Richard Charles Whipple was born August 8, 1929 in Ritzville, Washington to Daniel Winifred Whipple and Alma Elizabeth (Ring) Whipple.  He had three older siblings, Yvonne (Whipple) Dean, Howard Whipple and Lloyd Whipple.  Richard passed away at his home in Sprague on February 16, 2017.Dick spent his early childhood in Lind and moved to Sprague when he was 10 years old. 

He spent his first few summers exploring the channel scablands south of town and this area eventually became the source of many duck hunting memories with the family.  He spent a lifetime hiking, exploring, building duck blinds and hunting in this area of the Harder Ranch which he always called “The Rocks”.

Dick graduated from Sprague High School in May 1947 on a Friday night and found himself working for the Old National Bank the next Monday.  He worked his way up to being the manager of the Sprague Branch in 1969.  He was the youngest person to ever be a Manager in the bank’s history.  He worked in banking for 44 years.  He met his soul-mate while working at the ONB and on September 29, 1950 he married Netta Mae Reed.  They were married on a Friday night, had their honeymoon in Spokane through the weekend and then they were back to work on Monday morning.

Dick lived a very active life of service for the city of Sprague.  He was a member of Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church for 78 years.  He was the manager/sexton of Maccabee cemetery from 1964-2011.   He served as a councilman for the City of Sprague and became Mayor of Sprague in 1994.  Dick belonged to the Lion’s Club, the Chamber of Commerce and was president of the Sprague\Lamont\Edwall Historic Society.  Dick had a wealth of knowledge about the history of Sprague and always had a story to tell.

Dick loved to bird hunt, always grew a huge garden and raised many different kinds of animals such as cows, chickens and turkeys.  He loved to dance with Netta to the music of Glen Miller and the big bands. He looked forward to vacationing on the Oregon coast every summer with his family.  He made this traditional journey to the ocean for 65 years.  God and family were the most important aspects of his life.

Dick lost his wife Netta just 4 months ago and he was very unhappy that he had to be separated from her. After 67 years of marriage, this seemed like an eternity to him.

Richard Whipple is survived by his children, Mike and Karen of Spokane; Mark and Penny of Puyallup; John and Nancy of Puyallup; Pat of Sprague; Joe and Janet of Sprague; Sandy and Jim Pelissier of Sprague; Kevin and Sheila of Spokane; 18 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Sprague at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 25, followed by interment at Maccabee Cemetery.  Friends and Family are welcome to gather for a luncheon at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sprague following the service. 

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