Beryl D. Richard

On October 10, 1929, Frank and Marguerite (Jorges) Richard welcomed their first child, Beryl Dean Richard, in Aredale, Butler County, Iowa. He lived his entire childhood in Aredale, playing baseball and swimming in the gravel pit. Beryl attended school for 11 years in Aredale. The high school closed in 1946, therefore, he and his three classmates had to go to the big school of Dumont. This turned out OK as Beryl was the pitcher and his brother, Daryl, was the catcher on the baseball team. His love of baseball continued for many years. In fact, he tried out for and was offered a contract to play for the St. Louis Browns. Unfortunately it wouldn't pay enough to support his family. In May of 1947, Beryl married Linda Stock. Together they had five daughters; Vickie, Melanie, Marsha, Roxanne and Kristi. Their marriage ended in divorce. Beryl worked for Franklin County Roads for two years, then in road construction. He got into farming, owned a fertilizer company when anhydrous ammonia was a new product, had a corn sheller when farmers still picked corn on the ear and then started raising hogs. Beryl took on the responsibility of mayor of Aredale for about 14 years. He was on the Aredale State Bank Board and the Harlan Cemetery Board. In 1975, Beryl married Nancy Osier Tindall. They lived for three years in the home he grew up in and then moved four miles west of Aredale, where they lived for over 40 years. He asked Nancy to give up her 9-5 job to be a farm wife. Together they farmed, raised pigs and took pride in their yard. During the summer, they found as much time as possible to go fishing, taking a couple trips to Canada. They would also take neighbor kids, church kids, and numerous family members to the Shell Rock River in Greene, making many memories on those trips. Several times he had to hold the little fisherman so a big fish wouldn't pull him or her overboard. Every July for eight years, Beryl and Nancy took the grandchildren on a three-night, four-day camping trip to Clear Lake and also to Minnesota. When his brother, Delmar, passed away in 1972, his two nieces Deb and Cindy, became part of Beryl's family. During those years, a lot of time was spent going to ball games and bowling. Upon retirement, Beryl and Nancy traveled in their fifth wheel camper, where they nearly visited every state. After getting out of the hog business, they spent 2 or 3 months in Hot Springs, Arkansas, going to the Oaklawn Race Track. Then they spent winters in Florida, managing a small campground where many friends were made. One summer, Beryl and Nancy spent 57 days in a pickup camper in Alaska. They experienced it all, from deep sea fishing and gold panning to seeing wild life up close. Pulling a big camper became too big of a challenge, so they started staying home during the winter. Beryl was diagnosed in 2015 with Parkinson's and Dementia. In December of 2017, he was admitted to the Franklin Country View Nursing Facility in Hampton. Shortly after, Nancy sold their acreage and moved to Hampton to be closer to Beryl. After battling these diseases, Beryl passed away on June 22, 2019. He is survived by his loving wife of 43 years Nancy Richard of Hampton; daughters Vickie (Dick) Heft of Cedar Rapids, Melanie Richard of Cedar Rapids, Marsha Jackson of Geneseo, Illinois, Roxanne (Marv) Ragsdale of Ankeny and Kristi (Dawn Anderson) Richard of Golden Valley, Minnesota; special nieces Deb Richard of Hampton and Cindy Hill of Phoenix, Arizona; first wife and mother of his children, Linda Richard of Cedar Rapids; grandchildren Darren Jackson, Megan (Tony) Lippert, Carrie (Rich) Kujoth, Hillary (Brent) Baustian, Patrick (Teisha) Heft, Jeremy Ragsdale, Marisa (Jeremy Banks) Ragsdale, Ashley Loper, Brady Loper and Collin Hill; great-grandchildren Austin, Abbigail and Alicia Heft, Zoey, Mackenzie and Natalie Baustian, Kylie and Maci Ragsdale, Connor and Crosby Banks, Ellie Kujoth, Payton Bartlett, Lexi Rubino and Jase Loper, sisters-in-law Jeanette (Roger) Ruegnitz, Donna Osier and Linda Osier; along with numerous nieces and nephews and their families. He was preceded in death by his parents, Frank & Marguerite, brothers Daryl and Delmar, sister Janice Bushbaum, brother-in-law Marv Bushbaum, sister-in-law Bonnie Dohlman, brothers-in-law Tom Osier and Martin Osier, son-in-law Dean Jackson, two nephews Dallas Bushbaum and Alex Ruegnitz. Visitation will be held from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Friday, June 28, 2019, at the Sietsema Vogel Funeral Home in Hampton. A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 29, 2019, at the New Hope Parish of the United Methodist Church in Aredale. Burial will take place in the Harlan Cemetery in rural Dumont. In honor of Beryl, the family invites you to wear red attire (which was his favorite color) at his Celebration of Life Service on Saturday. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer's Association of Iowa or to MercyOne North Iowa Hospice in memory of Beryl.

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Beryl D. Richard

October 10, 1929 - June 22, 2019