Richard Reader “Dick” Colby

Richard Reader “Dick” Colby

Washington

Richard Reader “Dick” Colby, age 97, of Washington, IA, passed away Friday, May 30, 2025, at his home at the United Presbyterian Home.

Visitation with the family will be held Saturday, June 7, 2025 from 1:30 until 3:00 p.m. at the United Presbyterian Church in Washington, IA. A celebration of life service will follow the visitation at 3:00 p.m., also at the UP Church, with a reception afterward. The family will hold a private interment at Elm Grove Cemetery. The Jones & Eden Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations in memory of Dick to the United Presbyterian Church or the United Presbyterian Home of Washington. Online condolences may be offered for Dick’s family at www.jonesfh.com.

Dick was born November 24, 1927, in Minneapolis, MN, the son of Marion Reader Colby and William Davis Colby. He grew up in Pipestone, MN, graduating from Pipestone High School in 1945. While in high school, he worked as a bellhop and desk clerk at the Calumet Hotel in Pipestone. He held Pipestone near to his heart for the rest of his life.

After high school, he served in the U.S. Army with Detachment #5 and Headquarters Company 9th Infantry Division at Fort Dix, NJ from March 1946 until September 1947, when he received an honorable discharge.

Dick then attended Drake University in Des Moines, IA, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He subsequently took a job as banquet manager at the Oak Park Arms Hotel in Oak Park, IL. There he met Elizabeth “Betty” Doran at the First United Presbyterian Church in Oak Park, which they both attended. Dick and Betty were united in marriage on March 7, 1953, in Oak Park. They were married for 67 years until Betty’s death in December 2020.

After several years in Oak Park, the couple moved to Newton, IA, where Dick took a position as assistant manager of the Hotel Maytag. He eventually chose to seek a new career as a retirement home administrator, and following a brief stint at the Masonic Home in Bloomington, MN, Dick accepted the position of superintendent at the United Presbyterian Home in Washington, IA. Dick and Betty moved to Washington in 1965 along with their three children, Ann, Gail, and Ed, and lived there for the rest of their lives. He was the administrator of the UP Home for 27 years until his retirement in 1992.

Dick was a member of the United Presbyterian Church in Washington, where he served as an Elder and Deacon and also on committees of the Presbytery of East Iowa. He was a longtime member and past president of Rotary and for many years coordinated overnight housing for three to four busloads of Rotary exchange students who stopped in town on their annual tour of the country. He served as a board member of Hospice, the Washington Concert Association, the Southeast Iowa Symphony, and the Iowa Association of Homes for the Aging. He was active in Community Chest, serving a term as president, and the Senior Citizens Council and was the co-chairman of the local CROP Walk for many years.

Dick was a devoted father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who enjoyed visiting with family and friends. He had a special fondness for St. Bernards after owning his beloved dog, Harvey. He enjoyed reading, particularly history. And he loved classical music, a passion which began while listening to music shows on the radio with his grandparents in the 1930s and 40s. After he retired in 1992, he created his own hour-long, weekly music program, Classics Etc., which he played for residents at the UP Home and other local retirement homes each week for more than two decades. He delighted in carefully selecting each week’s music (overtures, movements, marches, etc.), researching the composers, and writing the accompanying script to help others learn more about classical music. He regularly attended concerts of the Washington Municipal Band and the Southeast Iowa Symphony.

Dick is survived by his three children: daughter Ann Haden and husband Murray of Birmingham, AL; daughter Gail Granneman and husband Gary of Ottumwa, IA; son Ed Colby and wife Brink of Washington, IA; nine grandchildren: Isaac Baldrige, Angela Baldrige Thompson, Joe Baldrige, Tyler Granneman, Kelsey Granneman, Colby Haden, Andrew Haden, Michael Haden, and Keegan R. Colby; three great-grandchildren: Julius Thompson, Myles Thompson, and Cecilia Haden; and son-in-law, Matt Baldrige and wife Jeri of Columbus Junction, IA.

Dick was preceded in death by his wife Betty, his mother Marion, his brother Charles Colby, and his half-sister Kitty Franzen.