Richard M. 'Dick' Boge

Richard M. "Dick" Boge was born May 21, 1928, the second of three children to Einar Arnold and Kersten Johanna Boge. Dick passed away Saturday, July 1, from injuries, received from a passing driver in an auto accident on the way to his cabin at Priest Lake.

Dick spent his entire life in the Spokane area. He attended Wilson Grade School in the beginning, transferring later to Opportunity Grade School in the Spokane Valley so Einar and his family could own and ride horses. Dick graduated from Central Valley High School in 1946.

During his school years Dick was involved with the sport of boxing and the VFW rifle club. His Uncle Alfred taught Dick at the age of six along with his brother Jim to ski at Mt. Spokane. At that time they were members of the Spokane Ski Club and paid their dues by hiking the hill in order to ski down. Dick's mother, Kersten passed away as a result of childbirth complications when Dick was the age of 15.

Immediately after high school, Dick enlisted in the U.S. Navy serving two years and was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii. Following his service in the Navy Dick returned to the area and attended the University of Idaho, was a fraternity member of the "Fiji's" and then transferred to Washington State University to be closer to his high school sweetheart Nancy Chipman. While at WSU, Dick was a fraternity member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

Dick and Nancy where married in Spokane in 1952. They were married for 48 years. That year Dick also started working for the family business, Boge's Bakery with other family members and his father, Einar. Dick was third generation in the bakery that lasted almost 60 years.

In 1965, Einar passed away and the bakery was passed on to the Boge Bros., Dick and Jim who operated the bakery until 1968 at which time Jim sold his interest to his brother. After selling the bakery to Dick, the operating name of Boge's Bakery was retained though Dick changed the corporate name to Einarsen Bakeries Inc.

Besides servicing the majority interest in the Expo '74 bread concerns, Dick also expanded bakery operations in the late 1970s and early '80s into the Pullman, Moscow, Lewiston areas as well as the Tri-Cities and Moses Lake. With local bakeries becoming a rare commodity, Dick had an opportunity to sell to U.S. Bakery out of Portland, Ore., in 1985. The sale was complete that year on Sept. 8.

On Oct. 17, 2000, Dick's wife Nancy passed away in Spokane after courageously battling cancer for many years.

Dick was a dedicated family man who enjoyed time with his wife Nancy and growing family. Many summer Sundays were spent enjoying Nancy's folk's lake home on Hayden Lake in the 1960s and '70s along with teaching his family how to ski, on the rope tows, and now chairlifts of Mt. Spokane. During those years he also enjoyed riding his horses Preacher and Gypsy. After retiring from the bakery business Dick and Nancy purchased property close to the family cabin at Priest Lake where they enjoyed fixing up the older style lake cabin as well as enjoying WSU Cougar football games in the fall along with traveling abroad including Norway and Hawaii. They both were also charter members in Plymouth Congregational Church which they both attended.

In later years Dick was involved with wood boats and was currently putting on the finishing touches of his restored 1959 Century Resorter as well as another project, a 1930s Chris Craft. He also especially enjoyed time spent walking with his friends at the Cardio Rehab Unit.

An animal lover Dick had a great wealth of family dogs he enjoyed over the years from Tippy during his early school years to his St. Bernard, Gerda, Mi Lee, Keena, Polly and his current little dog Daisy.

Dick was involved in local groups such as The Odin Club, The Inland Empire Antique and Classic Wood Boat Society, was a supporter of the WSU Athletic Foundation and the Spokane Symphony. He also was a member of Rotary, The Knife and Fork Club, the Prime Timers at Mt. Spokane and the Glenrose Association.

Dick is survived by one brother, Jim Boge and his wife Alma in Gig Harbor, Wash. His younger sister Linda Carr passed away in February of this year in Carson City, Nev. Dick's children include son's Michael and his wife Anavel of Sandpoint, Idaho, Tom and his wife Lisa of Chandler, Ariz., and daughter Kathy and husband Brian of Spokane, Wash. Six grandchildren include Cynthia, Tommy, Carolyn, Sarah, Eric and Laura.

Services will be held Friday, July 7, 2006, 2 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1502 W. 8th. Ave. Graveside services to follow at Greenwood Memorial Terrace. Visitation will be held Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home.

The family wishes in lieu of flowers that a donation be sent to SpokAnimal, located in Spokane, Wash.