Richard was born September 14, 1931 in Harrah, Oklahoma, the youngest child of Ezekiel J Seale and Lou Lorena Hurry Seale. He grew up in Harrah and the surrounding area where his father farmed to provide for the family. He graduated high school in 1949 and worked in construction in Midwest City and Oklahoma City.
November 1950 Richard enlisted in the Army.
He trained at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and joined G Company of the 179th Infantry Regiment (Tomahawk & Peace-pipe), 45th Infantry Division (Thunderbird). March 1951 the division was sent to Hokkaido, Japan for further training. December 5, 1951 the 45th Division arrived in Korea and moved to front line positions in the Yonchon-Chorwan sector on Christmas Eve.
Richard served as communications chief of G Company. January 11, 1952 while on patrol his platoon called for artillery support fire and in an unfortunate friendly fire event the platoon suffered three (3) casualties. Richard was severely wounded and lost two fingers on his left hand, sight in his right eye and fractured both legs. He spent 15 months at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, TX. After multiple unsuccessful surgeries, his left leg was amputated in May 1953. He was proud to have served his country. He was awarded both a Purple Heart and Combat Infantry Badge.
January 1954, while attending Oklahoma A&M Tech, Richard met Francise Jean Thompson. He was immediately smitten and they married eight months later. Dick quickly adopted Jean's son from a previous marriage, Gary Russell Jordan. Their sons, Loye Don Seale born May 18, 1955, John David Seale born September 1, 1956 and daughter Janie Lynn Seale born January 19, 1982 completed the family.
Richard's career as an electronics technician found him employed with a number of contractors, all assigned to government contracts. Jobs took him to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma, City, OK; the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL; the White Sands Missile Range near El Paso, TX and Edwards AFB outside of Lancaster, CA. The latter two (2) jobs involved working on various parts of the nation's space programs. After retiring in 1967, he and Jean moved to Shawnee, OK to be near their parents.
In 1995 Dick, Jean, Bob Thompson (Jean’s brother) and Lucy Thompson (Jean and Bob’s mother) combined their resources and moved to sunny Punta Gorda Florida. Dick and Jean spent the past 23 years in Florida, enjoying visits from their kids, grandkids, great grandkids, cousins and friends. On August 20, 2020 they celebrated 66 years of marriage.
Richard was preceded in death by his parents Ezekiel J and Lou Lorena Seale, siblings Joseph L Seale, Virgil “Buster” Seale, Vanita Seale Lewis, and Genese Seale North, and by his eldest son Gary R Seale. He is survived by his wife of 66 years Francise Jean Seale, his sons Loye Don Seale and John David Seale, daughter in law Deborah Seale, daughter in law Cindy Seale and a vast number of cousins, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren and friends.
Son, Brother, Soldier, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Friend and Child of God.
Richard left a loving legacy that will remain in our hearts forever.
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