Richard (Dick) Gene Mays
Richard (Dick) Gene Mays
Description: June 18, 1947 – May 7, 2007
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 594 times
0 responses 2 comments Richard (Dick) Gene Mays, one of the last true cowboys.
Dick was born on June 18, 1947 in Colby, Kansas. He died on May 7, at his home in Tehachapi. Dick graduated from Atwood Community High School in 1965. He worked summers after high school for Beckley Custom Combining while attending Colby Junior College and Fort Hays State University. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in fall of 1967 and served a four-year term in a C.B. unit. He was stationed in Laos, Adak Island, Ark. and Port Hueneme, Calif. After his term in the Navy, he returned to college to Cal Poly Tech in San Luis Obispo. He earned his B.S. in Animal Science in 1975.
Dick married Margaret De La Fuente on Dec. 9, 1972. After his love of family came his love for ranching, cattle and mountains. He worked as a farm hand at the Sisquoc Ranch while completing college then finished 11 years on the ranch as cattle manager. For 16 years he proudly and carefully husbanded the Loop Ranch in Keene. Dick finished his working life with General Electric as an electrical assembler in the Tehachapi wind turbine industry.
He is survived by his wife Margaret, son Merritt and his wife Karrie, grandsons, Cody and Daly, all of Tehachapi. His parents are Richard and Marita Mays, of Leoti, Kansas. His brothers Roland and his wife Linda, of Ordway, Colorado; Rod and his wife Karen, of Leoti; Jonathan and Stephanie, of Brighton, Colorado; Patrick and Valerie of Chelsea, Okla. His sisters Barbara June McKay and her husband Charles, of Hershey, NB; Doris Ann Langdon and Eugene, of Leoti; Mary Rose Atchley and her husband Dwayne, of Branson, Mo. Also a host of loving aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his grandfather Merritt Judson Heaton, brother Darryl Anson Mays and sister Anita Faye Mays.
He was laid to rest in Atwood, Kansas on Friday, May 11. A viewing and the funeral service were both held at the United Methodist Church on Friday prior to internment.
A cowboy memorial will be held at a later date in Tehachapi. Arrangements were handled by Wood Family Funeral Service, Inc.
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Wed May 16, 2007 18:40:21 PDT
They don't make them like Dick anymore - he was truly one of the last of his kind. I will miss him dearly, but was so glad to hear that he was able to see his family before he went on, and that he was able to pass in the peace and comfort of his home; surrounded by the people he loved.-Melinda (Rice) Robey
Sun Jun 3, 2007 23:41:30 PDT
Dick truly was "one of the last true cowboys". I'm glad I had a chance to get to know him and work with him.
Marty Gardner
