Richard Duane Halvorson

September 18, 1947 – October 27, 2011

His memorial service is Saturday, Nov. 5th at 11:00 a.m. at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home, 8011 Frankford Rd, Dallas TX 75252. (972-407-6070). If you wish, you may donate in lieu of flowers to The Winston School.

He is survived by wife Frances, sons Michael, Brian (Poev), grandsons Preston and Justin, brothers Ardell (Linda) of Ft. Collins, CO, Curtis (Pam) of Ft. Dodge, IA and sister, Arliss Halvorson of Rugby, ND. He is preceded in death by his parents, Karine and Albert Halvorson.

Who is Richard Halvorson? Richard is a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, who would always put everyone else before his own needs. He was someone who loved to work and spend time with his family. Although he was stubborn when it came to himself and his own health, he would always help others out in a time of need.

Above all else, I believe he enjoyed spending time with his oldest son Michael, especially over these last few years. He would take trips up Colorado, despite the weather. He would take care of Mike’s house in Texas more so then his own home. You could see the pride he had in helping Mike starting a business, R&H Repair. He always had a positive outlook on the business and I believe he enjoyed that more than the time he spend working for Texas Instruments. You could also see the glimmer in dad’s eyes, when Mike would help out his younger brother to fix the weed eater, edger, blower, or lawn mower.

When Brian got married in 1999, as the Dallas Stars won the Stanley cup, Richard was ever so proud. It was the first time I saw him on a dance floor, and only the second time for mom to see him on the dance floor. It was a wonderful day for the entire family. He would continually help us out by co-signing for our first house and helped us put down our first deposit. He helped us in fixing up the house when needed, and installing wood floors, fixing cracks in the ceiling, or putting up crown molding. When we had our first child, we had a car accident and were in the hospital for a few days. During that time, Dad took care of his first grandchild, Preston. Dad would feed him, and may have even changed a diaper or two. Mom said he did more work taking care of Preston than he did with his own sons. After Justin was born, Dad would continue to help take care of the kids and they loved spending time with him.

He sees so much potential in each of his sons and grandsons. He was willing to sacrifice everything to make sure we all would succeed. We owe it to him to show him that we can succeed.

Richard life was much too short, but I believe there is a reason for every event. Some are just harder to take, and it is the challenges, which helps us all become better. Richard is a man that is deeply missed. He had a major impact in our lives and l we will always remember him for what he did. Whether it was helping out on the farm by plowing fields, bailing hay, fixing a tractor, or helping around the house by fixing a plumbing problem, moving a door, adding in irrigation, laying sod, re-shingling a house, the task could be big or small and he would help out without a single complaint. Even as he began to become a little frailer, he could continue to help out as best he could. He is a man who loved to work with his hands and fix problems no matter where the problem resides. While working for Texas Instruments for 33 years, Richard traveled the across the world many times over and visited places like Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and many other countries. He also traveled throughout the US for both work and family. His main areas he travelled to be in California, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Texas. I am sure I have left of many of the places he has traveled, but these are the ones I remembered most.

Richard is a Norwegian descendent born in Rugby, ND. He is the 2nd child of his parents Albert Halvorson and Karine Halvorson. While he did not like to admit it, the death of his parents was extremely hard on him. Richard is survived by his 2 brothers, Ardell and Curtis, and has 1 younger sister Arliss. Richard grew up on the family farm and was an active member of the 4-H and FAA. From his father he learned how to be a farmer, carpenter, and handyman, and he passed down the same skills to his own sons. He went to college and graduated from the North Dakota State University

in 1969 with a degree in Electrical Engineering, where shortly after he got a job with Texas Instruments.

Texas is a strange place for a Norwegian, but this is the place where he met his wife and started his family. While working at Texas Instruments, Richard who was 5’ 11’’ was introduced to a beautiful blonde woman names Frances Luenora Fields who was 5’ 9’’, who at the time also worked for Texas Instruments. In 1972, they eventually got married and moved into his trailer home in Plano, Texas, just off of 75 and Spring Creek. Richard soon after got a job transfer to Houston, Texas where they began building their family in Richmond, Texas. Michael was the first of the two children born, making Richard a proud father. Little did they know their first child would be 6’ 1’’. Brian was born next, giving Richard the ability to bounce 2 boys on his knees. The doctors told them based his growth patterns, Brian would eventually stop growing at 6’ 5’’. Neither one of them believed the doctor.

Richard eventually began to build his dream house in Sugarland, Texas. He started by building a great big barn with the help of his father, brothers, and brother in-laws. It was a 2 story barn, with great big room upstairs, where we all stayed for a couple of years while he built his dream home. For his kids, this could not have been a better place to live. We had multiple cats and a dog name ginger. Some of the things I remember most are when we got our go-cart. This was the best Christmas gift ever, and dad helped up keep the go-cart for many years. As Dad, would be mowing the yard on his riding lawnmower, Mike and I would be in the go-cart doing circle around him, knocking the grass piles all over the yard. There were multiple times where the go-cart broke down, and dad would take the engine apart and fix the problem then re-assemble the go-cart. We even broke the frame and seats a few times, and dad would take out his blow torch and put it back together. Looking back, it was almost as if he expected us to be a little destructive just so he could fix what we broke.

In 1984, we had to move again, to Richardson, Texas, where he spent the rest of his life. Once we moved to Richardson, the amount of time traveling for work picked up, and he visited multiple places overseas. He was even able to take is wife to a couple of places, such as Italy, France, and Germany. Each trip he took oversees; he would bring back a souvenir for his sons. It was a little journal of his trips, which also included Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and many more.

Richard died at the young age of 64. He had a short life, but led a full life, full of travels. I wish he could have written about the travels he did, because it would have been a wonderful story to read about. The vast number of places he had been, the different cultures he had seen.

Over the last few years, Richard loved to spend time with his grandchildren making them laugh. He always kept in touch with his sons, even though at times he would say the same things over and over. He loved to watch football and baseball. At the time of his death, he was watching Game 6 of the World Series between St. Louis and Texas. His time on this earth was way too short, but we know he is in Heaven watching over us.