Richard Robert Falk

" Life in the Sand hills"

Dick was born in North Platte, Nebraska to parents Robert and May Falk. He was the third child with two older sisters, Gertrude, better known as "Dolly" and Mildred better known as "Millie". And a forth child, Brother Gordon, joined the family a short time later.

The family lived in the Sand hills outside North Platte and raised cattle as well as farmed corn and other crops. The school house was located on the Falk property and the school teacher lived with them while school was in session. One of Dick's jobs was to run down to the school each morning, in the winter, and start the fire in the wood stove to heat the school. The school house was later moved to Kearney, Nebraska as part of the historical museum collection of buildings.

Farming and ranching is very hard work and often with little reward and eventually the Falk's moved to North Platte where Dick's father started a hauling business and selling scrape metal. Dick worked with his dad when not in school. Dick also worked at the railroad ice house in North Platte icing railcars from California loaded with produce headed for the east coast.

Dick also delivered newspapers and tells of buying his first car, a early 20's Studebaker, for $10.00 plus some trade items from one of his paper delivery customers.

CHAPTER 2

"Falling in love, Dick meets Frankie"

Two young people who loved to dance and drive around in old cars meet and fell in love. On August 16, 1937 Dick and Frances Viter were married in North Platte Nebraska. A note of interest, one granddaughter, Laura (Kalani) Bateman was married on the same date 49 years later. They celebrated there 50th and 1st anniversaries on the same date at the same party.

Dick and Frankie moved to Sterling, Colorado where Dick worked on a poultry farm owned by his sister Dolly and her husband Harold. This created a life long dislike of chicken for Dick.

Remember that the country was still coming out of the depression and job opportunities were few and far between so Dick and Frankie headed west to California with hopes of better times. In 1938 while in Redding Calif. Romona May, the first of three daughters was born. Jobs in Calif. were not all that great and they returned to Nebraska and in November of 1939 a second daughter, Barbara Jean was born. Shortly after Barbara's birth they decided to give Calif. one more try. Dick worked several jobs including a saw mill in the redwood forest area. In March of 1941 the third daughter, Diana Frances arrived. This was three moves halfway across the US and each time a new addition to the family.... Maybe it was time to settle down.

Dick tells of one of these trips, across country, with Frankie, two small children and his Mother in a Model A Ford. Some where, in the middle of nowhere the car begins to shake and rattle. Dick stopped along the roadside and knowing that Model A Fords were called bailing wire specials he dropped the engine pan and saw that one of the rod bearings was broken. He replaced the bearing with a piece of his leather belt soaked in oil and

Managed to continue with the trip until he could make permanent repairs.

In 1942 Dick and Frankie along with three daughters and Dick's parents moved to Milwaukie Oregon where they purchased a small farm and began a new life. Dick and his dad both worked in the shipyards Frankie was a full time Mom and home maker. At some point in time Frankie's parents moved to Milwaukie and Dick's sister Millie and Brother Gordon came as well. There were "COUSINS BY THE DOZEN"

CHAPTER 3

"Dick joins the Marines and goes to war"

Dick had been a member of the Nebraska National Guard at some point while living in Nebraska and must have felt the call to serve his country.

In April 1944 he was drafted, knowing that his wife and children were settled in a home and surrounded by family Dick was now in the Marines and did his basic training in San Diego California before heading to the South Pacific where he saw action at Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands and was a part of the occupation of China at wars end.

During a brief R&R That is rest and recuperation in military jargon Dick spent some time in Australia. Dick was in a PUB loaded with Navy, Marines and US army personal when of all things a fight broke out. Dick decided that the safest place would be under one of the tables and quickly ducked under and within a few seconds he was joined by a US army member with the same idea. They quickly became friends and spend the remainder of their time in Australia together. (This story continues in chapter 4)

Dick's military specialty was ordnance (ammo) and he was also a mechanic. The stories he shared with me had little to do with combat but were more pleasant memories he enjoyed sharing. One of Dick's talents was to take anything that would ferment and distill it into alcohol (the drinking type) In the South Pacific there is plenty of coconuts and other fruit that is well suited for this purpose. All that along with the abundance

of copper, brass and Dick's mechanical skills it was short order before Dick had a still up and running. At one point Dick was working the still and when he turned around there stood the Company commander...The only comment was "be sure an save me some"

Dick also tells the story of the Captains jeep with a muffler damaged

Beyond repair, So Dick manufactures one from a55mm artillery shell casing, some steel pipe and steel wool and mounted it behind the bumper.....according to the Captain it not only worked it looked good.

