Richard Lee Staley Obituary

Richard (Dick) Lee Staley, beloved husband, father, and friend, left this life at the age of ninety-five on the morning of November 24, 2022, surrounded by his children and their love.Dick was born in the middle of a flooding rainstorm in Parkersburg, West Virginia, on the night of January 15, 1927, to Julian Lee Staley and Jaye Satterfield Staley. The family relocated to San Gabriel, CA from the small town of Boothsville, West Virginia, when he was sixteen.After graduating high school Dick enlisted in the Navy as an aviation radioman. This had a twofold lifelong impact on him: it opened his eyes to the glory of flight and to his fascination with radio. He went on to get his private pilot’s license and an amateur radio license. Both brought him great enjoyment and contact with new friends.During his attendance at UC Davis to study Animal Husbandry, Dick met the love of his life, Dee. They married in 1950 and in 1952 and purchased a home with acreage in Elsinore. Family was always at the center of Dick’s world and he worked hard as a service planner for the Southern California Edison Company to support his as it grew. Dick and Dee were dauntless in their sense of adventure, taking their five children into wild places that were never meant for a station wagon towing a travel trailer.Family extended to include the Presbyterian Church’s congregation and his Masonic brothers. Anything that he set his mind and hand to, he did well. He was intelligent, had a great sense of humor, was a loving husband and father, and a steadfast friend. He had strong leadership abilities and a sense of community service. Both of those traits were honored in his service to the Elsinore Masonic Lodge #289 as a three-term Worshipful Master and in his service to the Elsinore Valley Cemetery District as a member of the Board of Trustees.Dick was preceded in death by Dee Staley, his wife of sixty-three years and daughter-in-law Brenda Staley. He is survived by son David (Linda) Staley, daughter Jan (Les) Staley, son Matthew Staley, daughter Carol Staley, daughter Gail (Jay) Staley, ten surviving grandchildren, and nineteen surviving great grandchildren.Interment of Dick’s ashes will be held at the Elsinore Valley Cemetery on April 12, 2024, at 10:00 in the morning.