Love this wonderful memories of our times together . Solvang!! Miss you 
Carol

Dear Sister Karen and the whole Bright family,
We remember you and Dick very fondly.  When my first husband, Steve Kline took hospitality with you in Anaheim the first time, he had a wonderful time.  But when he said goodbye Dick said he was not welcome to come back! Steve was flabbergasted--then Dick said unless you bring you wife!  Steve said she is with our two small children.  Dick said bring them all!! So, for many years we came with our whole family to the semiannual trainings and stayed with you all!!  You were truly "given to hospitality"!
Ray remembers Dick from the Bonnie Brae days!
May the Lord's abundant grace comfort you now!!
Love,
Marilyn Kline Graver and Ray Graver


Dear Karen, Peace, Joy and all the family, 
My condolences and may the Lord richly bless all of you.
You are all in our hearts and prayers. We will miss our brother dearly, but when we remember him it will always put a “smile” inside of us. With all his health and physical limitations, he amazingly had such a large capacity to care for and love his family, the saints and the Church. Whenever we were with him, he always ministered Christ and would always check up on you in how are you doing. We miss spending time with all of you in Anahiem. 
Mercy & Grace Lee

Dear Karen, Peace, Joy and all the family, 
You are all in our hearts and prayers. We will miss our brother dearly, but when we remember him it will always put a “smile” inside of us.  With all his health and physical limitations, he amazingly had such a large capacity to care for and love his family, the saints and the Church. Whenever we were with him, he always ministered life and God’s economy, even through some of his adventurous and funny Church Life experiences. So sweet the Lord took him in such a peaceful way, may you be comforted in his going to be with the Lord, we love you…Paul & Teri Herman


My heart goes out to you in love, dear Karen, and to Marion, Jeff, Peace, Joy, Mercy, Peter, James and Matthew and all of your families! 
* My first memory was in the summer of 1969. I was newly saved and had just come with some saints from Ohio to the conference held in L.A. in Elden Hall. I was sitting in the section a few rows behind Dick and Karen. Karen was holding baby Matthew in her arms as she sat next to her husband. Brother Lee was talking about how the many children of God are a glory to God the Father. He referred to Dick having so many children and that all of these children were a glory to him. 
* The second memory was in the summer of 1970. Dick and Karen and all 8 children were getting into their van as they were about to drive from L.A. to Toronto for their migration there. What a 
sight! Everyone looked so clean and neat! I was amazed!  (George and I and some sisters moved into their home on 21st Street in L.A. that day.)
* I spent a considerable amount of time in the Bright house in Anaheim. Our daughter, Krinon, would sometimes come there after school and enjoy all the fun and the soup that Karen had prepared.
* Dick and Karen and Joy and Peace stayed at our house in Anaheim 
after they returned from living in Denmark. They were waiting for the people who rented their house to move out so they could move 
back in. We had lots of sweet fellowship in those days.
* I took hospitality for a weekend in their home in Oklahoma. There was a wedding on their big beautiful property that Saturday. On the 
Lord’s day Dick and Karen would have us all read the whole week of 
morning revival before we would go to the meeting that morning.  There was always lots of good food and fellowship!
* Later as Dick was having difficulty walking I saw him come into the training meetings walking with two long poles and looking kingly!
* We now live in Germany and we have had several precious Facetime calls in the last couple of years with Dick and Karen.     

Karen, may the Lord comfort and shepherd you and your whole family in this time of loss.

We first met Dick and Karen when they visited us in Kitchener Ontario in the Spring of 1971. They had heard of a group of young seeking believers in the Kitchener area and came to a meeting in our home. During one of these visits they invited the group to Toronto for a conference with brother Witness Lee. It was during this conference that the Lord showed us Christ and the church. After one of the meetings Dick had a lengthy time of fellowship with us concerning the matter of the ground of the church. That fellowship was one of the factors in a pivotal turning point in our lives. Many of the young people in the free group attended the conference and took the way of the Lord's recovery. 