CHAPTER 4

"Home coming and new beginning"

At wars end Dick returned to the US and was discharged at San Diego where he purchased a war surpluses motorcycle and headed home.

Dick makes a major addition to the house and the girls are out of the attic and have their own bedroom and there is indoor plumbing and all the finer things in life. Dick raises rabbits and always has a great vegetable garden. Frankie cans and makes great jams and jellies. Dick tells the story of rebuilding the engine for his Crosley car, he re-moved the engine, the head, crank and pistons and now needs to have the cylinders re-bored. Here's the problem he has no car take the block to the machine shop...OK just pick up the block put in under your arm, get on the bus, go to the machine shop have the block bored. Get back on the bus with block under you arm and go home....PROBLEM SOLVE

Now a civilian Dick worked part-time as a mechanic and then drove truck for a Milwaukie paving company where he often drove pass the Wichita School on King road in Milwaukie, where all four daughters were in class. They all knew when they heard the air horn blast it was "Daddy" driving by.

After a few other jobs Dick settled in as a machinist at P&C tool Co. in Milwaukie. The daughters tell the story of walking to the swimming pool and then on the way home stopping at the P&C plant and sending in Diana, the youngest and best bet to get ice cream money from Dad. From what I hear it usually worked.

In 1959 the school district purchased the Falk property and they built their dream home they also purchased their first new car a 1959 Chevy Impala All black with a red interior and a special continental spare tire cover ((should have kept that one) Plus all new furniture

' LIFE IS GOOD" !!!! and this called for a trip back to Nebraska to visit old friends however, this was just a visit and not a move, so there were no new birth announcements after this trip. Saturday night, in the new home, was Lawrence Welk and pinochle card games with daughters and son-in-laws.

The Falk home for the next 43 years was always a hub of activity. If you went for a visit chances were that someone was already there or would arrive shortly after you. The coffee pot was always on and most times fresh cookies. Everyone would listen to Dick and Frankie's stories. Dick would say "the fish was a foot long" and Frankie would reply "Oh I don't think it was much over 12 inches" They could also tell the endless story, one would start the story and if that person stopped to catch their breath the other one would continue with the story often switching back and forth until the story was finished.

Christmas eve at the Falk home was a major event, Frankie would gather the clan see most if not all of the family at one time. Pictures were taken for Frankie' album, mountains of food were consumed and a ton of wrapping paper needed to be picked up and disposed of. It would start all over again in four days to celebrate Frankie's Birthday on December 29th.

OK... Here's what you've been waiting for....Remember when I said the story would be continued...This is it.. Dick was at work at P&C tools and noticed the foreman was escorting a man around in the shop and introducing him to the employees, the man looked somewhat familiar but Dick did not know from where he knew the man.. as the foreman came closer to Dick the face became much more recognizable. Dick thought could this really be possible... And the answer was YES. This was the GI that Dick had meet under the table in the bar in Australia and he was just hired at P&C tool company. The mans name was Harold Collier this was friendship that would last four life times Harold's wife Donna, Dick and

Frankie became the best of friends along with other members of both families.

Here's a story that I heard several times Dick, Frankie and Daughter Diana, Husband Walt and I'm not sure if there were more but, at any rate they had gone to Pauline lake in central Oregon. Dick and Walt rented one of the row boats to go fishing. After several hours in the hot sun, Dick's head was sunburned and with little or no fish to show for their effort they decided to row back to the dock. The rowing had becoming quite difficult and even after they had rotated the rowing job several times they were both exhausted. They stopped to rest for a coupe of minutes a few hundred feet from the dock when a little old lady in a rowboat zipped right past them and into the dock to tie up! Both looked at each other in amazement .

And then as they say THE LIGHTS CAME ON... One of the two asked if

The other had raised the anchor?? By how you know answer!

