Richard Floyd Liscombe

Richard (Rick) Floyd Liscombe passed away, we believe, on January 21st, 2025. We believe he suffered a cardiac event because of his longstanding hypertension. He was also struggling to adjust his life after retirement and often felt isolated. He was 76. He would have been 77 in April.

We believe Richard was born in Lakeview or Greenville, Michigan. He did not know his biological parents and spent some time in an orphanage before adoption by Roscoe Liscombe and Dorothy Mae Cross. He did attempt to find information on his biological mother’s family. He found names and that they were of English ancestry, but never visited them.

My father had several marriages. One before I was born, another to a Russian named Larissa, and the last to a woman named Delores starting in the 2000 and ending sometime near 2010. His last marriage left him alone with his best friend, his cat Tim, before his retirement. Sadly Tim passed away several years later and did not have many friends in the area.

His young years were a mix. He wished to escape the rural town he had grown up in and discover more about the world. His brother a prodigious musician was a good outlet at times for this. He had spent some time living in New Orleans with him while his brother performed in the city.

After his early formative years, my father served in the US Airforce, This was during Vietnam. He did not believe in the war, but was respected by many of his brothers in arms and eventually became a military police officer. During this time, he began to appreciate his ability to learn and took many college courses while in service.

After leaving the service he spent some time at a junior college and then later studying at Eastern Michigan University, Dartmouth, and the University of Michigan. He received a M.A. in anthropology from the University of Michigan.

My father enjoyed his life at college and resided for a while in Ann Arbor. He developed many special friendships and relationships with people at this time. One friendship was to Adrian who has been his closest friend since. He also developed some friendships that led him to help open a business in Ann Arbor with a friend and then in East Lansing on his own. Footgear remained open for over forty years and was well known to many residents of East Lansing and the University. His business ventures were the first to bring Birkenstocks to the Midwest.

My father was a friendly individual. He was often kind to strangers who came to his shop and loved to talk to people about things that interested him. He had a very keen intellect and a great talent for writing. He had been meaning to finish a book during this time and got very far into it. He loved studying humanities.

He is survived by me his only child and the many connections he made with extended family and old friends during his retirement. I know he cherished communication in his later life.