When most of us moved to Toronto that summer the Brights opened their home and gave hospitality until other accommodations could be found. Not only did they open their home, they provided the use of their 12 passenger van for us to drive to LA so we could attend the summer conference and training. In the years that followed we continued to be supplied and shepherded by them many times around their table and in the meetings. We are forever grateful to the Lord for their loving care.



Duck and Karen Bright are just about the kindest couple I ever met. 

As a young person, they were nice enough to rent their Anaheim home to me and some other singles. 

When I was in in full time service, I stayed with them in Norman, OK for a few days. So kind and encouraging in the Lord to me. 

They are just happy, sunny people, always enjoying the Lord. 

Mike Diaz, Anaheim



-For me, this is the first person that I was close to that had passed.

- 5 more minutes
Thank you Papaya...for all that you are... to so many of us. We love you. You mean so much to us and we want you to know that.

From my perspective as the oldest grandson *pause and smile*

Thank you for the Bright family that I find myself surrounded by. We are a really awesome bunch and there are so many of us! I love this family. Thank you for bringing us all together for family reunions over these years where we have been able to grow close and make lasting memories.

Thank you for spending your time and energy to show a genuine interest in me especially from my college years until now. Thank you for the many conversations that we had over the years and for just being my Papaya who was there for his grandson.

And above all else, from the depths of my heart - thank you for believing and receiving Jesus into your life - your choosing to love the Lord has provided all of us the way to know Him in our lives. Thank you and Nana for all of your prayers. Without them, where would we be? Thank you for giving us all a rich Christian heritage and for being a pattern to us all.

As it was put so well in the obituary - Throughout your years together, you and Nana sought the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 4:29) and your testimony and walk with the Lord has had multi-generational implications.

You have meant the world to wife, your children, and grandchildren and you will be profoundly missed.

I was invited to Dick and Karen Bright's home about one year after I had received the Lord (at the end of grade 13). Their home was always open to me. As a newly saved, they tenderly and lovingly cared for me, infusing me with faith.  A few years later I would spend time with their teenage daughter Marion.  Apparently I was caring for her as she was younger than me, but the reality was that I received humanly divine care from Dick and Karen. Being in their home in their normal day to day life was a shepherding in itself.  What stands out to me in these early years in the church in Toronto is brother Dick sharing how crucial it is for us to keep the oneness of the Body. This was an answer to my earlier seeking, as a new believer of the reality of John 17.  This has kept me throughout my life to this day.  After moving to the US after getting married, my husband, Jeff
and I  had the occasion to see Dick and Karen years later in Europe.  They still had the same heart for others.  When my husband went to be with the Lord in 2018, what a surprise it was to get a call from them and to receive their comforting words.  Dick's smile, reassuring look, and brightness cannot be forgotten. Much love to Karen and all the family.

Like so many others have shared,  Br. Dick and sister Karen have richly cared for me in an all inclusive way while in the full time training, 20 some years ago and many years after.  They were real shepherds to me and welcomed me as part of their family! I was in their home regularly for sweet fellowship and delicious healthy meals prepared with so much love.  I was also invited for MR often which was a real feast!  He truly loved the Lord, His Word and the ministry. He showed me how to dig into the Word and extract the riches out of it. I would always leave so supplied and watered every time.  I have never seen him anxious or worried.  Even  in difficult situations he was always calm and peaceful, trusting in the Lord.  He was a great pattern to me. The Body has lost a real shepherd! I will surely miss him very much! May the Lord richly comfort sister Karen, Peace and Joy and the rest of the family in this  difficult time! 

Our dear brother Dick and his precious family. We first got to know them when they took a driving trip around the U.S praying about where to love. They called it the “circle of fellowship “. We had never met anyone like them! Eventually Karen and I had similar burdens to pray and pray we did! Wow never met anyone that could pray as long as Karen! From that prayer we were led to begin a home meeting with them. Wow again had never met anyone like them! New meaning to the wonderful word Organic! Have to say it was the highlight of our church life ( other than the early days in 1973).  So much prayer and fellowship and love and care. We had many young students in our homes during that time and it was so enjoyable! They really shepherded us all back to Christ over and over and over again. How focused they were! What a huge mercy to have been with them. 
So thankful our dear brother will have a new glorious body! I can say I never heard him complain even one time! Wow! 
Thank You Lord for all You have done all these years in Dick and Karen and the precious twins and all their children! Praise You Worthy One!

