Richard Raymond Zane

On May 12th, 1940, Edward and Lou Zane welcomed their second child, Richard Raymond Zane at Mercy Hospital in San Diego. His older sister Letty is 11 months older making her and Richard “Irish twins”. His younger sister Deborah was born 5 years later.

Richard was a third generation San Diegan. As a little boy he delivered newspapers on his bicycle. Richard attended Jefferson Elementary School, Roosevelt Junior High and San Diego High School where he played football and was a star on the wrestling team. He attended San Diego State University, and was an active member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

He worked for San Diego Gas and Electric right after college, where he learned computer programming. It later became his career.

Already well into his career as a Computer Programmer at U.S. Data Systems, Richard met the love of his life on a blind date in 1974. Richard and Becky spent over three years getting to know one another and having fun. They explored Southern California, including Catalina Island, and Baja Mexico. He owned a tiny travel trailer on the cliffs at Angel’s Camp in Baja and they spent many, many weekends there enjoying the ocean. And then they were one. On their wedding day it rained as though it was a monsoon. Everyone told them it was a good luck sign….indeed it was.

During Richard’s employment with EDP Management, he was required to spend some time on projects that took him away from his family, which now included beautiful little Alison. He didn’t like being away from home and in early 1980 decided to join Southwest Bank headquartered in Vista, as Senior Programmer/Analyst. Richard and Becky became parents for the second time when their handsome baby Michael was born. Less than one month later, they moved into their brand new home in Vista, where they lived for eight years.

Richard and his family made many trips to Michigan where Becky’s family lived, some by car and most by air. Every summer for 10-plus years, the Zane family spent one week in Avalon on Catalina Island. Those trips were very special to Richard because he had spent so much time there when he was a teenager, and beyond. His neighborhood best buddy and life-long friend, Larry Keyser’s family took their boat over often and Richard was invited to accompany them. Those two boys accomplished many mischievous deeds while they were on the island.

In 1988, Richard and Becky moved to a more populated neighborhood with more sidewalks, more children and easier access. Shadowridge seemed more like a family oriented area, similar in feel to the neighborhoods where they grew up.

When Southwest Bank was purchased by Security Pacific in 1990, Richard had advanced to the position of VP in charge of Systems and Programming. He could have retained that position but it required him to relocate to LA. Since he wanted to keep his family in North County, and relocating was not an option, he quickly got his Real Estate and Broker license. He worked at Amerimac Mortgage and Cal West Real Estate as a mortgage Broker between early 1991 and 1997. Being in sales was not Richard’s thing. He needed more intellectual stimulation and began thinking about returning to the programming business. He joined Computer Sciences Corp. in 1997 and worked there until his retirement in 2007.

Too soon, it was that empty-nest time in Richard and Becky’s life. Ali was already in school at Cal State San Marcos and Michael was going to school in Chico. Richard was still working at CSC so they decided to downsize to a one-story, smaller home, which they found in the foothills of Vista. Richard could still work from home and they had a one-half acre to play with……life was good.

The next big move they made was to Palomar Estates West where they purchased a mobile home sorely in need of renovation but with a wonderful view. They dug in and got to work. Richard was not a builder but he was determined and very knowledgeable about so many things. He figured it out. He had a little help from a couple of professionals, but with daily assistance from his wife, they accomplished a remarkable feat. They now had a comfortable, modern home with a phenomenal, vast ocean view.

In 2009, Richard and Becky traveled to Italy with good friends, Steve and Mar, and Susie and John. It was a memorable trip, so much fun and food and history, but he was happy to get home. He was perfectly content to get up in the morning, drink his coffee, read the paper and work his New York Times crossword puzzles, which he was very good at it. He finished every one he attempted, from Monday through Sunday (he considered Sunday and Monday’s a little too easy). He was always eager to accept an intellectual challenge and enjoyed the difficulty and precision of building radio controlled airplanes.

In 2010 his dreams of becoming a grandfather came true with the birth of his precious Sydney. He loved her dearly, and looked forward to more munchkins joining the family.

He was an extremely proud man. He got the chance to see both of his children grow and marry, buy homes and start their own families. He watched them become the adults he raised them to be.