Richard Konizeski

Richard (Dick) Konizeski, was a well known resident of Cape George having lived there with his wife Ruby for app. 40 years. He was born 9 March 1917 and died 28 Jan 2021. Just shy 5 weeks of his 104th birthday. He was well known in the Port Townsend community as the man who wears a beaver coat. Dick was extremely fond of walking around the colony and town, hitting the book shops, thrift stores, and garage sales where he purchased the coat a few years ago. Dick was born in Clarkston, WA. He was the third and youngest child of Walter and Lillian (Meador) Konizeski. The family shortly moved to Asotin and from there moved to Long Beach due to Walter’s health. Dick and his sibs lived a life on the beach that most kids would have given their right arm for. Clamming, crabbing, fishing, etc. was a way of life for Dick and he lived that life as often as possible all of his years. When he was 10 years old, the family moved to Everett where he and his brother Clarence went to school. After high school graduation both young men worked for their Dad who managed a foundry. At the same time, Dick became very interested in sailing, built his own small sail boat and also worked for a summer on a tug boat. Following graduation Dick met Ruby at a roller rink in Everett. Roller skating was all the rage in those days. He was skating when he saw Ruby get bumped and fall. Quickly skating over, he picked her up and skated off the floor, setting her down on a bench to see if she was all right. The romance started that day. Dick and Ruby married in 1942. After working in the foundry for several years Dick, with Ruby’s support, decided he wanted to do something different with his life, applied to Washington State, Pullman, and went on to college where he got his bachelor’s degree. From there he was accepted at the University of Chicago and graduated with a PhD in Vertebrate Paleontology in 1955. The family decided to move back west again – city life was not for them. Dick went to work for the USGS and moved to Missoula, Montana. After buying, living in, fixing up and selling several houses, a home and acreage was bought in the country a few miles outside of Missoula where the girls had horses (their life’s dream come true). After working for the USGS for a few years, Dick was offered a position as full professor of hydrology in the department of forestry at the University of Montana. He retired from that position in 1980. He and Ruby decided they wanted to move back to western Washington with a view of the water. Thus Cape George plus several sail boats! First the Aeolus and then the White Wing not to mention Tail Feather, a dingy that he built from scratch. At such an advanced age, Dick was preceded in death by his wife, both parents, and brother and sister. He is survived by his two daughters, four grandchildren, five great grandchildren, two nephews, and a niece.