Richard A. Weinbender
Richard A. Weinbender, 78, a resident of the Helvetia community passed away on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00 PM on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at the Tualatin Plains Presbyterian Church (Old Scotch Church), 30685 NW Scotch Church Road in Hillsboro. A reception will follow in the church fellowship hall.
Private burial will be in Tualatin Plains Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Dick was born on March 9, 1936 in McMinnville, Oregon to Alex and Esther (Groskopf) Weinbender. He was the eldest of four children. In 1947, the family moved to a dairy farm near Battle Ground, Washington where he worked on the dairy and attended Battle Ground schools. He graduated from Battle Ground High School in 1954 and shortly thereafter enlisted in the Marine Corp. He was stationed in Korea, Japan, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Parris Island, South Carolina. He was honorably discharged in September 1957 having achieved the rank of Sergeant.
Dick met his future wife Karen at the home of his cousin Dorothy while he was on leave after spending 18 months in Korea and Japan.They dated until his leave was up then wrote lots and lots of letters. He was able to get a ten day leave during the Christmas holidaysand came home mainly to see Karen. That's when they shocked their parents and decided to get married. He was able to get an extension on his leave and they were married January 6, 1957 in Vancouver, Washington. Two days later he left for Camp Lejeune, and they didn't see each other again until his discharge in September of 1957.
Dick went to work for Crown Zellerbach and was there for almost two years before he started his apprenticeship to become an electrician. He worked forAce Electric for 21 years and then 16 years for Sunset Electric,now known as Oregon Electric. He retired from Oregon Electric in 1996 as an estimator and project manager.
Among his many interests were boating and water skiing, hunting and fishing, but his great love was raising a huge garden every year and landscaping his almost one acre yard. He also loved to travel. He and Karen crossed the United States twice and traveled to Alaska twice with their fifth wheel trailer. They traveled to New Zealand and Australia in 1995. In 2000, they took an Eastern Mediterranean cruise with friends. 2003 took them to England and Ireland and their last big trip was to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in 2006.
Dick was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers; Larry and Bob Weinbender.
He is survived by his wife Karen, two sons; Scott (Sue) Weinbender of Forest Grove and Mark (Dawn) Weinbender of Hillsboro, four grandchildren; Kelli Kruse and her husband Tyler,of Kennewick, Washington, Eric Weinbender of Forest Grove and Nicole and Erin Weinbender of Hillsboro. He is also survived by his sister Betty Simons as well as several nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the American Heart Association or the Diabetes Association.
