AVN Cadet US Army Air Forces
World War II
===
Richard Florent Cantrell, 86
November 29, 1924 ~ July 31, 2011
Richard Florent Cantrell was born at home in New Canaan, Connecticut to Percy E. and Irma Smith Cantrell. He was preceded in death by his parents, older sister and three brothers.
Dick took his first ride in an airplane at age 16 and flying became a lifelong passion. He graduated from high school in New Canaan and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. He was stationed in Cedar Rapids, IA, where he met his first wife Betty Kessler Cantrell on a blind date, Santa Ana and Tulare, CA for flight ground school and primary flight training, and Amarillo, TX for B29 flight engineer training. He was in Times Square for VE day. After the war he married Betty in 1947, graduated from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and graduated from medical school at Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Des Moines, IA. The family resided in Portland for a two-year internship at Portland Osteopathic Hospital. He practiced general medicine in What Cheer, IA for five years, where Betty was his nurse, and then moved the family to Vancouver, Washington ("God"s Country!") in 1958 where he practiced in the Hazel Dell area for 31 years. He was on the staff of Portland Osteopathic Hospital (later known as Eastmoreland General Hospital) and Vancouver Memorial Hospital. He was also a regional Federal Aviation Medical Examiner and provided medical services for the Goodyear Blimp crews and their families when needed locally. He often provided free physicals for local Boy Scout Troops.
"Doc" was a member of Lions Clubs International for 56 years and received a 50 year membership award from the Fort Vancouver Lions Club. He held all offices up to and including Zone Chairman and chartered three clubs, including the Hazel Dell Lions Club of which he became a member for the last two years of his life. He served on the City of Vancouver/Pearson Airport Commission for numerous years and was a private pilot owning several aircraft. He could frequently be seen at Pearson Airpark during his lunch break, and often flew to Troutdale, Salem, or Hillsboro for lunch in his private plane. He took family and friends to the Reno Air Races nearly every September, and was a long-time member of the Columbia Aviation Country Club. In addition to a lifetime membership in the Vancouver Elks Lodge, he bowled with Betty in several leagues, enjoyed boating on weekends, playing golf and loved fishing for steelhead on the Lewis River.
"Doc" was a great tour guide. He thoroughly enjoyed driving the family across the country to national parks and monuments and to visit friends and relatives on the east coast and in the Midwest. Fishing for wall-eyed pike in Canada were some of his happiest times, except the trip when he caught the "whopper" and Betty caught a bigger one the next day.
Betty Cantrell passed away in 1972, shortly after their 25th anniversary. He married Doris Hart Cantrell in 1974, and when he retired from his medical practice in 1989 they spent winters in Mesa, Arizona and traveled to Maui, Hawaii nearly every year. Doris passed away in 2004.
"Doc" is survived by three daughters (all born in Iowa), Lynn Cantrell Fish ( Jeffrey P.), Patricia Cantrell, and Janet Cantrell; and grandchildren, Ryan Richard Fish and Cara Fish Wood (Justin); and great-granddaughters, Lindsay and Allison Wood. His daughter Connie preceded him in death in 1958 from birth defects. He was also very fond of his Hart family grandchildren by marriage, Marty and Mike Niehaus, Jaime Helgeson, and Jill Messinger and their children.
Services will be held Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 7:00 p.m., Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church, 5701 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver, Washington.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hazel Dell Lions Scholarship Fund, PO Box 65385, Vancouver, WA 98665.
Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) — Wednesday, August 24, 2011
===
World War II
===
Richard Florent Cantrell, 86
November 29, 1924 ~ July 31, 2011
Richard Florent Cantrell was born at home in New Canaan, Connecticut to Percy E. and Irma Smith Cantrell. He was preceded in death by his parents, older sister and three brothers.
Dick took his first ride in an airplane at age 16 and flying became a lifelong passion. He graduated from high school in New Canaan and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. He was stationed in Cedar Rapids, IA, where he met his first wife Betty Kessler Cantrell on a blind date, Santa Ana and Tulare, CA for flight ground school and primary flight training, and Amarillo, TX for B29 flight engineer training. He was in Times Square for VE day. After the war he married Betty in 1947, graduated from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and graduated from medical school at Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Des Moines, IA. The family resided in Portland for a two-year internship at Portland Osteopathic Hospital. He practiced general medicine in What Cheer, IA for five years, where Betty was his nurse, and then moved the family to Vancouver, Washington ("God"s Country!") in 1958 where he practiced in the Hazel Dell area for 31 years. He was on the staff of Portland Osteopathic Hospital (later known as Eastmoreland General Hospital) and Vancouver Memorial Hospital. He was also a regional Federal Aviation Medical Examiner and provided medical services for the Goodyear Blimp crews and their families when needed locally. He often provided free physicals for local Boy Scout Troops.
