Paul Richard "Dick" McElheney
Dick was born at home on the family farm on August 28, 1937 in Brownstown, Illinois to Helen and Les McElheney.
He attended a one room schoolhouse, Camp Creek, where enrollment varied from 6-8 children, most of whom were his cousins. Little Dickie, as he was called, rode his pony Cricket to school every day and spent his recess making sure Cricket had food and water.
After his parents sold the farm to his Uncle Raymond, the family moved to Vandalia, where Dick completed middle school and then moved to Sparta for high school. In Sparta, Dick quickly became the coolest kid in town because his parents opened a Dairy Queen. Dick was a natural athlete and his warm, genuine personality made him popular in high school, while juggling basketball, football, baseball, work after school and homework, in that order. The Sparta Bulldogs Class of '55 produced many outstanding individuals and couples. This class has remained a close knit group, although they are spread out across the world. Dick and Martha (Whittington) starting dating their senior year in high school and married in 1958, true high school sweethearts. Jeff was born in Cincinnati and Jill was born later in Concord, California.
Dick attended business school in Minneapolis and earned his Associate's Degree, beginning his career in the transportation industry. Before he graduated, Dick sent an application to the GM & O Railroad. He had not heard back from the railroad, so he asked his parents to drive 19 hours out of their way to stop at the headquarters in Mobile, Alabama. He spoke with a secretary and asked why he hadn't heard back. He was ushered into an executive's office, they reviewed his application, and then hired Dick on the spot. And this started his long railroad career.
For his new position, Dick and Martha moved to Cincinnati. He then was quickly recruited by the Western Pacific Railroad and moved to San Francisco. By the time the Western Pacific merged with the Union Pacific he was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing (1982). In 1981, after a happy 23-year marriage, Martha passed away.
A great communicator, Jeff and Jill remember Dad dutifully sitting at a typewriter at the dining room table typing (90 words per minute!) a weekly letter to his parents each Sunday.
Dad lived by many mottos that we all remember, "If you're not early, you're late" "You can't fit a square peg into a round hole". He shared them liberally as we grew up.
A loving older brother, Dick worried and cared for his much younger brother Allan, who passed away in 1989. Dick carried a huge sadness about his brother's death.
Dick and Gale were introduced by a mutual friend -- Clarence was Dick's Regional Sales Manager in Philadelphia area. They began their married life together with Gale's son R.J. in Salt Lake City (1983). They subsequently moved to Naperville, Cincinnati, and the San Francisco Bay Area. After retiring from the railroad, Dick worked with Hub City, a transportation broker, with two of his lifelong friends.
As Dick and Gale anticipated retirement, they planned their next move around their three children's families and their two widowed mothers. After searching the East Coast, they found Mount Dora and moved there in 1998. They had written a mission statement and, in retrospect, later agreed the move to Mount Dora accomplished everything that their mission statement embodied.
Our family gratefully believes that our dear Lord brought Dick to heaven before cancer interceded, and at age 78, Dick very peacefully went to be with his Lord on July 15, 2016.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Dick McElheney Memorial Fund at First Presbyterian Church of Mount Dora.