Richard A. 'Dick' Fetsch

Richard A. 'Dick' Fetsch

Richard A. "Dick" Fetsch, 69, of Big Sandy, passed away on Sunday, April 14, 2013, at Big Sandy Medical Center of natural causes. Cremation has taken place, and memorial services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, April 19, 2013, at Holland & Bonine Funeral Home with Sister Kathleen Kane and Father Tim Pegar officiating. The family has requested that memorials be made in Dick's name to The Fisher House for Veterans, 690 S. Valdez Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84148, or to the charity of the donor's choice. Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with services and arrangements, and you can leave your condolences and memories for the family at http://www.hollandbonine.com.

Dick was born on Feb. 19, 1944, in Langdon, N.D., to Anthony and Catherine (Greenshields) Fetsch. He was raised in Wales, N.D., graduating from high school there in 1962. Following his school years, he worked for a time, and then joined the U.S. Army in 1965. He was honorably discharged at Fort Lewis, Wash., in 1967, and he remained in Washington for a few years, meeting and marrying the love of his life, Donna Hanson, in Seattle. After they married, the couple returned to Wales, where Dick worked as a grain elevator operator until 1980, when they relocated their family to Big Sandy so that Dick could work at Big Sandy Grain. He continued working at Big Sandy Grain, throughout the sale to General Mills, until they shut down. At that time, he went to work for Jim Ray at Ray Farms, and remained working there until his recent illness.

Dick was a loving husband and father with a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor. He enjoyed fishing and hunting, catching rattlesnakes (hence the nickname "Rattlesnake Dick"), watching the Game Show Network and "NCIS," and in his earlier years, he enjoyed guiding goose hunts in North Dakota. He loved to play his electronic Yatzee. He also loved the Charolais cows he worked with at Ray Farms, and always tried to convince Jim to keep the calves. He adored his min-pin chihuahas, Winnie, Dixie and Willow, but the true loves of his life were his wife, his darling daughters, and his precious grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dick was preceded in death by his parents, Anthony and Catherine Fetsch; his brother Edward Fetsch; his sister Mary Fetsch; his granddaughter, Crystal LaBuda; and his son-in-law, Ralph Pegar.

He is survived by his wife, Donna Fetsch of Big Sandy; his daughters, Dorothy (Tim) Domres of Wales, N.D., Leslie (Tim) Craig of Kent, Wash., and Dana Widmer, Karen Pelley-Pegar, and Lauretta (James) LaBuda, all of Big Sandy; his nine grandchildren; his eight great-grandchildren; his sisters, Lorraine Fetsch and Margaret Schill of Fargo, N.D., and Patricia Eklund of Bonnylake, Wash; his brothers, Jim Fetsch of St. Paul, Minn., Bill Fetsch of Langdon, N.D., Clarence Fetsch of Arizona, and Pete Fetsch of Seattle, Wash .; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.