Richard Frank Atkinson, 87, of Cheyenne died on June 1, 2024. He was born July 29, 1936, in Emmetsburg, Iowa.
Richard started his career early by joining the Army with one of his buddies directly after high school. Later he switched from the Army to the Air Force and finished his first career in Cheyenne, Wy. He was very proud of his military career, traveling around the U.S. and abroad with his wife and kids in tow. During his time in the military, Richard worked on achieving his next career goal of getting a college degree in accounting, while attending night school. When he retired from the military he went directly into the credit union business. He started at Warren Federal Credit Union (Blue), then went to WyHy Federal credit union, and eventually moved to Virginia to take on DuPont Federal Credit Union where he retired again after another 20 years of service. He and his wife of 69 years (Barbara) decided to come back to Cheyenne to be closer to family and enjoy retirement.
During his career he made many friends. They all enjoyed traveling together, taking various cruises all around the country. He was especially fond of his friend, “The Colonel” who also had a storied career in the military. Dick and Ingrid Sevigny were, and are, very special friends who traveled with them. Richard was infatuated with convertible cars, which his wife hated due to it always being windy and messing up her hair on the ride!
Dick was a longtime member of the Cheyenne Frontier Days committees. He started with the Indian committee and ending up with the contestants committee. Dick and Barbara were animal lovers as well. They had numerous Boxer dogs throughout their lives.
Dick was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years Barbara; and his mother and father.
He is survived by his daughter Jean (Bob) Weiss; son Chris (Cherise) Atkinson; grandkids Nici (Bryan) Welsch, Lindsey Snyder (Bailey Alexander), Brooke Hickey, and Abbi Atkinson; great grandkids Jayda, Baylee, and Reese Christine.
In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to the Cheyenne Animal Shelter in his honor.
Arrangements to be made at a later date.