Memorials › PO1 Richard Olin "Dick" Pea

PO1 Richard Olin "Dick" Pea

6 Feb 1925 – 18 May 2009

Birth	6 Feb 1925
Death	18 May 2009
Cemetery	Sacramento Valley National Cemetery Dixon , Solano County , California , USA
Added by	Monica Sepulveda on 23 Oct 2009
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41745599

Bio

Richard Olin Pea Electronics Technician, Petty Officer 1st Class, US Navy ~ Korea February 6, 1925 - May 18, 2009 ∼ Richard Olin Pea died in San Jose, California, on May 18, 2009. Richard Olin Pea ("Dick") was born in Sayre, Beckham County, Oklahoma, on February 6, 1925, the seventh child of nine children, to the late Harley Halsted and Jessie Opal [Crawford] Pea. The family moved to California during the Dust Bowl Migration of the early thirties. In 1943, he took early graduation from Chowchilla High School in the San Joaquin Valley, to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served until the end of World War II on Baker Island in the South Pacific, as a Coast Guard Communicator. Returning home, he began his studies at (then) San Jose State College (now San Jose State University). As the situation in Korea began to heat up, he joined the Naval Reserves. Being a Communicator, he was immediately recalled to active duty, serving aboard a Navy ship off the Korean coast. After graduating from SJSC as an Electrical Engineer in 1954, he was employed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Ames Research Center, Mt. View, California, until his retirement in 1989. One of Richard's greatest personal achievements was a nuclear power supply he designed in three weeks for the Pioneer 10 mission. It launched in March of 1972, reached a top speed of 82,000 mph as it passed Jupiter in 1973, and is the first space probe to leave our solar system in 1983. As a philanthropist, he has left his real properties to his alma mater(s): Chowchilla High School District and San Jose State University. Having no children of his own, he has also set up a trust fund to assist in the education of his parent's heirs. He is survived by a brother, Charley Wilson Pea, of Shelby Mississippi, and a sister, Mary Ellen Pea, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He was predeceased by four sisters: the late Mrs. Irma Creedy and Mrs. Ruth Petersen of Wisconsin; Mrs. Rose Pebley, of Oregon, and Cleoma Axtell of California; and two brothers, Thomas Crawford of Arizona and Harley Boone Pea of California. His best friend for over 45 years was Sal Rositano, a co-worker at Ames Research, who served as primary caregiver for this blind veteran. A funeral service was held at Oak Hill Funeral Home, Drawing Room Chapel, on Saturday, May 30, 2009. In recognition of his faithful military service through two wars, Dick Pea was honored with a Burial and Graveside ceremony on Monday, June 1, 2009, at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon California. ------------------ His original obituary was first published in the San Jose Mercury News on May 27, 2009.

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