As you might have observed by now Dick liked to tell stories and I believe he was pretty good at it and because I seem to remember most of them, however there were times when I thought that Dick might and I say just might have embellished the story a little bit. One such story comes to mind and happened in the sand hills of Nebraska. The landscape is rolling hills

best described as prairie and you can see for great distances. Dick said "he shoot a coyote at a distance of a half mile and he shoot him through the eye while the critter was running away...WOW that coyote must have taken a quick look back at just the wrong time!

One of the stories that Dick told was that his Dad had worked on the Buffalo Bill Coty ranch in North Platte. Some how I always associated Buffalo Bill Coty with Coty Wyoming but I've been wrong before so I didn't question the story, just had my doubts? Sometime later...could have been years I'm watching TV and a Sears commercial is showing historical homes being painted with Sears paint... guess what Buffalo Bill's home in North Platte Nebraska....OK so he lived in North Platte but what about the Dad working on the ranch?... More time passes maybe even years. Barbara and I are at the house visiting and Dick says " I have something for you" Dick had been looking through a old trunk of his Father's and came across

a postcard that had been mailed from Dicks' Uncle in Colorado to his brother (that would be Dick's dad) and card read like this:

TO: Robert Falk

C/O Mrs. Cody

No. Platte Nebraska

SURE MADE A BELIVER OUT OF ME!

I framed that postcard along with some other Buffalo Bill Cody stuff and hope I remembered to bring it. In 2000 Barbara and I drove to North Platte Nebraska and made it a point to visit "THE SCOUTS REST" William F. Coty's home...what a thrill.

CHAPTER 5

"The heart break and leaving home again"

In the late 90's Frankie, due to age and health reasons begin to slow down

And Dick began to take on more of the household chores like cooking, laundry and grocery shopping. Dick had health concerns of his own however he managed to keep the home fires burning until sometime in mid 2002 Dick had a stroke and needed special care and went to a nursing home to get the proper medical treatment. Frankie was sure she could care for herself but did not do well and she went to the same nursing home with Dick. Dick made good progress in recovering from his stroke and was moved to a assisted living facility next door but, Frankie's health begin to worsen and in September of 2002 Frankie passed away shortly after their 65th anniversary. Dick was heart broken he had lost his wife of 65 years and was no longer living in their dream home. The Gilman assistant living home in Oregon was Dick's home for the next 8 years and he made many friends there and had many family and friends visit and we celebrated every one of his birthdays there and on many occasions went to either Barbara's or Diana's house for Thanksgiving, Christmas or other events. Sometime in February 2011 Dick's health began to fail and Gilman's could no longer provide the intensive care that Dick required. Dick was transferred to an adult foster care home in Milwaukie. The owner and manager is a gentleman named Chip and he provide the most caring and loving environment one could as for. It was there that Dick passed away on the morning of October 3, 2012.

CHAPTER 6

"Looking back and looking forward"

Dick's story will never end as long as family gathers and remembers events of the past and as I finish this story I need to add a few last thoughts. Dick had many talents that not everyone is aware of. During the 50's he did TV and radio repair. He could fix or repair almost any small gas engine. He was a licensed journeyman electrician. And after the war he used the GI education bill to learn to fly. He also designed and build a vacation trailer that looked very much like the classic airstream trailer with the shinny aluminum skin.

His hobbies after retirement were building wiry-gigs and gardening. He raised the best tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini squash which provided produce for many family members and neighbors.

From 1986 to mid 1989 Dick help me build and restore a 1929 Model A Ford pickup that we still own and drive today. With three daughters and many grandchildren Dick was always on call to repair or replace some electrical appliance or almost any home problem.

He will be missed by many but especially

Remembered by the following

His Daughters: Grandchildren: Great

Ramona Kalani Laura, Henry Kyle, Jace

Barbara Henderson Debbie, Kathy, Kris Marcie, Cory, Danica

Diana Popiel Vickie, Mike Nicole, Jessica, Troy

Plus some Gr. Gr. Grandchildren: Sydney, Austin, Michael, Katie and Josh

One Grandchild , Craig and one Great grandchild, Shannon preceded

Dick in death.