Dick (Richard Edwin) Vesque was born March 26, 1921 to Leon E. and Margaret Haller Vesque in St. Louis, Missouri. The family relocated in l926 to Los Angeles where Dick grew up and spent over 50 of his 91 years.

After serving in the U.S. Navy during WWll, Dick married Betty Forester in 1946, and the couple raised four children. They were married 51 years when Betty died in 1997. Dick’s passions were music, baseball and people. In his youth, he played trumpet with popular dance bands. He was fortunate to play with some of the best. When he got married and the children were born, he became an engineer and worked for many years for Garrett AiResearch, directing their Applied Research Department. His desire to help people inspired him to pursue a degree in Psychology from UCLA in 1977. Upon his retirement from Garrett in 1978, he began his career as a marriage and family therapist and moved to Whidbey Island in 1979.

Dick is remembered on Whidbey Island as a much loved family counselor, and a community benefactor. He helped found Helping Hand in Langley, and service to others remained the driving force in his life that made him so caring about others. He was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland.

It was at Trinity that he met Gunda Hogrefe and was again blessed with a loving relationship; the two were married in 1999. After devastating strokes in 2010, Dick’s activities became very limited, but the loving relationship held strong. He died at home in the early hours of June 26th, 2012, holding the hand of his beloved Gunda.

Besides his wife Gunda, Dick leaves two sons, Gary Vesque (Michele) of Los Alamos NM; Robert Vesque (Madelyn) of San Clemente CA; his sister Juliette Hoffinan-Vesque of Altadena CA; his son-in-law Bill Royds of Kent WA; 5 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. In death, he joins his daughter Nancy Royds; his son Richard, brother Robert and sister Jacquelyn.

Memorial service and inurement will be held July 14th, 2012, at llam at Trinity Lutheran Church.