Guy Richard Dick Goebel, of Rochester, passed away on May 15, 2015 at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington. He was only 65 years old. Dick was born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1950 and moved with his parents and three sisters to Centralia, Washington in 1954. Dick was the youngest in the family and was a bit of a wild child. He viewed the world with rose-colored glasses and always seemed to find a way to have a good time.
As he grew into a man, he developed a deep sense of pride for his country and felt a duty to protect it. When Dick was 18 years old, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. On Dec. 31, 1968, after 8 weeks of recruit training in San Diego, California, Dick deployed to Vietnam. He was a rifleman assigned to 1st platoon, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, Lima Company. Dick was involved in countless firefights, witnessed the deaths of most of his comrades and suffered malaria, while on his tour of duty.
He returned home on Jan. 1, 1970 and married his high school sweetheart, Judy Graham on Aug. 30, 1970, in Centralia, Washington. Eventually, they bought property near Offut Lake in Tenino where they built a home and had two children, Tim and Keri. Dick worked as a hod carrier for Barkshire Panel Systems in Federal Way for 32 years, retiring in 2005. He was a proud member of VFW post 5878 and American Legion post 0017.
On Aug. 26, 2000, Dick married Sharon Hood (Grange), together they moved from Tenino to Rochester, with Sharon’s son, Nathan. Dick and Sharon really enjoyed retirement together, they loved traveling to new places and spoiling their grandkids. Everyone knew that Dick’s real passion was baseball. He loved to play, coach, watch and talk about baseball. He was instrumental in forming Larch Mountain Little League in 1980, the league that still exists today for Tenino, Rochester and Oakville players. Dick was young at heart, children were always drawn to him and he had a special skill for working with them. He was also an optimist, truly believing that each team he coached had the potential to make it to the Little League World Series.
When he wasn’t coaching baseball, he was serving others in some capacity. Even through two cancer diagnoses, Dick volunteered to drive veterans to their doctor appointments at the VA in Seattle and at American Lake. He also drove school bus for the Rochester School District and as always, the kids on his bus loved him. In his final years, Dick drew real joy from spending time with his grandchildren, Cora and Arne.
Dick is survived by his wife, Sharon of 15 years; daughter, Keri (Chris) Balmer of Snoqualmie; son, Tim (Ingrid) Goebel of Tumwater; stepson, Nathan (Ashlee) Hood of Tumwater; sisters, Cheryl Burton and Linda Studeman; two grandchildren; and two step-grandchildren.
His parents, Guy and Cleo Goebel; and sister, Janet Ashmore, preceded him in death.
A celebration of Dick’s life will be held on Friday, May 29, 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Fords Prairie Grange, 2640 W. Reynolds Ave., Centralia, WA 98531.
Memorial gifts can be designated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer research at Fred Hutch. Memorials can be made online at www.fredhutch.org/memorial or mailed to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PO Box 19024, #J5-200 Seattle, WA 98109.