"Doc" was a member of Lions Clubs International for 56 years and received a 50 year membership award from the Fort Vancouver Lions Club. He held all offices up to and including Zone Chairman and chartered three clubs, including the Hazel Dell Lions Club of which he became a member for the last two years of his life. He served on the City of Vancouver/Pearson Airport Commission for numerous years and was a private pilot owning several aircraft. He could frequently be seen at Pearson Airpark during his lunch break, and often flew to Troutdale, Salem, or Hillsboro for lunch in his private plane. He took family and friends to the Reno Air Races nearly every September, and was a long-time member of the Columbia Aviation Country Club. In addition to a lifetime membership in the Vancouver Elks Lodge, he bowled with Betty in several leagues, enjoyed boating on weekends, playing golf and loved fishing for steelhead on the Lewis River.
"Doc" was a great tour guide. He thoroughly enjoyed driving the family across the country to national parks and monuments and to visit friends and relatives on the east coast and in the Midwest. Fishing for wall-eyed pike in Canada were some of his happiest times, except the trip when he caught the "whopper" and Betty caught a bigger one the next day.
Betty Cantrell passed away in 1972, shortly after their 25th anniversary. He married Doris Hart Cantrell in 1974, and when he retired from his medical practice in 1989 they spent winters in Mesa, Arizona and traveled to Maui, Hawaii nearly every year. Doris passed away in 2004.
"Doc" is survived by three daughters (all born in Iowa), Lynn Cantrell Fish ( Jeffrey P.), Patricia Cantrell, and Janet Cantrell; and grandchildren, Ryan Richard Fish and Cara Fish Wood (Justin); and great-granddaughters, Lindsay and Allison Wood. His daughter Connie preceded him in death in 1958 from birth defects. He was also very fond of his Hart family grandchildren by marriage, Marty and Mike Niehaus, Jaime Helgeson, and Jill Messinger and their children.
Services will be held Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 7:00 p.m., Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church, 5701 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver, Washington.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hazel Dell Lions Scholarship Fund, PO Box 65385, Vancouver, WA 98665.
Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) — Wednesday, August 24, 2011
===
AVN Cadet US Army Air Forces
World War II
===
Richard Florent Cantrell, 86
November 29, 1924 ~ July 31, 2011
Richard Florent Cantrell was born at home in New Canaan, Connecticut to Percy E. and Irma Smith Cantrell. He was preceded in death by his parents, older sister and three brothers.
Dick took his first ride in an airplane at age 16 and flying became a lifelong passion. He graduated from high school in New Canaan and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. He was stationed in Cedar Rapids, IA, where he met his first wife Betty Kessler Cantrell on a blind date, Santa Ana and Tulare, CA for flight ground school and primary flight training, and Amarillo, TX for B29 flight engineer training. He was in Times Square for VE day. After the war he married Betty in 1947, graduated from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and graduated from medical school at Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Des Moines, IA. The family resided in Portland for a two-year internship at Portland Osteopathic Hospital. He practiced general medicine in What Cheer, IA for five years, where Betty was his nurse, and then moved the family to Vancouver, Washington ("God"s Country!") in 1958 where he practiced in the Hazel Dell area for 31 years. He was on the staff of Portland Osteopathic Hospital (later known as Eastmoreland General Hospital) and Vancouver Memorial Hospital. He was also a regional Federal Aviation Medical Examiner and provided medical services for the Goodyear Blimp crews and their families when needed locally. He often provided free physicals for local Boy Scout Troops.
"Doc" was a member of Lions Clubs International for 56 years and received a 50 year membership award from the Fort Vancouver Lions Club. He held all offices up to and including Zone Chairman and chartered three clubs, including the Hazel Dell Lions Club of which he became a member for the last two years of his life. He served on the City of Vancouver/Pearson Airport Commission for numerous years and was a private pilot owning several aircraft. He could frequently be seen at Pearson Airpark during his lunch break, and often flew to Troutdale, Salem, or Hillsboro for lunch in his private plane. He took family and friends to the Reno Air Races nearly every September, and was a long-time member of the Columbia Aviation Country Club. In addition to a lifetime membership in the Vancouver Elks Lodge, he bowled with Betty in several leagues, enjoyed boating on weekends, playing golf and loved fishing for steelhead on the Lewis River.
