Cover photo for Richard William Findlay's Obituary
Richard William Findlay Profile Photo

Richard William Findlay

d. December 22, 2014

Richard William Findlay

Richard William Findlay, born April 29, 1931, in Detroit, Michigan, died December 22, 2014, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Richard graduated from St. Ambrose High School in Detroit, Michigan, in 1949. He started working for Detroit Free Press in 1950 in the pressroom, worked his way up from cleaning the presses to supervising the presses, first as a line foreman and then as General Foreman. To prepare himself for advancement, he had studied with the Knight-Ridder Institute of Training, helped development the Quality Circles Training Seminar, and took Detroit Free Press Supervisory Training. He worked as General Foreman from 1980 to 1991, when he took early retirement. Through the years, he and his wife, Geraldine were active in Cabrini Catholic Church in Allen Park where Richard was a member of Knights of Columbus. They had purchased a lot on Lake Huron where they built their retirement home in 1991 and moved to Northern Michigan when it was completed. Up north Richard and Geraldine were active in the local Catholic Church in Cheboygan, ushered at the Opera House and Richard bought a boat and became an active member of the local Coast Guard Auxiliary. For several years he worked part time at the Center Stage Theater in Mackinaw City where he did everything from selling concessions, to managing the stage lights to being the Motorcoach Manager. He and Geraldine also were volunteers at the soup kitchen in Cheboygan. In 1998 Geraldine became very ill and passed away in December. After a loving partnership of 43 years, Richard was distraught until family and friends persuaded him to travel and try to go on with his life. In 2000, when he was visiting his brother, Jim, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he met Eddie Weber, a widow of eight years. They became friends, became close and married in December of that year. After several years of retirement travel, golfing, boating, as well as church and community activities, spending summers in Michigan and winters on the Gulf Coast, Richard began to slow down with the stress of a progressive illness that finally took his life on December 22 of this year. Family and friends will sorely miss him, for he was gentle and loving man, with high morals and deep compassion for others. Richard was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Meikle Findlay, mother, Marguerite Roseanna Ramey, brothers, Ronald Robert Findlay and James Donald Findlay, nephews, Donald B. Findlay and Robert James Findlay, and former wife, Geraldine Helen Mayville. Survivors include his siblings, Iris Delores Findlay, married to Delmar Young (lives in Ann Arbor, MI) and Walter Robin Findlay (lives in Florida), the children of Geraldine and Richard, Richard Meikle Findlay of Allen Park, Michigan, David Findlay of Milton, Georgia, Kenneth Findlay of Cheboygan, Michigan and Katheryn Findlay Milburn of Black Diamond, Washington. Richard married Eddie Weber in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on November 25, 2000. The children of Eddie Weber and step-children of Richard Findlay are Karen Bustamante of Orange, California and Carl J. Weber of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 4 grandsons: George Findlay, Cole Findlay, Luke Milburn, and Matthew Milburn, 5 step-grandsons: Ross Preston, John Weber, Robert Bustamante, Brent Weber, and Mark Bustamante, step-granddaughter. Kelly Tansy, mother of Richard’s three great-grand-daughters, Morgan, Peyton, and Corrine, 7 nephews, Craig, Brian, Douglas, Christopher, Delmar, Timothy and Patrick, 4 nieces, the Young daughters, Marilyn, Bonnie, Valerie and Sharon. A memorial service will be held for Richard at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home in Ocean Springs Monday, December 29, 2014. There will not be a viewing, but there will be visitation with the family beginning at 10:00 a.m., followed by the memorial service at 11:00 a.m. This service will be conducted by a close family friend, Deacon Martin Finnegan of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Ocean Springs. After the service, guests are invited to the home of the Findlays for lunch and visiting.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Richard William Findlay, please visit our flower store.

Past Services

Visitation

Monday, December 29, 2014

10:00 - 11:00 am

Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home - Ocean Springs

911 Porter Avenue, Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Memorial Service

Monday, December 29, 2014

Starts at 11:00 am

Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home - Ocean Springs

911 Porter Avenue, Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text. Standard text messaging rates apply.

Guestbook

Visits: 41

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Send Flowers

Send Flowers

Plant A Tree

Plant A Tree