Richard Getchell

Richard (Dick) H. Getchell passed away peacefully on January 25, 2011 from complication with a long fight with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma surrounded by family at the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System Hospice unit.  He was 80 years old.

Dick was born to Oscar & Mildred Getchell in Lynn Massachusetts on December 1, 1930.  Dick was an only child and grew up in Lynn. In 1949 Dick joined the military where he served in the Army during the Korean War.  After being honorably discharged in 1953 he made his way to the Philadelphia area where he met Janet Lang at a ballroom dance.  Janet & Dick were married in 1956.

Dick went to school to become a machinist and eventually achieved the status of tool maker in 1958. His working life was spent working as a tool maker in various machine shops in the Philly area and eventually in Pinellas County Florida.

Janet & Dick purchased their first house in 1957 in the then brand new Cobalt Ridge section of Levittown Pa. In 1960 Dick & Janet had their first of two sons. Kenneth Richard Getchell was born on 1-19-1960. Five years later Glen Allen Getchell was born on 3-16-65. Both sons were raised in Levittown and attended schools within the Neshaminy school district.

In 1982 Dick & Janet moved to a home in St. Petersburg, FL. In the early 90’s Dick retired from his life time career as a tool maker and spent his time fixing & maintaining their house, and a rental property.  In addition he enjoyed napping in front of the TV (a hobby, his sons note, he had begun decades earlier).  A few years later his first son Ken and his wife Penny (who had since move back to the Philly area) would add two grandsons (Jason & Christopher) to the family.  Also added to the family was a dachshund pup named Rascal (named after a dog Dick had when he was a kid).  Rascal would share many of Dick’s naps and remain a constant companion to the end.

Dick had an unshakable dry sense of humor that permeated nearly everything he said. He was able to maintain this sense of humor through much of his two battles with lymphoma.  He was always a realist and always understood completely that death was a part of life.  Humor based comments about death (as well as everything else) were not uncommon including an often made reminder that, “Something has to get you, after all, nothing eats us!”

Dick’s second bout (a year after the first) with lymphoma and the chemo was more than his weakened body could take. It took nearly six months for the illness to finally win.  Luckily he suffered no significant pain and never required pain medication.  He was lucid and able to communicate up till the last few days.  He left this world with all his memories intact when on Tuesday at 2:10 PM with family by his side Richard H Getchell took his last breath. He is survived by his loving wife Janet, his two sons and their wives Ken & Penny and Glen & Mary, and his two grandsons Jason & Christopher.  And of course Rascal who now does his best to make sure Janet is never lonely!  Dick will be missed tremendously by his loving family.

Dick will be cremated and interned at the Bay Pines National Cemetery.  A private memorial for family will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Bay Pines VA Hospice.