"Doc" was a great tour guide. He thoroughly enjoyed driving the family across the country to national parks and monuments and to visit friends and relatives on the east coast and in the Midwest. Fishing for wall-eyed pike in Canada were some of his happiest times, except the trip when he caught the "whopper" and Betty caught a bigger one the next day.
Betty Cantrell passed away in 1972, shortly after their 25th anniversary. He married Doris Hart Cantrell in 1974, and when he retired from his medical practice in 1989 they spent winters in Mesa, Arizona and traveled to Maui, Hawaii nearly every year. Doris passed away in 2004.
"Doc" is survived by three daughters (all born in Iowa), Lynn Cantrell Fish ( Jeffrey P.), Patricia Cantrell, and Janet Cantrell; and grandchildren, Ryan Richard Fish and Cara Fish Wood (Justin); and great-granddaughters, Lindsay and Allison Wood. His daughter Connie preceded him in death in 1958 from birth defects. He was also very fond of his Hart family grandchildren by marriage, Marty and Mike Niehaus, Jaime Helgeson, and Jill Messinger and their children.
Services will be held Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 7:00 p.m., Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church, 5701 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver, Washington.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hazel Dell Lions Scholarship Fund, PO Box 65385, Vancouver, WA 98665.
Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) — Wednesday, August 24, 2011
===
World War II
===
Richard Florent Cantrell, 86
November 29, 1924 ~ July 31, 2011
Richard Florent Cantrell was born at home in New Canaan, Connecticut to Percy E. and Irma Smith Cantrell. He was preceded in death by his parents, older sister and three brothers.
Dick took his first ride in an airplane at age 16 and flying became a lifelong passion. He graduated from high school in New Canaan and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. He was stationed in Cedar Rapids, IA, where he met his first wife Betty Kessler Cantrell on a blind date, Santa Ana and Tulare, CA for flight ground school and primary flight training, and Amarillo, TX for B29 flight engineer training. He was in Times Square for VE day. After the war he married Betty in 1947, graduated from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and graduated from medical school at Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Des Moines, IA. The family resided in Portland for a two-year internship at Portland Osteopathic Hospital. He practiced general medicine in What Cheer, IA for five years, where Betty was his nurse, and then moved the family to Vancouver, Washington ("God"s Country!") in 1958 where he practiced in the Hazel Dell area for 31 years. He was on the staff of Portland Osteopathic Hospital (later known as Eastmoreland General Hospital) and Vancouver Memorial Hospital. He was also a regional Federal Aviation Medical Examiner and provided medical services for the Goodyear Blimp crews and their families when needed locally. He often provided free physicals for local Boy Scout Troops.
"Doc" was a member of Lions Clubs International for 56 years and received a 50 year membership award from the Fort Vancouver Lions Club. He held all offices up to and including Zone Chairman and chartered three clubs, including the Hazel Dell Lions Club of which he became a member for the last two years of his life. He served on the City of Vancouver/Pearson Airport Commission for numerous years and was a private pilot owning several aircraft. He could frequently be seen at Pearson Airpark during his lunch break, and often flew to Troutdale, Salem, or Hillsboro for lunch in his private plane. He took family and friends to the Reno Air Races nearly every September, and was a long-time member of the Columbia Aviation Country Club. In addition to a lifetime membership in the Vancouver Elks Lodge, he bowled with Betty in several leagues, enjoyed boating on weekends, playing golf and loved fishing for steelhead on the Lewis River.
"Doc" was a great tour guide. He thoroughly enjoyed driving the family across the country to national parks and monuments and to visit friends and relatives on the east coast and in the Midwest. Fishing for wall-eyed pike in Canada were some of his happiest times, except the trip when he caught the "whopper" and Betty caught a bigger one the next day.
Betty Cantrell passed away in 1972, shortly after their 25th anniversary. He married Doris Hart Cantrell in 1974, and when he retired from his medical practice in 1989 they spent winters in Mesa, Arizona and traveled to Maui, Hawaii nearly every year. Doris passed away in 2004.
"Doc" is survived by three daughters (all born in Iowa), Lynn Cantrell Fish ( Jeffrey P.), Patricia Cantrell, and Janet Cantrell; and grandchildren, Ryan Richard Fish and Cara Fish Wood (Justin); and great-granddaughters, Lindsay and Allison Wood. His daughter Connie preceded him in death in 1958 from birth defects. He was also very fond of his Hart family grandchildren by marriage, Marty and Mike Niehaus, Jaime Helgeson, and Jill Messinger and their children.
Services will be held Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 7:00 p.m., Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church, 5701 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver, Washington.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hazel Dell Lions Scholarship Fund, PO Box 65385, Vancouver, WA 98665.
Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) — Wednesday, August 24, 2011
===
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