Arizona Obituary Archive

Search      Post Obituary


Richard Malcolm Elitharp

Posted 2008-06-09 by Sharon
Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Az
October 19, 2005

Richard (Dick) Malcolm Elitharp, 81, passed away Sept. 15, 2005 at Banner Hospice House in Mesa five days after being diagnosed with cancer.

He was born Feb. 17, 1924 in Watertown, N.Y., to Howard and Doris Elitharp, the eldest of three boys.

He attended St. Lawrence College graduating with a bachelor's of science in math and then received his master's in education from Rutgers.

He enlisted in the army, fought in World War II and continued to serve in the reserves and the National Guard for 21 years.

He was married in 1944 to Bertha Irene Hall and they had three children, Thomas, Joanne, and Nancy. They lived in Syracuse, N.Y., where he worked for General Electric; then in Clinton, Iowa, and Chandler, Ariz., where he helped run a Job Corps, and then Coolidge, Phoenix and finally Wickenburg as a bank manager.

He retired in 1986 and went from part time to fulltime volunteering.

He has been a member and held many offices in the BPOE (Elks), including state district deputy and running the local and district hoop shoots, driven a Red Cross van, served as President of the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce, elder in the Presbyterian Church, run several United Way campaigns and helped with Boy Scouts.

After his wife's stroke they moved from Wickenburg to Peoria, and after her death in 1998 and his own health problems, he moved to Mesa. He continued to be as active as his health would allow. He recently attended a Walk to Emmaus weekend retreat, participated in a men's bible study, was the president of his assisted living resident council, and led a Sunday afternoon church service at a nearby assisted living facility.

He will be greatly missed by his three children, four grandchildren and their spouses, three great-grandchildren and many friends.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. at The First Presbyterian Church, 180 N. Adams St. in Wickenburg.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to American Red Cross Reserve-a-Ride (Wickenburg), 6135 N. Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85015-1892 or Arizona Walk to Emmaus, 6826 N. 55th Drive, Glendale, AZ 85301

"Nothing that is loved is ever lost...No one who has touched a life, who has brought beauty to the world, is ever truly gone."



See Also: Find A Grave




Note: These obituaries are transcribed as published and are submitted by volunteers who have no connection to the families. They do not write the obituaries and have no further information other than what is posted within the obituaries. We do not do personal research. For this you would have to find a volunteer who does this or hire a professional researcher.

Questions About This Project?