Richard Hudson Fellows

A MEMORIAL SERVICE will be held Monday, April 1, 11am, in the chapel at NAS North Island (San Diego, CA).

Richard Hudson Fellows was born on January 20, 1940 to Adeline (Hidde) and Gerald Fellows, in Springfield, MN. He was the second of three sons. When he was two the family moved West to California, where he lived until joining the Navy at the age of 25. His Navy career would bring him back to CA several times over the 27 years in which he served. After retirement he and his wife, Eileen, moved onto 50 acres of land in Mississippi, where they spent almost 20 years together. Fittingly, though, his final days were spent back in California, in the desert town of Palm Springs. He passed away unexpectedly, though peacefully, there on January 3, 2013. He was 72. He is survived by his younger brother, Jon Fellows, his first wife, LaVonne, a Daughter, Suzanne, a Son, Matthew, three grandchildren, Erica, Kyle, & Keri, and his beloved half-wolf, Chewy.

I think Dad would be surprised to hear that he passed away while sleeping. There were so many other occasions in his life when he came very close to death, none of which would have been so prosaic. At age 4 he lived through Polio, surviving with the help of an Iron Lung, daily visits from his Mother, and the ministrations of the hospital staff. I think that experience defined him, preparing him for anything. He would go on to survive a 30 mile ride to the beach on a seatless bicycle, a motorcycle crash on an LA highway, at least two catapult-shot mishaps, almost 400 combat missions over Vietnam, the infamous Forrestal disaster, getting stuck in a Greek sewer, several storms in a 30-something foot sailboat, and, finally, the loss of both his Mother and his Wife in the same 12-hour period.

Though his life was not as long as some, it was richer, more intense, more thoroughly-lived, than most. Those of us who knew him will miss his presence in our lives; those of you who didn't know him have suffered an even greater loss.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the American Heart Association
http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR?pxfid=252000&pg=fund&fr_id=1030