Richard Staley Obituary

Richard F. Staley

Jul 18, 1949 - Jan 3, 2025

Sandusky

Richard F. Staley, 75, of Sandusky, passed away unexpectedly Friday, January 3, 2025. Born July 18, 1949, in Basin, Wyoming, to Victor and Frances (Swetnam) Staley. Rich grew up with a love of history, music, nature, and learning. A graduate of Greybull High School in 1968, he briefly attended Casper College before enlisting in the U.S. Navy to serve during the Vietnam War.

From 1968 to 1972, Rich was a machinist mate aboard the USS James E. Kyes (DD-787), a World War II-era destroyer that was decommissioned in 1972 after serving in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He was honorably discharged as a Petty Officer First Mate.

After completing basic training in San Diego, California, Rich completed three active tours of duty, one of which included rescuing shipmates of the USS Frank E. Evans, a destroyer split in half in a collision with the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in June 1969. Rich also participated in several assignments in Manila Bay, the Tonkin Gulf, the Mekong River Delta, and the Saigon River, where his ship took out military structures, enemy bunkers, and ammunition dumps.

After returning to Wyoming in 1972, Rich settled in Buffalo in 1974, where he became the sexton of Willow Grove Cemetery, a position he held for 41 years. He was fond of saying he ushered the cemetery from the 18th to the 21st century. Many friends and associates fondly referred to him as "Digger."

Rich shared his passion for learning with his two daughters, teaching them chess and German at a young age and instilling a love of reading. He participated in local singing groups and frequently sang to his children while strumming his guitar. He shared stories of his paternal ancestors, who emigrated from Russia to America during the Bolshevik Revolution, and his maternal ancestors from Kentucky, who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was a kind and funny man, a gentle soul respected and liked by many people in Wyoming and Ohio.

In 2015, Rich retired to Sandusky with his life partner Jo Pankow. He is survived by his sister, Joyce Hanson of Dickinson, North Dakota, daughters, Angel Larcom and Trissa Tilson in New Hampshire; and grandchildren, Raven Larcom, Phineas Tilson, and Phaedra Tilson.

He was predeceased by his parents and siblings, Eugene, Janice, Leslie, and Victor Staley.

Ohio services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at Grace Episcopal Church in Sandusky. He will be laid to rest at Willow Grove Cemetery in Buffalo, Wyoming, later this year.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Picower Institute for Learning and Memory's Aging Brain Initiative Fund by contacting the Director of Development, Asha Bhakar, PhD, at 617-258-0759 or emailing [email protected]. Additionally, donations can be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, PO Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741.