Obituary for Richard Backus
Richard J. Backus, 1934 - 2020
Richard Joseph (Dick) Backus passed away at the Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center on December 10, 2020. He was born on January 30, 1934 in Nyack, New York, the only child of Lennie (Conklin) and Sydney Backus. Married in 1957, he and Shirley Ann Delmage divorced in 1998. He is survived by his sons, Ronald (Joyce), Durham, North Carolina and Scott (Shauna), Renton, Washington; four grandchildren, Linda Backus, Durham, North Carolina, Michelle VanBergen (Noah), Cincinnati, Ohio, Damien (DC) and Shay, Renton, Washington.
Dick grew up in the Nyack/Pearl River area of New York state and attended Lafayette College (PA) for three years before enlisting in the Army. He immediately qualified for Officer Candidate School, entering in January of 1956 and would make a career as an officer. He earned a Master of Military Science Degree from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas. He served in both Korea and Vietnam, earned several awards and decorations (including the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster), and retired as a Colonel on January 1, 1982 with 27 years of service. After retiring, he worked as a defense consultant and later a Realtor in Arlington, Virginia. Dick was inducted into the Fort Sill Artillery Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, Huerfano County honored him with “Dick Backus Day” for his service.
In 2005, he realized his lifelong dream of living in beautiful Colorado and moved to his dream home on 35 acres near La Veta Pass. Dick was known to take day trips of hundreds of miles in his pickup truck, relaying his adventure with an email to friends and family throughout the US to share his best photos of Spanish Peaks and other area scenery and wildlife. He signed his emails “The Colorado Codger.” Dick moved to the Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Center in the Spring of 2018 where he continued day long photo expeditions of his beloved Colorado from his new home base in Walsenburg. Though the pandemic constrained him to his living space in March, he kept in touch with friends and family.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Rocky Mountain Fisher House that serves as a “home away from home for families of active duty military and veterans getting medical care,” https://rockymountainfisherhouse.org/. Dick and his sons benefitted from this amazing organization during his medical treatments in Denver.
Richard Joseph (Dick) Backus passed away at the Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center on December 10, 2020. He was born on January 30, 1934 in Nyack, New York, the only child of Lennie (Conklin) and Sydney Backus. Married in 1957, he and Shirley Ann Delmage divorced in 1998. He is survived by his sons, Ronald (Joyce), Durham, North Carolina and Scott (Shauna), Renton, Washington; four grandchildren, Linda Backus, Durham, North Carolina, Michelle VanBergen (Noah), Cincinnati, Ohio, Damien (DC) and Shay, Renton, Washington.
Dick grew up in the Nyack/Pearl River area of New York state and attended Lafayette College (PA) for three years before enlisting in the Army. He immediately qualified for Officer Candidate School, entering in January of 1956 and would make a career as an officer. He earned a Master of Military Science Degree from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas. He served in both Korea and Vietnam, earned several awards and decorations (including the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster), and retired as a Colonel on January 1, 1982 with 27 years of service. After retiring, he worked as a defense consultant and later a Realtor in Arlington, Virginia. Dick was inducted into the Fort Sill Artillery Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, Huerfano County honored him with “Dick Backus Day” for his service.
In 2005, he realized his lifelong dream of living in beautiful Colorado and moved to his dream home on 35 acres near La Veta Pass. Dick was known to take day trips of hundreds of miles in his pickup truck, relaying his adventure with an email to friends and family throughout the US to share his best photos of Spanish Peaks and other area scenery and wildlife. He signed his emails “The Colorado Codger.” Dick moved to the Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Center in the Spring of 2018 where he continued day long photo expeditions of his beloved Colorado from his new home base in Walsenburg. Though the pandemic constrained him to his living space in March, he kept in touch with friends and family.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Rocky Mountain Fisher House that serves as a “home away from home for families of active duty military and veterans getting medical care,” https://rockymountainfisherhouse.org/. Dick and his sons benefitted from this amazing organization during his medical treatments in Denver.