Obituary of Richard Read

A funeral service for Richard Read, age 84, of Lake Park, will be held Friday, May 18, 2018 at 1:30 PM at United Methodist Church in Lake Park. Burial will be at Lakeview Cemetery in Spirit Lake. Visitation will be on Thursday, May 17th after 3:00 pm with the family present from 5:00-7:00 pm at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Lake Park. Richard Martin Read was born July 1, 1933 to Martin and Inez (Long) Read outside of Spirit Lake, Iowa near the shore of East Lake Okoboji. He was the youngest child, joining older siblings, James, David, Mary and Phyllis. Richard grew up on a farm near Camp Foster and attended Arnolds Park School, graduating with the class of 1951. He was active in the Dickinson County 4-H, showing many sheep at the Iowa State Fair, Clay County Fair and was a part of the Demonstration team in Chicago in 1948. Richard attended one year each at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa and Estherville Junior College before volunteering for the draft in 1955. After spending 1.5 years in Germany, he returned to Iowa and attended Iowa State Teachers College (UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, graduating with a BS in math in 1959. In 1961, Richard was united in marriage to Lola (Matthews) Read and they were blessed with two sons, Bruce Martin and Bryan Howard. Richard received his MS in Mathematics from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota in 1971. He was also a graduate of Cliff Mann Floral School in Denver, Colorado in 1977 and was a co-owner of Read's Flowers and Things in Lake Park form 1974-1984. He taught math in Lake Park, Estherville and Spirit Lake before returning to Harris Lake Park, teaching until his retirement in 1992. Richard volunteered with Educational Foundation (student exchange program) and placed fifty-five students in area homes as well as hosted four students of their own, Nils, Peter, Lena, and Evelyn. He enjoyed traveling to Europe, England and had traveled to all fifty states. Richard served on the Lake Park City Council, served as the Mayor of Lake Park, board member and past president of Northwest Aging Association and board member and chairman of the Spirit Lake Senior Center. He also was a Lifetime National Education Association and Iowa State Education Association member, served on the Dickinson County Fair Board and as sheep superintendent. He taught Sunday School at the Spirit Lake United Methodist Church and Lake Park, as well as served on several church boards at the United Methodist Church in Lake Park. Richard passed away May 13, 2018 at the St. Luke Care Center in Spencer, Iowa at eighty-four years of age. He is survived by his wife, Lola Read, of Lake Park; sons, Bruce (Patricia) Read of Muscatine, Iowa and Bryan (Nicolle) Read of Brandon, South Dakota; grandchildren, Laura Gerwing, Jennifer (Steph) Read, Elizabeth Scheele, Alexander Read, Peyton Roesch, Conner Read and Madison Read; brother, David (Mary) Read of Warsaw, Indiana; sister, Mary Nieman of Indianola, Iowa; brothers-in-law, Melvin Haden of Lytton, Iowa and Burlin (Alice) Matthews of Spencer, Iowa; numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. Richard was preceded in death by his parents, Martin and Inez Read; in-laws, Burrel and Mabel Matthews; sister, Phyllis Haden; brother and sister-in-law, James (Juanita) Read; brother-in-law, Merle Nieman and nephew, Jimmy.