1932
Richard R.
2022
Richard R. "Dick" Koblinski
September 12, 1932 — March 11, 2022
Richard R. (Dick) Koblinski was born 9/12/1932 and died peacefully March 11, 2022, with Yvonne, his beloved wife of 66 years and other family members by his side. He was 89.
Dick married the love of his life, Yvonne Dusseau, in 1955 in Flint Michigan and until his final minutes the two of them nurtured and grew what can only be called a storybook romance. In 1964 the couple settled in Fenton, Michigan to raise their family of 4 children. Dick was a loving, hands-on father who cherished his family more than anything else. He continued to spend and enjoy time with his grown children and their spouses – Rick and Mary Jean, Tony and Margaret, Karry and Phil Chuy and Ken and Julie right until his passing. He also adored his 10 Grandchildren – Megan (Casey), Nicole (James), Kyle, Cindy, Calla (Mark), Connor, Logan, Spencer, Cameron, Isabelle and his 7 great-grandchildren.
He was born and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where in High School he enjoyed playing clarinet and saxophone in a polka band. He subsequently earned a bachelors degree from GMI (Kettering). Dick worked at General Motors for 37 years at the Flint Engine Plant and was proud to hold, for much of that time, the position of Superintendent of Industrial Engineering. He retired from GM in 1987 but continued to work for 9 more years as a sales representative for Carpenter Enterprises.
When Dick retired, he and Yvonne moved to Canadian Lakes, Michigan to live in the home they dreamed about, which they designed and built together on the Little Muskegon River. Dick loved that house because it afforded him an opportunity to exercise all of his many hands-on skills (wood working and furniture making, gardening and stained glass). He even built his own 50-foot water fall on the river side of the house. During those years the couple also traveled extensively in Europe and Africa (a favorite) and Dick had the opportunity to explore the beauty he saw and appreciated everywhere. He magnified his fascination with the world through the lens of his camera and captured everything from his family and friends to a European city scape to a hummingbird hovering outside his kitchen window and he cherished it all.
He brought passion and integrity to everything he undertook. Later in life that especially included golf and cooking and building scrap books from his extensive library of family photographs. But his beautiful character was most evident in the relationships he cultivated with people. Everywhere he went, throughout his entire life, he built a community of friends who loved and respected him.
His loving wife and family, as well as his friends, will always miss him deeply and will never forget the kindness, gentleness and generosity he embodied.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in honor of Dad.
https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/PFFTribute/DickKoblinski.
Messages of sympathy may be submitted or viewed online at www.mcalister-smith.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, (843) 722-8371.
Dick married the love of his life, Yvonne Dusseau, in 1955 in Flint Michigan and until his final minutes the two of them nurtured and grew what can only be called a storybook romance. In 1964 the couple settled in Fenton, Michigan to raise their family of 4 children. Dick was a loving, hands-on father who cherished his family more than anything else. He continued to spend and enjoy time with his grown children and their spouses – Rick and Mary Jean, Tony and Margaret, Karry and Phil Chuy and Ken and Julie right until his passing. He also adored his 10 Grandchildren – Megan (Casey), Nicole (James), Kyle, Cindy, Calla (Mark), Connor, Logan, Spencer, Cameron, Isabelle and his 7 great-grandchildren.
He was born and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where in High School he enjoyed playing clarinet and saxophone in a polka band. He subsequently earned a bachelors degree from GMI (Kettering). Dick worked at General Motors for 37 years at the Flint Engine Plant and was proud to hold, for much of that time, the position of Superintendent of Industrial Engineering. He retired from GM in 1987 but continued to work for 9 more years as a sales representative for Carpenter Enterprises.
When Dick retired, he and Yvonne moved to Canadian Lakes, Michigan to live in the home they dreamed about, which they designed and built together on the Little Muskegon River. Dick loved that house because it afforded him an opportunity to exercise all of his many hands-on skills (wood working and furniture making, gardening and stained glass). He even built his own 50-foot water fall on the river side of the house. During those years the couple also traveled extensively in Europe and Africa (a favorite) and Dick had the opportunity to explore the beauty he saw and appreciated everywhere. He magnified his fascination with the world through the lens of his camera and captured everything from his family and friends to a European city scape to a hummingbird hovering outside his kitchen window and he cherished it all.
He brought passion and integrity to everything he undertook. Later in life that especially included golf and cooking and building scrap books from his extensive library of family photographs. But his beautiful character was most evident in the relationships he cultivated with people. Everywhere he went, throughout his entire life, he built a community of friends who loved and respected him.
His loving wife and family, as well as his friends, will always miss him deeply and will never forget the kindness, gentleness and generosity he embodied.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in honor of Dad.
https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/PFFTribute/DickKoblinski.
Messages of sympathy may be submitted or viewed online at www.mcalister-smith.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, (843) 722-8371.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Richard R. "Dick" Koblinski, please visit our flower store.
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