Richard E. Getchell ’53 died on July 26, 2024, in Scarborough, Maine.
(The following was provided by the Central Maine on August 1, 2024:)
Richard Earl Getchell Sr. ’53
SCARBOROUGH – Richard Earl Getchell Sr., 93, died in his sleep at Gosnell Hospice House on July 26, 2024, succumbing to injuries sustained on June 26, 2024, in a traffic accident caused by a driver who ran a red light.
Dick Getchell was born on October 5, 1930, in Pittsfield, to John V. and Doris Steen Getchell. An only child, he was raised in Skowhegan, where they moved houses “every time the ash trays got full,” according to Dick’s wry description. Dick loved sports and played many hours of sandlot baseball with friends, followed by a Skowhegan High School career that included football, basketball, and track, which proved to be his specialty. He was president of the SHS class of 1948. His special girl was Joan Dionne, the class valedictorian, whom he would go on to marry on June 15, 1953, at Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church in Skowhegan.
Dick took a post-grad year at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield before matriculating into the Bowdoin College Class of 1953. He was a stand-out track athlete at both institutions, specializing in hurdles races. At one of the many big meets he entered he ran in a heat against Olympic gold medalist Harrison Dillard. He was a two-time recipient of the Alan Hillman Trophy as the outstanding track man in the Maine State College Championship meet. Dick’s name has a permanent place in the college’s record book for the 220 low hurdles, an event which was eventually discontinued.
Dick was a brother in the Theta Delta Chi fraternity and kept friendships for decades with brother TDs, including many of the TD brothers and sisters from his sons’ and daughter’s generation. Dick served in the US Army for two years during the Korean conflict, stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he began a lifelong friendship with Skip Grant of Livermore Falls. After the service, he was hired to teach biology and coach track at Westbrook High School. He and Joan moved their growing family from Skowhegan to Westbrook and in a few years bought the house on Stroudwater Street where their five children grew up. An avid golfer, he joined Gorham Country Club and had a group with a regular morning tee time on Saturdays. Dick continued his education, earning a master’s degree at Colby College and becoming an expert at curriculum development. He served a short time as assistant principal at WHS before taking on the role of principal, which he held for 17 years, and then Curriculum Director for the school district. He served Maine athletics as a member of the MPA basketball committee and as a high school and collegiate track meet official. When he retired from Westbrook he worked for the Maine Principals Association in Augusta.
By this time, he and Joan had moved back to Skowhegan to be close to his mother and their many Dionne relatives, who always treated Dick like the beloved family member he was. The couple began to split their time between Maine and Port Charlotte, Florida, until Joan’s terminal illness in the year 2000. After her death, Dick again spent winters in Florida, where some friends matched him up with a recent widow named Joanie Kennedy. The two married in Skowhegan in 2008 but had only a short while together before Joanie, too, succumbed to cancer.
Dick lived for many years in the same Skowhegan apartment where he and Joan began their family in the 1950s. In 2015, the MPA inducted Dick into its Hall of Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Maine high school athletics. In November of 2023 Dick moved to an apartment in Cumberland, maintaining his independence while knowing he could depend upon his kids who lived in the Portland area. He enjoyed monthly lunch outings with other retired teachers from Westbrook. Through the years, he was particularly devoted to attending the high school and college graduations of his grandchildren, until he just couldn’t travel. He regularly attended Homecoming and Reunion weekends at Bowdoin, where he enjoyed connecting with his fellow Old Guard alumni.
Richard Getchell, Sr., is predeceased by his parents, his wife Joan Dionne, his wife Joanie Kennedy, his son Bill, and many Dionne family in-laws.
He is survived by his sons Tom Getchell and his wife, Claudia, of Scarborough, Jim Getchell and his wife, Mary, of Duluth, MN, and Richard Getchell, Jr. and his wife, Jena, of Miami FL; his daughter, Jane, and her husband, Dennis Gildart of Yarmouth; his daughters-in-law Joann Barry Getchell and Cindy Getchell; grandchildren Sarah Getchell Labua (Tim), John Getchell, Ben Getchell (Emily), Diana Mankowski (Ryan), Bill Gildart (Miranda), Patrick Gildart (Lori), Shannon Gildart, Joanna Wimbish (Will), Zoe Getchell, Jordan Getchell, Richard E. Luke Getchell, and Samantha Getchell; and eleven great-grandchildren: Claire, Matthew, Jude, Kira, Shea, Nora, Jack, Abby, Torin, Fiadh, and Finley. He is also survived by Dionne in-laws Verna Lister and Genevieve and Hod Fortier, plus many nieces, nephews, and “grands.”