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Richard Dean (Dick) Hamilton was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 15, 1933 to A.A. (Pat) Hamilton and Emma A. (Wesselhoft) Hamilton. He was the sixth of seven children, George Hamilton, Dandy Fletcher, Jane Wisdom, Ham Hamilton, Tom Hamilton, and Ruthie Ray. At the age of six Dick's mother passed away, and he was then raised by his older sister, Jane, and his father. He was educated in Oklahoma City as well as St. Joseph's Prep Boarding School in Muskogee, Oklahoma, St. Gregory's Catholic High School in Shawnee, and graduated from Fargo High School in Fargo, Oklahoma in 1952.
After a short stint in the United States Army, he moved to Dallas, Texas and in 1955 married Joyce Latta of Fargo. They had four children: Kathryn Ann, Linda Joyce, Patricia Ruth, and Martin Richard. Dick and Joyce divorced in 1986 but remained friends until her untimely death in 2015.
He met his best friend and most loyal supporter, Mary Jewel Gamble, in 1990. They married and shared the rest of his life together, truly dedicated and in love the whole ride.
After eight years of working in Dallas, Oklahoma City, and the oilfield in northwest Oklahoma, Dick leased part of his dad's ranch south of Fargo. Upon his father's death in 1965, he bought the land which two of his sisters had inherited from their father. Over the next forty years he added 3,120 deeded acres within and bordering the ranch. He was the architect and general contractor for both of the Quality Quick Lubes he and his son, Marty established in Woodward, Oklahoma. The original Quick Lube was built in 1981 and the second re-located Quick Lube in 2009.
Dick's interests were varied and rewarding. He began using controlled burning, rotational grazing, and herbicide use as a range management tool in 1968 and demonstrated the value to other ranchers. He was a member and one-term president of the Kansas-Oklahoma Section of the Society for Range Management. From this Society, he received the (Excellence in Grazing Management Award) and the (Trail Boss Award). In 2017, he was honored with the Northwest Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Dale Minnick Honorary Member Award. He was a past Chair of the Range Improvement Committee of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and a founding member of the Northwest Oklahoma Burning Association. He often said he was a Grassman, cattleman, and a pretty good windmill man.
He was a lifelong member of the American Legion and past commander of Arnett Post 313, Leading Knight of the Woodward Elk's Lodge, served one term on the Arnett School Board, and was a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Woodward. Shortly before his death, he received a Quilt of Valor from the Quilt of Valor Foundation for his time serving our country.
Giving back to the community was important to him. Dick was instrumental in improving the Fargo City Park by adding a working windmill and tank and adding to the children's playground. He designed the covered walking bridge which he had constructed by the William S. Key inmates. He also oversaw the placement of the Great Western Trail marker at the park.
Dick was known for his humor, positive attitude, friendliness, and work ethic. He was a very charitable man, giving not only of his resources to family, friends, and sometimes strangers, but also of his time. He was the favorite uncle of numerous nieces and nephews, many of whom spent summer vacation time on the ranch where they were loved, disciplined, and the recipients of many practical jokes. He loved to play pitch with his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. He was a man of ideas, having many businesses during his life. He loved designing and building tools and coming up with ideas to make work more efficient. In his later years, when his health declined, he spent hours on his computer attending to Quick Lube business and researching his many interests.
He was preceded in death by his daughter Patricia Ruth, his parents, and all six siblings. He is survived by his wife, Mary, his daughters, Kathryn Ann Price (Ray Lee), Linda Joyce Newman (Dan), and son Martin Richard (Anna Gilbreath), eleven grandchildren, nineteen great grandchildren, special nephew, Bill Wisdom, step-daughters, Lori Scott (Tom), Lisa Lofton, and four step-grandchildren, and many friends and relatives.
The family offers special thanks to the staff of the Woodward Dialysis Center for their loving care of Dick the past three years.
Services will be Tuesday, July 2, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Woodward with burial to follow at the Fargo Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, it would be Dick's wish that donations be made to Trump 2020 or a favorite charity.
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