Richard "Dick" W. DeAvilla

Kelly’s Pool Hall!! That’s how Richard (Dick) DeAvilla would answer the phone. Dad, Grandpa, Dick, Richard, Cookie Monster, or Kelly down at the Pool hall, many people knew him in many different ways and they all knew they had a good friend. Richard (Dick) DeAvilla grew up on the Klamath River, the son of Freda Gower, an English immigrant, and Tony DeAvilla,. He was born on June 26, 1934 and passed away on January 31, 2019 at the age of 84. He didn’t trek fifty miles in the snow uphill to get to school every day, he took a raft. True story. Most grandpas take their grandchildren fishing. Dick DeAvilla did too. He was camp boss. He taught his kids and grandkids how to make their own fishing poles from twigs in the forest and catch their own bait. He spearheaded epic camping trips for the entire family—aunts, uncles, cousins. Those camping trips included drives to the highest mountain peaks on roads his father built and cut snow from the mountain tops into big squares to take back to make ice cream. He helped create the Mayten Fire Department, and served on the Mayten Fire Department Board, Big Springs Community Club, and Big Springs School Board. He came to every sports game his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids played in. He had a love of football, basketball and baseball as well as hunting and fishing. He had a gigantic vegetable garden. He married his high school sweetheart, Mary Machado. He was a member of the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and served on the Hawkinsville Hall board that organizes the Holy Ghost Festival. He became a Knights of Columbus member after being baptized in the Catholic Church. He loved his garden and spent many hours there. He would also help others by rotor tilling their gardens in the spring so more could enjoy the fruits/vegetables of their labor. He’d always stop and tease you, ask how you or your family was doing, and probably had a zucchini or a melon for you somewhere in the front seat of his truck. He loved a good card game--rummy or pinochle or solitaire, and said what was on his mind…pretty much while he was thinking it. He retired from Pacific Power and Light after 40 years of service. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother Robert DeAvilla. He leaves behind his wife of 64 years, Mary (Machado) DeAvilla; his son Rick (Mary) DeAvilla and daughters Lisa (Joe) Faris, Brenda (Joe) Sisk and Denise DeAvilla Smith. Nine grandchildren: Amy, Tina, David, Joe, Delilah, Lola, Morgan, Megan and Emily. Eight great grandchildren: Derek, Frances, Dylan, Lola, Isaac, Ella, Brooklyn and Carmine. Richard’s services will be Friday, February 8th at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Yreka with a Rosary at 1:30 and funeral mass to follow at 2:00 PM. Reception will follow at the Grenada Berean Church in Grenada. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Mayten Fire Department or the Big Springs Community Club. It’s fitting that he would leave just as the rains are coming in again and the leaves are about to sprout from the trees—he is telling us with every opening flower, every apple blossom, and every seed planted that he is still here. And that heaven will have one heck of a garden this year.

Richard "Dick" W. DeAvilla

June 26, 1934 - January 31, 2019