Richard Alexander Crooks, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton. He was 87.
He was born on Jan. 21, 1926 in Sea Girt, New Jersey to Richard A. Crooks and his wife Mildred Pine. Dick graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University. Near the end of World War II, he went through flight training in the Navy Air Corp. He worked in commercial real estate in Seattle, first with Charles Clise and then with his own company Crooks and Crowder from 1953 until his retirement in 2003.
He was a member of the Seattle Golf Club and the Washington Athletic Club. Bainbridge Island was his home for the last 40 years.
After spending his youth on the East Coast and on some wonderful trips with his parents and sister, Dick headed West looking for adventure. It started in the forests of the Northwest where he worked as a logger for a spell. He loved describing the meals they served at the logging camp. He was always a great storyteller.
During his first year in Washington state, he met his wife Phyllis skiing at Stevens Pass. After hearing the story of their honeymoon, his kids are thankful they were ever born. It involved canoeing through ocean surf and a canoe trip on a river near Lake Wenatchee. Dick saw his new bride submerge then pop up on the far side of a log jam and somehow life went on. He loved flying his small airplane that he kept at the airstrip cow pasture that is now Meadowmeer Golf Course. His kids remember barricading the plane from the cows. His wife remembers thinking she should not really be letting him take the kids up too often. Camping at Shi Shi River, hiking in the Olympics, canoeing the Churchill river, cross-country ski trips in the Arctic, fishing in Puget Sound, golfing around Restoration Point – he enjoyed them all. He especially cherished the friends who were part of those adventures.
Dick survived a serious heart attack in his 50s when he went into full arrest. He described floating above the cedar beams of the living room in the family home on Upper Farms Road feeling wonderful until he was zapped back to life on the ground. He lived another 30-plus years, ever amazing his family with his durability. This time, with family by his side, he kept on flying. We will miss you. We give special thanks to the devoted care givers Carol and Vivian.
He is survived by his wife Phyllis Brownell Crooks of Bainbridge Island; his children Alex (Evie) of Bainbridge Island, Jon (Stacie) of Seattle, Lee (Jim) of Bainbridge Island, Carolyn Pine of Seattle, and Mike (Jennifer) of Sand Point, Idaho. He also leaves behind his faithful dogs Zeus and Holly. There are 20 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Richard was preceded in death by his sister Patricia Whiteley.
Services will be private. Memorial contributions can be made to the Seattle Children’s Hospital or the Humane Society. Please sign the online guest book for the family at www.cookfamilyfuneralhome.com.
