Richard Weekley

Richard D. “Dick” Weekley

May 24, 1930 - March 29, 2020



Richard David "Dick" Weekley died peacefully at home in Boulder, Colorado, surrounded by his family. He was just months shy of his 90th birthday. He highly valued his faith, family, and photography. Throughout his life, he strove to live consistently with his faith, which included active memberships in Boulder’s Calvary Bible Church and, later, First Presbyterian Church. Dick had a real love for life, a wry wit, and an appreciation for the natural beauty of the world.



He made friends easily, and was genuinely interested in others and their lives. Dick could strike up a conversation with anyone. His hilarious and playful sense of humor, coupled with his innate curiosity, fueled his unerring ability to ask thoughtful and probing questions. He enjoyed offering fake one million dollar bills as payment to waitresses and cashiers. (How better to start a conversation!) In fact, throughout the 1990’s, Dick took graduate courses in linguistics at the University of Colorado, where he befriended many international students. These friendships sparked Dick’s interest in Chinese culture, and his decision to spend time in China. During his travels, he taught English in Guangzhou for a short period. His regard for others, though, was not limited to people and culture. He had an uncanny ability to earn the trust of the most anxious dog, and was particularly delighted by the chickens he and his wife, Ellen, kept.



Dick was born to Russell and Olive Weekley in the panhandle-town of Borger, Texas, just north of Amarillo. His father, a Navy veteran of WW I, designed and built carbon-black plants, and his mother was a teacher-turned-homemaker. After Dick graduated from Borger High School in 1947, he set off to Texas Tech to study engineering.



His education, though, was interrupted by the Korean War. He was enlisted from 1951 to 1953. After completing basic training at Fort Meade in Maryland, Dick received additional medical laboratory training at Brook Army Hospital in Texas. He served in the US Army, medical corps, 141st General Hospital in Japan and, later, Korea as a medical laboratory technician.



After the war ended, Dick returned to school and civilian life. He was awarded his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Texas Tech in 1954, after which he began working for the Texas Highway Department. While employed at the Highway Department, Dick married Ellen White on June 12, 1959 at the Amarillo Bible Church.



That fall, he and Ellen moved to Boulder. They both loved the mountains, and Ellen had the opportunity to finish her degree in education there. Dick became enchanted by the Rockies during his childhood summer visits to Creede, Colorado with his mother and father. As a child in Creede, he acquired his lifelong passion for fly-fishing. Dick’s zeal for nature remained a constant throughout his life. Throughout adulthood, Dick greatly enjoyed the view of the Front Range from his country home on Valmont Road where he and Ellen settled and raised their family.



When Dick first arrived in Boulder, he worked for the Colorado Highway Department. Later, he was employed by the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) in the Cryogenics Department, where he worked through the early 70's. His long-standing interest in graphical arts inspired him to start and run his own successful printing business through the late 80's. After that, Dick worked at Ball Aerospace in the publications department doing computer graphics on the earliest Macintosh computers; he worked there until he retired. After retirement, he worked at McGuckin Hardware as a salesperson in the Fasteners Department for almost ten years while he pursued his passion for photography.



Dick had a very keen eye for detail and composition, and took his camera with him wherever he traveled. His children and grandchildren often found themselves bemused at his ability to spot photo-worthy subjects from the window of a speeding car. Dick’s photo exhibits around Boulder County allowed others to glean Dick’s unique ability to capture the beauty, mystery, and grandeur of nature, as well as the absurdities of daily life.



In later years Dick and Ellen faithfully attended a writing group headed by Dr. Ed Low, and fondly known as the Low Writers. He put his writing skills to good use in photo descriptions, stories from his life, and the book entitled Cooking Up the Past that he and Ellen wrote for their family. Dick was still attending the writing group a month before his death.

He is survived by his wife Ellen of almost 61 years, sons Randall (Diana), Andrew (Beth), and Ryan Weekley, and daughter Julia Lynam (Ron); grandchildren Siobhan and Ciaran Gleason, Christina, Lily, Owen, Eve, and Archie Weekley; brothers-in-law Paul and Alden White; sister-in-law Francis Clark (Keith); and cousins on both parents' sides.

A memorial service and celebration of Dick's life will be held Saturday, October 16th, 2021 at 10:30 am at Grace Commons Church (formerly First Presbyterian Church). Contributions may be made to Grace Commons Church or Compassion International.