Richard “Dick” Gludt passed away peacefully at his home in Troy on Monday, April 8, 2024. He was 89 years old.
Dad was born Jan. 4, 1935, to Albert and Lucile Ruebke Gludt in Perham, Minn. After the death of his mother at a very young age, his father moved him and his grandmother to Los Angeles. After the death of his father when he was 8, his grandmother raised him through the eighth grade in California. He then moved back to Minnesota where he lived with various family members and attended four different high schools graduating in Thief River Falls in 1952.
After graduation he came to Idaho and worked for the U.S. Forest Service for two summers and helped build the lookout at Cool Water. In the winter of those two years, he attended the State School of Science in North Dakota where he learned automotive body and paint repair.
In 1954 he joined the U.S. Naval Air Force where he was trained as an aircraft structural mechanic. He was stationed in Japan and Whidbey Island Air Force Base being honorably discharged in 1955.
Dad met his future wife Doris in 1954. After a long distance relationship they were married Jan. 4, 1956, in Lewiston. In December of the same year they welcomed their first daughter Deborah. They moved to Mt. Vernon, Wash., where dad worked for Dally’s Auto Body and Upholstery. After learning of their baby’s terminal illness, they moved back to Lewiston. Over the next several years they added four more children to their family. In 1958 they started Dido Upholstery and with a lot of hard work they made it very successful. In 1976 they moved the family to Troy and opened a second Dido Upholstery that was operated with only members of the family. Dad retired in 1997.
Dad always stayed busy. He was organizer of the Lewiston Orchards Businessmen’s Association and cut the ribbon at the dedication of the new Thain Grade. He also was a Boy Scout leader, PTA member, lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus, Troy Lions Club, volunteer firefighter for the Lewiston Orchards and later for the city of Troy. He also drove school bus in Troy for over 20 years.
Dad was a classic car lover and a member of the Crankers Club for over 65 years, the MG Club, Horseless Carriage Club, National Buick Club and the Inland Northwest Buick Club. Our family was always on the road in one of the classics that he and mom acquired over the years. As dad always said, we were “making memories.”
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Doris; one daughter Denise Beamish (Tom); three sons: Dan (Michelle), Doug (Lisa), Dave (Dawn); four grandsons, three granddaughters, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild due in October. He was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, daughter Deborah and grandson Dusty.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 4, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 618 E. First St., Moscow, with a reception to follow. The graveside service will be held later the same day, 2 p.m., in the veterans section, Lewis-Clark Memorial Gardens, Lewiston. To honor dad, the family would love to see classic cars in attendance and suggests donations to the Troy Senior Center, Troy Volunteer Fire Department or St. Mary's Catholic Church in Moscow.
