When Dad passed on January 21st, 2015, Imelda  who suffered from dementia had a hard time realizing he was gone.  It took several days for the thought of her Husband of 61 years being gone and with the Lord.  Imelda wept each day and each day she prayed to be with her husband in Heaven.  Food had no taste, water no nourishment!  In the months that past, Imelda quickly declined and after several hospitalizations and care in an memory care facility she went home to be with Dick on June 16th, 2015.  They are together again!

I will miss you both Mom & Dad.....Thanks for the time we shared her on Earth. Farewell for now until we meet again in Heaven!

Love Kraig 

Dick A Unger

"Eternal Father Grant to Save" As I believe was his favorite Navy Hymn

"Tempus Fugit Momento Mori"
"Time Flies, Remember Death"
 
As a young lad, Dick had many hours of torment when his this phrase was constantly in his thoughts.
His asthma attacks were frequent during the summer and his mother held him very closely in her arms many days and nights.

During his teenage years he and his brother Dale learned many of the pop songs as well as religious songs and were asked to travel around the nearby towns to sing.  They were both members of St. John's Luthern Church, "Walther League" south of McCook, Nebraska.

Probably one of their most sought after songs was "The Old Lamplighter".  Their rehearsal place was sitting in the car parked in the garage on a farm just south & east of Ash Creek Church.

The Ash Creek Church housed a grade school in the basement, one teacher fits all grades.

They were taught in their early grades to sing in German as well as English and deliver Christmas stories in German, as the elder folks did not speak english.  "If you worked for one of the parishioners, you were to take your turn reading verses from the Bible before bedtime"

Dick had a sense of Story Telling...."as we, Dick, Dale and Don were traversing the 3 mile walk to and from school, he would endulge in prolific style of how great one or the other was in some sort of dilemna.  You know like Superman...
Dick Tracy was a Big Hero of Comic  then and as we all learned Tracy's watch is now of the giant firms new deals. It only took 70 years to perfect.

In 1950-51, Dick was hired as a surveyor of acreage as allotments of grain seeding was coming into being and summer follow was in order.  He did this with a big tool called a "Walking A" measuring each field for the allottment program.  He walked many miles.

He never attended High School (due to his Asthma), but after his tenure in the Navy he sought and finished his degree in Electrical Engineering in Indiana.  He worked for several organizations in this field.

His love of flying brought him ownership of a Piper Colt I beleive.  I am told that Kraig and He would warm the planes engines up on Sundays although the wings were stored.

While serving in the Navy he wanted to be a recon pilot but was never admitted to that section of the Navy....

He met the Love of his life while serving on the Island of Malta....his last words to me concerning death were, "I have to live long enough to care for her, then I can check out"

Unfortunately, the God Shepard had other plans for him.  Our understanding will always be something never known. 

When Kraig  came along, traveling and being a father disturbed him as he had to be so far away many days while Imelda had to take on all the duties of raising their son.

There are many tales to be told by many folks who lnew Dick.  The Brothers have been separated by thousands of miles and the best link they have had was email and texting....

One story that sticks in my mind or maybe two, firstthe Ash Creek kids from the East side were trappers.  Skunk pelts were worth a few bucks.  There were several bridges under which we had traps for the little fellows.  Once we found someone else's traps with a skunk, which we deemed to be ours and went to school smelling very badly.  The teaching minister asked about the smell and received some sort of answer.  The gentleman turned the event over to the county Sheriff's Office, later a Deputy arrived at the School....nothing really happened to all of us as there were too many to be punished.  The Gent never did set traps in Our territory again!

The other laughable event was in McCook.  Mother told us to wait on the west side of a Grocery store for her while she did some shopping.  Some dude came strolling by and made an announcement..."How you doing girls?" to which Dick replied..."Just fine you Big Bastard!" to which the Gent didn't like but went on about his day.

I probably can think of other things like teaching me and Dale how to drive a Model A Ford, or a tractor or ride a horse or how to herd Turkeys, kill Rattlesnakes,  and Prairie Dogs. Shoot a post with a .22 Rifle and laugh at our Uncle who lived with us and using his one and only explicit vocabulary of swear words....Never met a man that could do that.

And now my final farewell:
 
Rest in Peace Dear Brother, your life on earth will be remebered by all you touched.  Worries are gone and all your prayers for being with your maker have come to fruition.  Those remaining behind on this planet will long for your face, your touch, your smile while you watch them from above and be reunited.  May your soul and all the souls of the faithful rest in Peace.

Don, "Jimmy" and middle brother 

Dick and I served together on the Newhall County Water Board. With all the hullabaloo surroundung the election, Dick didn't know what to expect from the new members. He quizzed us quite extensively and, when he was comfortable we would be sensible additions to the Board, he became our supporters. I was always grateful for his mentoring and sharing his knowledge with me. When the time came to seek a new general manager, Dick had to take over the helm. He gave unstintingly of his time until we found a new manager.

More than anything else, Dick was a friend. I will miss him.