemetery at Bluffdale, Utah. Words from the epitaph of one of his fellow Marines on Guadalcanal are a fitting memorial for him as well: “And when he gets to Heaven, St. Peter he will tell, another Marine reporting, Sir. I’ve served my time in Hell.”
Semper Fi, Dad