Person:Richard Hollenbeck (2)

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Richard LeRoy Hollenbeck
m. 9 Feb 1929
  1. Richard LeRoy Hollenbeck1936 - 2007
Facts and Events
Name Richard LeRoy Hollenbeck
Alt Name Dick _____
Gender Male
Birth? 26 Feb 1936 Yakima, Yakima, Washington, United States
Military? 7 Dec 1957 Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United StatesU.S. Navy
Education? Jun 1988 Salem, Marion, Oregon, United StatesAssociate of Science in Electronics Technology and Electronic Engineering
Death? 7 May 2007 Salem, Marion, Oregon, United States
Other? In-laws: Charles Morris and Hattie Neidhardt (1)

Richard “Dick” Le Roy Hollenbeck, 71, of Salem, Marion County, OR, died in his home on Monday, May 7, 2007 from unknown causes.

Dick was born February 26, 1936 in Yakima, Yakima County, WA to his father Richard Francis “Frank”, son of Auda Emmet and Sara Adeline (Jackson) Hollenbeck, and his mother Mildred Mae, daughter of William Albert and Gertrude (Ansell) Lesh. Very early in Dick’s life, the Hollenbecks moved to Trout Lake, Klickitat Co., WA where Dick attended elementary school and most of his high school, and worked on the family farm. As a child he was a dauntless athlete, swimming in the icy Trout Creek and winning awards for skiing.

In 1953, Dick went to live in Bonner’s Ferry, ID with Gordon and Phyllis Dietsch where he studied music and graduated from Bonner’s Ferry High School in 1954. While he was there, he became a very accomplished guitarist, pianist, and trumpeter. A master of jazz, blues, and ragtime, in his early years, much of what he knew about music he learned from "Deetz" (he always called Gordon by his last name), who was a self taught, professional musician. Dick's music has been described as deeply moving yet quite melancholy.

On December 7, 1954, 13 years after the Pearl Harbor attack to the day, Dick's brother-in-law Jack Connor drove Dick to Portland to join the United States Navy. "Every time I went to Portland the summer before I joined," he once remarked, "I would go into the Navy Recruiting Office and have the recruiters tell me more 'Sea Stories,' and I would fill out a few more forms." He served aboard the U.S.S. John A. Bole (DD-755) in the South China Sea as a “fire control” electronics technician. Up until the very end of his life, Dick stayed in contact with some of his old Navy friends by email and by telephone.

Leaving The Navy with an honorable discharge after four years, he married Janice A. Morris from San Leandro, CA and had three children with her. He continued to work in the electronics field for many years at such companies as Ampex, Sony, and International Video Corporation, assisting in the development of prototypes for some of the very first video tape machines at a time when transistors were just coming upon the horizon and printed circuit boards were unknown. Eventually, Dick moved to Oregon and returned to college. In the summer of 1988 he earned an Associate of Science degree in Electronics Technology and Electronic Engineering from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, OR. Outside of school, Dick was a philosopher with a brilliant mind and a cuttingly ironic sense of humor.

Dick is survived by his sister Elaine Connor of St. Paul, OR, by his sister and brother-in-law Lois and Chuck Stevens of Trout Lake, WA, by his brother and sister-in-law William "Bill" and Karen Hollenbeck of Portland, OR, by his son Richard "Rich" Hollenbeck of Moreno Valley, CA, by his son and daughter-in-law John and Karla Hollenbeck of Canyon Lake, CA, by his daughter Margaret "Peggy" Stepe of Riverside, CA, and by his grandchildren: Linda Hollenbeck of Santa Ana, CA, daughter of Rich, Andrew and Gregory Hollenbeck of Canyon Lake, CA, sons of John and Karla, and Mara, Brita, and Aris Stepe of Riverside, CA, the children of Peggy. Also, he leaves behind many friends and cousins he grew up with. Both of Dick’s parents preceded him in death—Frank in 1969, and Mildred in 2006.

A memorial service and interment is being planned for 11:00 am on Sunday, August 19, 2007 at the Klickitat County Cemetery in White Salmon, WA.