Richard Joseph (Dick) Louden | Passages

Richard J. Louden of Friday Harbor, Wash., went to the Lord on Nov. 7, 2009. He was 84.

He passed at the Island Convalescent Center in Friday Harbor with his wife Gloria, son Jeffrey and his wife Claudia, and niece Diane Buganski at his side. Diane and her sister, Donna Burton, were regular bedside visitors who provided limitless care and support to the family.

Richard was born April 21, 1925 in Gary, Ind., to John and Ruth Gannon. His surname was changed to Louden when his mother remarried. He is preceded in death by his mother Ruth and two brothers, Johnny and Bill Louden.

Richard Louden was a veteran of World War II, having served PT picket duty in the Philippines for the Army Air Corps. Following the war, he settled in the Seattle area. There, he married Dolores Van Meter of Kodiak, Alaska, and they had three sons, Jeffrey, Kurt and Thimsen (Tim). He was employed as a meat market manager for Safeway Stores in Seattle. A yachting visit to the islands in 1959 resulted in the family moving to a small summer house in Yacht Haven, on Garrison Bay, where Richard raised his three sons as a single parent.

It was during this time he married Gloria Murray of Friday Harbor and, along with her two children, Cheryl and Robert, the family moved to their current location on Argyle Avenue. Richard managed the meat department at King’s Market in Friday Harbor until a heart attack forced his retirement.

He and Gloria were avid boaters and cruised all of the islands in their boat. He was a past commodore of the Friday Harbor Yacht Club and had an unquestionable love of the San Juan Islands and its people.

Dick loved to dabble in his woodshop and made some very beautiful furniture from local drift-wood and burls. Besides his countless friends on the island, Richard leaves his wife, Gloria; stepdaughter, Cheryl Murray of Seattle; stepson, Robert Murray (Candis) of Burlington, Wash.; sons, Jeffrey (Claudia) Louden of Alger, Wash., and Kurt Louden and Tim Louden of Seattle.

Other survivors include granddaughter Laurie (Chris) Newman of Millcreek, Wash., great-granddaughters Cassidy and Isabel Newman, and step-granddaughter Kristi (Alan) Close of Clear Lake, Wash.

The family requests any donations be made to San Juan Island EMS, whose efforts added years to the life of Richard Joseph Louden.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m., Nov. 21, 2009 at St. Francis Catholic Church in Friday Harbor. Arrangements are in the care of Evans Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Inc. To share memories of Dick, sign the online guest register at www.evanschapel.com.

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