I am so grateful to the Lord that I got to meet brother Dick and his beautiful family. Their home became like my little Bethany where I felt loved and received.
Brother Dick, sister Karen, Peace and Joy embraced me and my family and we had the sweetest moments together.
Their home was just like the name of their daughter’s PEACE and JOY! and lot’s of laughter.
In the midst of so many challenging situations that they were facing day by day there was no anxiety. Christ was being expressed in their living!
I was amazed every time I would come , even when it was the time to get him out of bed, there were too many details to coordinate, but he would laugh with us and sing.
It was so precious to see how much they loved each other, I saw a loving husband, a loving father and a loving brother, I can testify that I saw the expression of Christ 
loving the church.
He will be greatly missed!!
Thank you dear Lord for giving us such a pattern!

While in the full=time training in 1996, I was invited for lunch at Dick and Karen's home. It was the first of many times that I was cherished and nourished at their home by their family. The way Dick shepherded the saints in his home became a pattern to Sonya and I that we are eternally grateful for.  Dick was always full of life and poured himself out for the saints and the localities all of his church life.  Praise the Lord for the many years He gave our dear brother to serve Him in such a glory to the Lord.

I was still a teenager when I heard from a dear brother about the practical church life of the church in Toronto. I moved from Northern Ontario halfway through my final year of high school to enter in. Dick and Karen graciously opened their home for me to live there, and they arranged for me to finish my last year of high school in Toronto. As a young brother I observed and admired Dick for his absoluteness, care for the saints, and his love for the ministry of the age. Wendy and I have many fond memories of his speaking in the meetings and his shepherding heart through the years.
May the Lord comfort and bless Karen and the family.

Dear Bright Family,  I am just one of hundreds who came to your home and enjoyed the love and fellowship of Richard and Karen.  I was in the Full Time Training in the fall of 1997 after the loss  of Brother Lee (as well as my mother), and your home was truly a "bright" spot in a time of both mourning and great encouragement.  The love and joy that filled your home was unforgetable.    Dear Ones, may you be greatly comforted at the loss of our precious brother.  

Elizabeth O'Sullivan
Irving, TX

We first met Dick and Karen in the early 1980's in Irving/Dallas. Brother Dick was always smiling, caring, and full of life. His many years of faithfully loving, enjoying, and pursuing the Lord he served is a real testimony and a pattern to all who loved him.
Jack Petrash
Irving, Tx

When I think of brother Dick and sister Karen, I fondly remember being in the Beaumont house at their dinner table where I enjoyed a meal, and the Gospel was first preached to me.  I did not receive the Lord that night, but the issue of that night was the Lord's wonderful salvation about 6 months later.  

When I went to the full-time training with my family in 2001, they opened their home to us, and we stayed with them for the first term.  During that time, we enjoyed Morning Revival with them every morning.  We enjoyed being treated as a part of their family and grew to love Dick, Karen, Peace, and Joy.  We saw a pattern of saints that just loved the Lord and His word, loved the saints, and opened their homes to the saints, especially the trainees. Their pattern has influenced our lives.   

Our prayers are with you sister Karen. You and all the family are in our hearts.  

Dear Karen, 
My heart sank when I heard that Dick had passed away! However, I realized simultaneously that I was happy for Dick to depart from the  body of corruption to be with his Lord and Savior! 
We have lost a marvelous shepherd of the flock of God!
Love,
Greg & Becky Paysnoe


I first met the Brights over 20 years ago, in my first year of the full-time training in Anaheim. They were very loving and shepherding from the beginning.  

I was quickly coming to their house for dinner on most Sunday evenings. I would often go over on Monday mornings for breakfast as well. 

