On May 26, 1925 Richard Wayne Wright was born the only child, to Glen Elvin and Nola Mabel Kennedy Wright. He grew up on the family farm northeast of Broken Bow and attended Rose Valley School through the 8th grade. Following, he attended Broken Bow High School and graduated with the class of 1943. He spent his life farming with his father until his father’s death in 1984.
Three years after graduating, he started dating a young lady from Ord, and finally purposed to her in front of the officer’s headquarters at Fort Hartsuff! They married in January of 1947. Their first home was a mile south of where Richard grew up and they lived there for 38 years before retiring and moving into town. They worked hard, saved all they could, and in 1964 built a new home on that site. Their first “in home running water”! They often stated up until that point, they had “5 rooms and a path”! After moving he had to stay active and spent many hours helping friends and neighbors. He just had to keep one of the tractors and was often cleaning snow off drives for many neighbors during the winter months. In the summer he kept his yard in great shape, planting and caring for a garden, and fruit trees, of which they gladly shared.
His first love was farming/ranching, were his registered polled Hereford Cattle! He was so proud of the bloodline they produced. He and his father raised enough crops to feed their livestock, and did a lot of custom work for others. Lois could be heard to say jokingly, that “Richard always “went steady” with Alice” as his only line of machinery was Alice Chalmers. He prided himself in keeping several tractors in top shape, and at retirement they were still using ones they had for several years.
They were saddened that they could not have any children, so after the death of her family, they eventually adopted Donna, and she made her home with them until she graduated from high school. Nieces and nephews were always welcome and made many memories spending time with them on the farm or during one of their “excursions”. All of them were very important to Richard and Lois.
Together they were always active in the local Grange, holding offices on both the local and state Grange levels. Richard was an Odd Fellow and held the secretarial position even after all other members had passed away. He was the last living member of the local chapter. They also loved their involvement in Custer Couples, as they loved socializing and visiting new and interesting places. It was not unusual for them to learn of a need of someone and show up to “help”. And if they could not physically “help”, their prayer list was long.
They won the AKSARBEN award for their many hours of “mapping” the Broken Bow Cemetery. This allowed family and friends to locate the grave of their loved ones easier. Their motto in life was to be a blessing to those around them and they proved it by their actions. They also spent hours at the local historical museum helping where needed. Richard loved to work with wood and spent many hours making “gifts” or just trying to make something for his own enjoyment. During retirement they enjoyed traveling on several bus tours, to Branson, Washington D.C., Alaska and other places.
In 2010 he lost his beloved wife of 63 years. Even in his last months, he could not understand why she hadn’t come to take him home. He missed her so much! In August 2015 Richard felt he could no longer live alone and decided to move into Off Broadway. He loved the social life there, and related all his fun times to Donna each night when she called. At this time he was beginning to lose his hearing, so he really enjoyed the “diary letters” that Donna sent him each week. Those letters were important to him even after he began to lose his sight to Macular Degeneration. He would ask the nurses to read them to him. The following February he had an auction and sold his part of the condominium where they had lived as he’d found a new “home.” By October of 2021 it was obvious he needed more care, so he then moved to Brookestone where he resided at his death. Although it took some adjustment on his part because he was a very private person and it was difficult for him to accept “help”, he soon loved the caregivers he had there, and once again related to Donna all the social activities, and how much he loved the meals! On May 26th, he celebrated his 97th birthday. Brookestone made it a special day for him.
He is survived by daughter, Donna, grandsons Michael Codr and Brent Kamp, granddaughter Kelly Novak, 9 great grandchildren, and 17 great great grandchildren, niece Kay (Gus) Foth, nephews John (Ruth) Ryschon and Bill (Sharon) Ryschon, a nephew in law Gordon Foth, many cousins, and a host of friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents, all sisters and brothers in law, all aunts and uncles, a niece and several cousins. Richard died at Brookestone View in Broken Bow December 8, 2022
Interment will be at the Broken Bow Cemetery. To honor Richard – do some kind of an act of kindness for someone. Funeral services for Richard will be December 19, 2022 at the Methodist Church in Broken Bow at 1 pm. Visitation will be Sunday, December 18, 2022 from 6-8 pm at the church. Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated at a later date. Iverson Memorial Chapel of Broken Bow is helping the family with the arrangements.
