Lasting Memories
Richard Clyde Dundas
Oct. 26, 1935-March 30, 2016
Palo Alto, California
Richard Clyde Dundas died at the age of 80 on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, in his home in Palo Alto, California. Born in New Orleans and raised in a small village on Alaska's St. Lawrence Island in the middle of the Bering Sea, Dick, as friends knew him, was blessed with equal parts independent self-reliance, boundless curiosity and hospitable charm.
Dick was a husband, a father, an engineer, a Marine, a fisherman, a conservationist and a sports fanatic. In Alaska, he developed a deep sense of tradition and place, an unbreakable bond with the native Yupik people and a love of the natural land. He could carve walrus ivory, drive a dog sled, and catch a king crab with little more than a fishing line and an ice hole all by the age of 12.
He was educated at Shattuck School in Faribault, Minnesota, and Stanford University. At Shattuck he was taught not to be a "lesson learner" and instead seek out information and knowledge beyond what was expected. He was captain of the track team and his senior class president, and his membership on Shattuck's Crack Squad, a precision rifle drill team, was always a point of pride. At Stanford he became an engineer, a profession that energized his entire life, with a career focused on control systems and telecommunications. And as a member of Phi Kappa Psi, Dick formed lifelong friendships with his fraternity brothers, many of whom visited him in his final days.
He relished every opportunity to watch Stanford athletics and fiercely derided any criticism of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band. He must have attended 1000 Stanford sporting events, from football (30-year season ticket holder), baseball and basketball to men's water polo, women's volleyball, men's crew and women's tennis. And while he rejoiced in seeing Stanford win two recent Rose Bowls, the fact that he will not see Christian McCaffrey win the Heisman Trophy led to some regret.
While at Stanford Dick met his wife, Mary Lynn, to whom he was lovingly married for nearly 50 years. They were introduced at a party she threw with friends at the old Flamingo Motel in Palo Alto, California, and ended up on a double date the very next night in San Francisco. Together, they had one son, Michael, to whom Dick taught a love of soccer, to always curb your wheels in San Francisco, and to overpay a merchant whenever mistakenly undercharged. With his family, he enjoyed exploring his adopted California, particularly Muir Woods, Kings Canyon, Carmel and Sea Ranch. And while he always carried a Thomas Guide, the truth was he knew every traffic short cut and scenic drive from San Francisco to Savannah to Boston and back again.
He may have been the only man with the patience and discipline to pick every bit of meat out of a Dungeness crab before taking a single bite. He also had a deep love for crispy bacon, single malt scotch, his wife's bread and butter pickles, fresh king salmon, oysters on the half shell, big bowls of steamed clams and both Anchor Steam and Leinenkugel's, the taste for the latter coming from his loving mother Alice, who was raised in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
He was pouring his meticulously crafted rendition of a proper old fashioned long before Milk & Honey ever opened on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. And he always smiled in appreciation when a waiter knew what he meant when he ordered his steak "bleu." Just as long as they didn't keep him waiting for his table past the reservation time! Like Jerry Seinfeld, he couldn't understand why so many could "take" a reservation but couldn't "hold" a reservation, which is the most important part.
He once worked as a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska, helped construct a nuclear power plant in Spain and owned a bar across from Hollywood Park racetrack in California. He was a voracious reader of historical nonfiction in the colder months and, in the summers, a great grill man who also churned his fair share of hand-cranked, homemade ice cream. He loved to celebrate just about any occasion with friends and family, but if he thought you were fussing over him, he might tell you that your efforts were just a bit "too much mustard."
Dick was predeceased by his father, Francis Marion Dundas, who was born in Cumberland, Maryland, and taught him the inside mechanics of a car, and his mother, Alice Clyde Dundas, who was a graduate of Cornell University and one of the first female field researchers for the Weather Bureau of the United States. He is survived by his wife Mary Lynn Dundas of Palo Alto, California; by his son, Michael, and Michael's longtime girlfriend, Leigh Flores, both of Los Angeles; by his sister-in-law, Orelyn Emerson of Jericho, Vermont; by his niece, Laurie Emerson of Staunton, Virginia; by his niece, Ellie Brady, and her husband, Patrick Brady, both of South Burlington, Vermont, and his grand niece, Emma Brady of San Francisco; by his nephew, Robert Davis Jr. and his grand niece, Alice Davis, both of Burlington, Vermont.
The family would like to thank the doctors and nursing teams and support staff at the Stanford Cancer Center and Palo Alto Medical Foundation, who took such wonderful care of him. The family knows that Dick would like to thank Oliver, the dog, for being his medicine man.
May 8, 2016
I hadn’t known Dick as long as some of the others who have visited this Memorial page site. And I don’t have any photos to share. But I can tell you that I enjoyed Dick immensely. I enjoyed his hospitality, his effervescence, his joy of life. Far less important, but still memorable, I enjoyed Dick’s sharing of a good bottle of single malt scotch. Rest in peace, Dick Dundas. You were a joy for all of us who had the opportunity and good fortune to know you. Alan Davis
April 27, 2016
April 8, 2016