The most “famous testimony” that Richard and I would always talk about, was when I went over to their house in order to tell them that I was quitting the training. I had suffered a terrible failure in my second term, and in my head and heart I was done. But after spending several hours with Richard and Karen, I didn’t even remember why I had gone over there in the first place. They just had a way of making us all feel that everything was going to be ok. 

The thing that I have always loved about the Brights is that they just love the Lord and the members of His Body. They never cared much for formality, and neither did I. They shepherded me with unconditional love.   

THANK YOU RICHARD FOR SACRIFICING FOR ME. GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN THE COMING KINGDOM!

We have many memories of Dick and Karen and family from our early years in the church life in Toronto. When a group of us young people from the Kitchener/Waterloo area moved to Toronto to enter into the church life, Dick and Karen’s home was open to us. A number of us sisters lived with them until we could find an apartment for a sisters’ house. About a year after Paul and I were married, we lived at Beaumont House in a third-floor apartment; Dick and Karen and their family of eight children lived on the first and second floor, and there was a brothers’ house in the coach house. We alternated meals for the brothers; one week they ate with Dick and Karen and the next week they ate with us. But there are many memories of all of us gathering for corporate meals at Dick and Karen’s dining table.
While we are sad at Dick’s passing, we also rejoice that he is at rest with the Lord and free from suffering.
Our prayer is that the Lord’s boundless love will sustain you Karen and family. You are in our hearts at this time of loss.


Remembering Dick Bright, my brother in Christ - from Allen Jones

As the extended Bright family gather together in person or online, I am especially remembering each of you in prayer.

A special part of my journey is fondly remembered as I consider your husband and Dad and Grandpa, Dick Bright.  For me it traces back 50 years when my wife and I first met Dick on Queen Street in the early years of the Church in Toronto.  Those were glorious years which still impact my love for the Lord Jesus, His Word and my daily walk in His Presence.  

Dick’s love for the Word of God and for the Church Life and the ministries of brother Watchman Nee and especially brother Witness Lee was contagious.  As I write I’m remembering Life Studies in Ephesians, Romans, Genesis and Matthew which Dick helped to infuse into us over those weeks and years.  Queen Street, Beaumont house and Castlefrank High School are in my view.  That example and influence, demonstrated in Dick, Paul and Greg (beloved elders) in those early years of my Christian life have left the vibrant desire of committed discipleship to my Master, Jesus.

Physical limitations were part of Dick’s later years and it was painful to watch him as he suffered.  When I and another brother visited him in Texas two years ago; as we together reviewed the history of his life, there was not a hint of feeling sorry for himself.  Rather, he took it as the Lord’s sovereign portion for him.  As we all eventually experience some form of physical suffering in life, I am thankful for his example and attitude during his time of apparently being set aside from vigorous ministry which he enjoyed in his early life.

Often, one never completely understands the impact we have on another's life.  I choose, in the presence of the Lord, to thankfully acknowledge Dick's impact on my life.  Glory be to God!

It was so encouraging to see his love for his family!

It was wonderful to spend time with brother Dick, he was such a pleasant person to be with.
He always had smile in his face, he had a wonderful heart!
Joshua Robinson 

We are so sorry for the family’s great loss.  The Brights always had room for trainees at their table when I was in the training.  I went to their home two or three times and they also took me out to eat a couple of other times.  I always felt welcomed and cared for when I was with them.  We thank the Lord for our brother and the pattern he left for us to follow.  He loved the Lord and the saints and had a heart to care for them.  May we all follow in his footsteps.  Much love to the family.

Vanessa Little
PS I took this picture in 2011 at Stephen and Chrystal Little’s wedding.

So sad to hear out dear brother is gone. Many fond memories of being at the home meetings in his house, as well as the reception for my marriage being held there. We'll miss him dearly.

