John Richard "Dick" Dial

Dick Dial was born on March 9, 1940, at Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas. His birth certificate name was John Richard Dial but throughout his life he used Dick Dial or just Dial. He always lived in Houston during his youth. Dick went to elementary school in West University. Later his parents moved to the Memorial area. He graduated from Spring Branch High School in 1958.

Dick attended college at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville where he graduated in 1963 with a BBA in Business Administration. While attending college, he joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He remained close friends with his fraternity brothers throughout his life and always attended their annual Christmas Reunion Luncheon. Dick also joined ROTC and was a cadet while attending Sam Houston.

Following college graduation, he immediately entered military service as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He joined up with the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While at Fort Campbell, he completed the Jump Master Course. Following that he was sent to Vietnam as a parachutist, where he earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal-Vietnam. He ended his military career with the rank of Captain. In his military paperwork under avocations in his own words he listed “building engines, cars, and boats.” Those interests continued throughout his life.

The next stage in Dick’s life was a very successful career in the business world in Houston, Texas. During his varied career he worked for several large companies including Stewart and Stephenson, Valtek International, and FlowServ. Dick was also a very successful small business entrepreneur. He owned and operated Cunningham Auto Services in the shadow of the Astrodome. His business received rave reviews from its customers.

Dick had many varied interests outside of work while he lived in Houston. He joined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as a volunteer. His committee was Corral Club which he enjoyed immensely. His commitment to HLSR was strong and long term as he earned a Lifetime Committeeman Badge for his volunteer service.

Dick enjoyed long distance running. Since he was an early riser, he would run Memorial Park before work almost every morning. He was a finisher (with times of 3 hour 40 minutes) in several of the Houston Marathons that he ran. His interest in running continued his entire lifetime even after he moved from Houston to Spicewood.

Among his many interests he had a keen interest in aviation. His interest in aviation was so strong that he decided to build his own airplane. He chose to build an experimental aircraft- a Van’s RV-6. The project started with construction of the wings in the living room of his house on Portal Drive. It took a while to complete the RV-6. Meanwhile, Dick purchased a lot in Windemere Airpark in Spicewood where he planned to hangar the RV-6 once finished. He was a lifetime member of the EAA and had many great airplane adventures flying to Oshkosh. Dick truly loved his dear N89DD.

Dick also enjoyed boating, water skiing, and swimming. Early on he had a weekend house in Windemere Oaks subdivision which he thoroughly enjoyed. He had many long term friendships with other homeowners in Windemere Oaks which continue to this day. There were many weekends of BBQ and waterskiing enjoyed by all. Windemere was definitely his Happy Place. When he retired, he built a permanent home in Windemere Oaks to replace the weekend house.

Dick was an animal lover with a special soft spot for dogs. His beloved basset hound, Barney, was his delight, and lived a long life due to the excellent care he got from Dick. Wild creatures were also on his favorites list. He loved feeding the birds in his backyard. He was always making sure there was plenty of bird food available especially for the hummingbirds. He truly loved the backyard visits by the foxes and the deer.

Dick had the good fortune of meeting Cindy Jackson at the Rodeo in 2001 and the rest is history. The two of them enjoyed each other’s company and had many similar interests. Cindy was also a Lifetime Committee member on the BBQ committee. The two enjoyed traveling together on road trips, airplane trips, and cruises. It was a life of adventure together. Dick really loved road trips to Colorado and cruises to the Caribbean. They went to many annual Van’s RV Fly-In gatherings around the country.

Dick passed away in Lakeway, Texas on September 16, 2024 after a six month struggle with an inoperable glioblastoma brain tumor. Dick’s remains were cremated with internment to be at Texas State Veteran’s Cemetery in Killeen at a later date. Dick was preceded in death by his mother, Hilda Hamilton Dial, and his father, Al Dial. Dick is survived by his sister, Barbara Dial Crandlemire, of Boise, Idaho and Cynthia A. Jackson, of Houston and Spicewood, and cousins, Trey Hamilton and Judy Hamilton Gilbert, as well as other cousins.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of John ‘Dick’ Dial for Glioblastoma research directed by Dr. Frederick Lang, Jr., Neurosurgery Chair by mail: MD Anderson Cancer Center

P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486 or thru website: www.mdanderson.org/gifts