Richard W Kirtley's Obituary
Richard Wayne (Dick) Kirtley, 79, died peacefully, May 26, 2024 at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL.
Dick was preceded in death by his father, William, Mother Marjorie and brother Tommy Kirtley. He leaves behind his loving wife of 41 years Debbie; 5 children: Travis (Summer) Kirtley, Stacey (Todd) Dubois, Tommy Kirtley, Kristy (Imad) Ramadan, Richard (Jessica) Dobson; 14 grandchildren; 5 great grandchildren; and “older” brother William (Carney) Kirtley.
A Celebration of Dick’s Life will be held at Surf Club main clubhouse near the guard gate, 60 Surfview Drive, Palm Coast, FL, one mile south of Mainland on August 31, 2024 at 1:00 PM.
To say that Dick had a full life would be a severe under statement. He lived from October 16, 1944 - May 26, 2024, but the most important thing in those dates is the “dash” in the middle, i.e. what happened between the dates in that relatively short period of time. He really lived!
At a very young age Dick moved with his family to an amazing and unique village close to Richmond, VA, called Bon Air. It was a magical time and place difficult or impossible to find today - a small, closely knit community where you could safely leave the doors of your home and car unlocked; where your children could ride their bicycles anywhere for miles with no fear of harm; where families were so close that ups had numerous other “mothers” who cared for you almost as much as your own; where teachers in elementary and high school cared deeply for their students and gave their all to insure that they were properly educated; where parents worked hard in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts to enrich their children’s life experience.
Dick attended Bon Air Elementary School and Midlothian and Huegenot High Schools. After high school, Dick’s life was so full that there is only room here for a partial list of the many things he mastered and shared with others. Any one of them would define a successful life for most men. Dick attended and graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He pursued and completed a 20 year career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, reaching the rank of Commander. During that time he loved and stayed close to his classmates in the USNA class of ’67. Among other things, he served on a destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin off of Vietnam. During this time, he pioneered the first program that eventually became the front program today. He experimented with small, remotely controlled helicopters with cameras that flew off of his ship and observed activity on shore in Vietnam. Later, he was assigned for a year as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Navy Mobile Riverine Forces in the Mekong Delta and spent a year in a very dangerous environment about which he published a book.
He completed a Masters of Science and Contracting Management at the Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey, CA. In one case, as a supply officer, he worked with the FBI in a sting operation that shut down a major group that was stealing from the Navy and he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for outstanding job performance.
After his Navy retirement, he had another 18 year career as an executive with a major defense contractor, Lockheed/BAE Systems. While there he developed a course on “Humor in the Workplace” which he taught throughout the company. He retired in 2006.
In addition to all of this, he was also a humorous motivational speaker, stand-up comedian, artist and author of two books.
In 2004, he and Debbie moved to Surf Club on the ocean in Palm Coast, FL and subsequently moved to a new home in Palm Coast. Dick had a very deep faith in God and his Son, Jesus Christ. He believed very strongly that if the worst occurred during his operation, he would soon be with his Savior in Paradise as Jesus promised.
Dick’s response every time he was asked how he was doing was always - “UNBELIEVABLE”!
Rest in Peace, Dick. Well done!
A gift in Dick’s memory can be made to Tunnel To Towers (T2T) or http://flaglerplayhouse.org/
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