Richard Schumacher

Richard Rugh (“Dick") Schumacher died of advanced age Sunday, November 24, 2013, at Sunshine Gardens Country Home in La Plata County, Colo. He was 87. Dick was born January 9, 1926 in Denver, Colo. His father and mother were Dr. Howe Lyman Schumacher and Laura Winifred Rugh Schumacher. The Rugh family were early residents in the Cache la Poudre canyon, operating a dude ranch and a stagecoach stop name Idylwilde. Dick spent a good part of his formative years in the Poudre Canyon. Dick’s first airplane ride was October 10, 1928, in a four passenger plane flown by his first cousin, Omer C. Drury, a pilot who years later perished in a plane crash. Dick’s first flight ignited a life-long interest in flying. As a youth, he made model airplanes from scratch and flew them in competitions. In 1962, Dick successfully landed and departed an airplane from Indian Meadow in Poudre Canyon, a feat which even today seems surprising. Dick attended grammar school in Chandler, OK, where his father attended school. The family returned to Greeley, and Dick enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on December 1, 1943. He graduated from Greeley High School the following spring and entered active duty on June 3, 1944. He served in the Air Transport Command, Squadron B of the 3505th Army Air Force Base Unit, certified as a ground and in-flight mechanic. He was honorably discharged from the Army on November 23, 1945, and subsequently served in the Merchant Marines. He married Marjorie Wilson of Yorkshire, England on March 19, 1949 in Baggs, WY. The marriage ended in divorce in 1961; neither remarried. Throughout the 1950’s, Dick worked winters for Great Western Sugar Co. in Greeley as a chemist, while spending summers flying crop-dusting planes for two companies, DEMAC and Agri-Chem Aviation. He also served as a flight instructor for Modern Air Service, Inc. and as a pilot for the Colorado Civil Air Patrol. Several of his crop-dusting friends were killed in airplane crashes. Dick then mostly gave up flying, being responsible for the care of two young daughters. In 1963, Dick went to work for the Colorado Game and Fish department, hauling fish from the hatchery in Poudre Canyon to locations all over the state. Subsequently, he transferred to Colorado State Parks, where he eventually became a Park Manager. He was responsible for parks at Navajo Lake (where he built an airfield and an ancestral Pueblo museum), Steamboat Lake, Pueblo West and Lathrop. In 1986, Dick retired from State service and moved to Arboles, where he spent sixteen years. He then moved to a home outside Ignacio, and finally to the Sunshine Gardens Country Home. He was a 4-H project leader in Forestry and Gun Safety for the Poudre Canyon Rough-Riders and the Allison Go-Getters 4-H clubs. He was member of the No-Name Club in Ignacio and the American Legion. He served as President of the Arboles Water Board at the time when the water system was constructed. He was baptized in the Methodist Church of Greeley and was member of the Poudre Canyon Chapel. Dick loved being outdoors, landscaping, building rock walls, and reading about ancient Egyptian history and the archaeology of the Southwest. He enjoyed metal detecting, four-wheeling, fishing, and camping with his family. Star Gate SG-1 was his favorite television program. He liked the music of Lawrence Welk, Mantovani, and Glen Miller. “He was a generous, kind, and gentle man,” according to his family, “always friendly with everyone.” The family wishes to express its appreciation to all his care-givers at the Sunshine Gardens Country Home. Dick was preceded in death by his former wife Majorie in 1969. He is survived by daughters, Janice Ellen Herrera and Wendy Ann Young, both of La Plata County, Colo., son Roy Alex Schumacher of Littleton, Colo., sister Janet Ruth Bond of Fort Collins, Colo., eight grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, a niece and nephew, and numerous cousins. A private family burial will be held at the Allison-Tiffany cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the La Plata County 4-H Council (2500 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301) or the Hospice of Mercy (1 Mercado, Suite 270, Durango, CO 81301).