Richard Allen Frost, pictured on the right, passed away Dec. 24, 2018, at the age of 90 years in Yuma, Arizona, following a brief illness. He was born in Bremerton, Washington, to Rosetta and Harry Frost. They later moved to Summit for a time and then Tacoma. When Richard was 14 years old, the family moved to Aberdeen and lived “up the Wishkah.” He graduated from Weatherwax High School with the class of 1947. He also joined the Army and was headquartered in Japan under General McArthur.
After returning to Aberdeen he worked at various jobs including Northern Pacific Railroad, Blagen Sawmill, Fuller Brush, Rainier Pulp and Hilliard Painting. He eventually found his passion as a Local 24 Aberdeen Longshoreman, claiming, “26 years working at the port, I never had a bad day. “
On April 18, 1955, he married Constance Proctor of Aberdeen. At the time of Richard’s passing they had been married for 63 years. They enjoyed traveling, spending summers at Black Lake with their children and were very involved with volunteer work at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and School. Later, many happy memories were made camping, boating and vacationing in Eastern Washington with his children and grandchildren. Richard continued water skiing into his 80’s and his commitment to staying healthy and a tremendous work ethic profoundly affected all his children and grandchildren leaving a lasting family legacy. The Hound Dog loved his family.
At 65 he retired and with his wife Connie traveled extensively including visiting his favorite vacation spot, Santa Barbara. In 1998 the Frosts moved to Yuma, Arizona where they have lived for the past 20 years continuing to travel to Washington to spend time with family. During this time, he also took up some new hobbies; quilting old jeans into works of art for his family and various fundraising events, creating dog bed pillows for animal shelters and pillows for breast cancer and cardiac patients. He also continued his volunteer work helping out at Crossroads Mission in Yuma three times a week.
He is survived by his wife Connie of Yuma, Arizona, daughter Beverly (Danny), daughter Pamela (Jerry), son John (Jill) son Ken (Keelee) son Jeff, daughter Michelle and son Michael. He is also survived by a brother, Gene Frost and numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A Roman Catholic funeral mass will be held in Yuma, Arizona at St. John Neumann Roman Catholic Church on Feb. 9, at 9 am.
Donations in memory of Richard can be made to either Crossroads Mission, 944 S Arizona Avenue, Yuma, AZ 85364 or to St. Mary’s Catholic School, 518 North ‘H’ Street, Aberdeen, WA 98520.