Brother Dick wasveryinfluential and helpful to us in our Christian walk especially after we came first to meet with the church in Toronto at 111 Queen Street East.
We stand with our dear sister Karen all eight children and their families at this time may the Lord strengthen, encourage and bring peace to each one
Both Dick and Karen were a very practical encouragement to us with our seven children in the church life

Both Dick and Karen shepherded Larry and I when our eyes were beginning to be opened regarding what the Lord was doing in Toronto in the early seventies. We were introduced to the speaking of Brother Witness Lee and the writings of Brother Watchman Nee. I saw what it was like to really enjoy the Lord, to literally feed on His Word! 
In late August 1973, after returning from an amazing conference on the book of Ephesians by Brother Lee, I needed to go back to school. Dick and Karen drove me back- 300 miles! 
They were like parents to us in every way. After we were married, they visited us in our apartment and gave us loving, practical fellowship regarding issues in married life. The list goes on ! 
We would see them at conferences, and it really was like being united with our parents. We had been in Nova Scotia for a few years and received few visitors because it is out of the way for many, when we received a phone call from Karen, “we are in your neighborhood! what’s your address?”
They were visiting one of their children in Connecticut and thought they would just come up the coast to visit us! 
Talk about shepherding! The visit was so sweet and timely! I was horrified when I saw how much Dick was limping! 
We give thanks to the Lord our brother’s love and service to Christ and the Church. 
We hold Karen up in our prayers and extend our condolences to all the family.
Larry & Lorna Little 

I very much enjoyed meeting Mr. Bright and the rest of his family. I enjoyed the meals we had when they invited me and my family over. There was a particular time when I came by myself to pay a visit and was privileged to hear a few stories of the early beginnings of the Lord‘s recovery, the sharp turn from his doings in Canada and how a little Asian man’s heart for the Lord captured Mr. and Mrs. Bright’s attention so as to cause them to change their family’s trajectory in order to join the flow. There were many details about Brother Lee’s early human activities and talents. He earned a nickname of  “Locomotive Lee.” I’ll never forget those stories they were very encouraging especially since it seemed to be parallel with what my daughter’s experiences were at that time. I will forever miss his stories and hope to hear a few more in the next age. The brother had a very devoted heart for the Lord and I appreciated his portion whenever he shared. 

I love this picture of Dick! It is exactly how I remember him!

The love Dick and Karen have shown to me is something I have always felt deeply in my heart. 
When I was 18 and Marion and I were freshman in college, I met this wonderful family! 

I met Dick for the first time when I visited their home in California. It was early in the morning. I was getting coffee and Dick was giving the twins their medicine. He smiled at me and in his quirky voice he said, “Hi, Steph!” as if we had know each other forever. That simple greeting, I will never 
forget. I could feel so much love from his heart 
towards me. 

How we will miss him! And how much we will look forward to  “seeing him again in the 
morning!”

All my love to each of you!
Steph







Don’t recall where or when but it’s in my collection of memories of Christ and the church 

Matthew was living with the Brights enroute to being full time. 
I was invited to dinner
This was in Anaheim 
The Brights had plenty of family to feed but they always made room for another one


So many precious memories of being cared for as my late husband and I came into the Church life.  

I remember his smile and warmth that came from him. 
He was there for everyone and always had a peace about him that was from the Lord.

I will always love you Far  and wish I could have seen you one more time on this earth. I guess it will wait till heaven.

EriKa 

Dear Bright family...where do I begin?!  We were saddened to hear of Dick s passing..Lord receive him into Your loving arms...Gladys got to know your family in Toronto, Canada in 1972...in spite of having a large family all living at home Dick and Karen opened their home for me and another sister...Caroline...to live with you all....They were real shepherds to us and you all welcomed us as part of your family..thank you..our daughter. Karen , named after Karen Bright, said that because of this...she got a mom who had a pattern of Dick and Karen to follow....and Mike Dahlkoetter ...her dad....also saw that same pattern...as Dick and Karen were instrumental in connecting us...
Dick gave the message at our wedding...May the Lord show all your family that he is returning soon and we must be ready...matured ..to meet Him..we love you all ...see you on Friday...from Mike and Gladys (Merritt)Dahlkoetter

OBITUARY

Richard Kay Bright

17 August, 1936 – 17 September, 2022

Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home & Cemetery

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