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Havenbrook Funeral Home
3401 Havenbrook Street
Norman, OK 73072
(permission granted)
Richard Lee Divine
May 9, 1932 ~ November 15, 2017
Richard Lee Divine, 85, passed away in Norman, OK on November 15, 2017. Richard was born on May 9, 1932 in Greenfield, Missouri to Carl Leland Divine and Vina Rose (Glenn) Divine. He moved to Oklahoma when he was eight years old and attended school in Glen Oak, Adair, Rutherford and Nowata, OK. On July 28, 1948, at the age of 16, he embarked on a 30-year career in the US Army. He reported to Fort Jackson, South Carolina and by November 1948 he was stationed in Darmstadt, Germany. He married Reva Pauline (Lorraine) Reeder, July 6, 1951, in Bartlesville, OK, and they began their lives together in Dachau, Germany. Their daughter, Connie, was born in Regensburg, Germany in 1953 and their daughter, Janice, was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia in 1956.
Richard was a devoted son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He served his country proudly. In addition to Germany, his military career took him to Korea; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Greenland; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Washington D.C. at the Pentagon, where he worked for the Under Secretary of the Army; Fort Amador and Fort Kobbe, Panama, Canal Zone, where he achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major in 1968; Vietnam; Fort Hood and West Fort Hood, Texas; and Kaiserslautern and Oberursel, Germany. He retired July 1978 while stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington.
After retirement from the military, he went to work for Bell Helicopter and he and Reva went to Teheran, Iran. When the revolution broke out in Iran, they were evacuated and moved to Norman, Oklahoma where they bought their first and only home. Richard went to work at the Veterans Center in 1979 in Norman, OK, serving as Personnel Officer. He retired from the Veterans Center in 1992.
Richard is preceded in death by his wife, Reva, in 2015, after 63 years of marriage; his parents; brothers, Johnny Redman and James Redman; and sister, Betty Grazier.
He is survived by his daughter, Connie Lea Divine and her husband, Raymond Psikal of Norman; daughter, Janice Lorraine McGill, and her husband, Roger McGill of Marble Falls, Texas. Six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Riley Lee Dallas, wife Sarah and son Jackson of Austin, Texas; Justin Loyd Dallas, wife Carrie, and their daughter, Charlie Lorraine of Marble Falls, Texas; Chelsea Minks and husband, Hunter, of Brno, Czech Republic; Christopher Robert Dietze of Cedar Park, Texas; Scott Ryan Dietze of Marble Falls, Texas; and James Alexander McGill, of Greeley, Colorado; Brother, Charles Redman, his wife Alta, and sister Bonnie Sue Tosh of Broken Arrow; as well as several nieces and nephews.
Veterans were near and dear to Richard’s heart. Until his death he served as treasurer for AMVETS Post #9 in Norman, raising funds for the Veterans Center in Norman in order to make Christmas a little better for those who served our country. He also served as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Oklahoma Veterans Council in Oklahoma City.
Services will be held at 10am, Friday, November 17th at Havenbrook Funeral Home, 3401 Havenbrook Street, Norman, OK, officiated by Dustin Sells and Jamaal Jackson. Burial will be at the Fort Sill National Cemetery, Monday, Nov. 20th at 11am.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Richard can be made to any of your local Veterans organizations of your choice or to Generations Church, 1433 West Boyd Street, Norman, OK.
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