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A lifelong lover of airplanes, Big Band music and reading died at age 97 last week in St. Paul. 

Paul Richard was born in California, made a life in Evanston, Ill., and spent the last chapter of his life in St. Paul, where his daughter Diane Richard lives with her husband Todd Melby, who works at MPR News. Richard spoke with Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer about his life and legacy for “Parting Thoughts.” 

“He took me twice to the Oshkosh air show. And I have never seen anyone happier to be there,” Diane Richard recalled. “My dad was sort of game for anything.” 

She took him to Matt’s Bar in Minneapolis for a Jucy Lucy on his 95th birthday. “Before you know it, the bar was toasting him, and people were handing him mugs, and everyone loved being around him,” she said. 

Paul Richard joined the Navy as a sailor in his late teens during World War II. He worked on aircraft, which grew into a passion. After retiring, he put in a weekly shift at Chicago O’Hare International Aiport as a traveler’s aide for Delta Airlines. 

“One day I flew in because I wanted to see him in action,” Diane Richard said. Her 90-something dad surprised her. “This guy was directing traffic. He had had, like, 175 visitors already.” 

She said her dad had a great sense of humor and was healthy and active until just before he died, passing peacefully at the age of 97. 

“Taking your old parents to the finish line is the hardest work, but [I’m] so grateful to have this time together, because I know them now better than I ever would have before,” Diane Richard said. 

Cathy Wurzer

Host

Gracie  Stockton

Author

Paul Richard was born in California, made a life in Evanston, Ill., and died on Jan. 14 in St. Paul, where his daughter Diane Richard lives. She spoke with Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer about his life and legacy for “Parting Thoughts.” 

Parting Thoughts: Remembering Paul Richard, who loved planes and died at 97 in St. Paul

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