Richard Douglas Fife

9/13/1931 to 11/28/2019 Richard (Dick) passed away peacefully on Thanksgiving morning, November 28, 2019. Dick was born September 13, 1931 in Chicago, IL to George Edward Fife and Ethel Mae Douglas. He was the second of six sons: George, Dick, Dennis (Joyce VanSoest), Eugene, Phillip (Kathleen Mortier) and Ronald (Carolyn Kearney). As a child, he lived in Chicago, Kentucky, Georgia and Michigan before joining the United States Navy in 1950. During his four years in the Navy, he traveled the world during the Korean War and saw such places as Paris, Nice, Monte Carlo, Naples, LaSpezia, the Suez Canal, Japan, Pearl Harbor and others. Upon discharge, he went to Michigan State University and earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. While there, he met the love of his life Nancy Jo Allen, whom he would marry in 1957 and spend the next 62 years with until his death. Dick worked for General Electric for 20 years spending most of this time in Fort Wayne, IN and Dallas, TX. They had four children during this time and in 1977, moved from Fort Wayne to Phoenix, AZ. Dick retired in 1990 and spent time since then traveling, reading, just enjoying retirement and watching his many grandchi...[more]

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dren and great-grandchildren grow up. Dick is survived by his wife Nancy and their four children Lori Ann Braatz (Steven Braatz), Terry Douglas Fife (Paulina Izquierdo), Richard Ryan Fife (Melanie Ryan) and Daniel Allen Fife (Melissa Amerian) as well as 8 grandchildren (Eric, LeighAnn, Stefanie, Matthew, Nicole, Douglas, Rachel and Parker), 4 great-grandchildren (Autumn, Jonathan, Larkin and Indiana), two of his five brothers, George and Phillip and many nieces and nephews. Dick would be the first to say that he lived a full life and overcame many obstacles having grown up during the Depression. He had great respect and pride for his mother Ethel and the challenges she endured to raise six sons in the 1930s and 1940s. She instilled defining life characteristics such as honesty, integrity, hard work, dependability and responsibility that guided Dick throughout his life. Although we will all miss him here, we are comforted that he is now with his mother, father and brothers. A committal service will be held on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 2:00pm at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, located at 23029 North Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ 85024.