Richard (Dick) Nathan Lutz, died at his home in Laramie on December 7, 2018. He was born in Morristown, NJ on September 18, 1925 to Florence Carmicle and Clayton N. Lutz. He grew up in Florham Park, NJ and upon graduation from high school in 1943 he joined the Marine Corp.
He served three years in the South Pacific during WWII on the islands of Hawaii in Honolulu, Pearl Harbor and Maui. He also spent time on the Marshal Islands in Saipan and Tinian then on the islands of Gaum and Wake. In the early 1950’s he was called back into service during the Korean conflict and served state side at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Upon his return to civilian life he became a long-haul truck driver. He was also an expert carpenter, handyman and contractor. He flipped houses before it was a fad. He was a quick-witted man with a dry sense of humor. He loved the outdoors and was an avid hunter, fly fisherman and camper. He willingly taught his skills to anyone who wanted to learn.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Florence G. Mathews; his parent’s; a sister, Doris L. Dempsey; and two brothers, William and Ronald Lutz.
He is survived by his best friend and companion of 30 years, Gail Lamb; her children, Eric Lamb (Renae) and Jennifer Kilpatrick (Patrick), step son, Howard P. Armstrong. He has one surviving brother, John Lutz (Beverly) of Statesville, NC. He has several grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews that have survived him.
A Memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, June 29, 2019 at Montgomery-Stryker Funeral Home with the Reverend Rhett Ivey, officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Laramie Animal Shelter Foundation, PO Box 514, Laramie, WY 82073 or to the Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled, 250 N 1950 West, Suite A, Salt Lake City, UT 84116.
Dear Ms. Lamb, Please accept my sincerest condolences on the passing of your dear campanion Richard Lutz who I knew as Dick. I work with Dick when he was living in Duanesburg, New York, I was living in Rotterdam, New York at that time and I had just gotten out of high school ttwo years previous, this would have been in 1974. I worked with Dick for about one year as his assistant carpenter, we did a lot of different types of jobs around the duanesburg area, and I learned a lot from him. I drove up to his house every morning Monday through Friday and sometimes Saturday morning and met him and help loading the tools that we needed and then the two of us would go to the job site in our separate trucks, except I had a van he had the truck. He had a baby white and tan cat when I first started working with him in the Autumn of 1974, and the cat grew up during my tenure with him. Dick was a really nice guy. Dick never talked much but he certainly knew a lot about carpentry and building and repairing anything that a customer needed or wanted done, and he taught me a lot. He was very patient and explained things to me that I didn't know. Add everyone liked him, and a lot of people knew him from duanesburg area. I never forgot him. I have been looking for him on the internet for several years now, curious as to where he ended up and if he was still alive, but unfortunately he's not, and I never thought of looking out of side of New York State, I was always looking around the upstate New York area because the last time I saw him was in Schenectady, New York around 1977, he had moved away from Duanesburg into Schenectady. I live over in Europe now in Austria in a village very near Vienna and have been here for 25 years. I would love to hear from you or one of your children if you want to get in touch with me, I'd love to know what Dick was up to in the 30 years that you spent with him. Kind regards, Mark Luce Austria / Europe [email protected]
Gail, I am so sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself. Sending prayers. Sandy McJunkin
RIP Uncle Bucky. I’ll always remember you taught me to fish and your antelope stew. I’m sorry our paths were so far apart. Here’s a wish that no one take others for granted. I know you’re up there under blue skies doing what you loved. Love, Carol