Richard "Dick" Wayne Hathaway

Richard (Dick) W. Hathaway, age 89 died after a month long illness on February 22, 2025. Dick is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Lois (Follmer) Hathaway; devoted daughters, Beth Stafford (John), Laura Clark (Rob); admiring grandsons, Evan Stafford (Elinor Hilton), Ryan Stafford, Nathan Clark, Andrew Clark; sisters and brothers in-law and many nieces, nephews. A wonderful husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother-in-law, uncle and friend, Dick will be remembered for his genuine interest in the lives of family, friends and others he met; his loyalty to people he cared about; his integrity; his good natured personality which made him well liked by those he met; plus his gift of quick wittedness that made those around him laugh and share in his joy of life. Dick graduated from Johnson High School in 1954. He had a modest upbringing with a strong work ethic and he began working in a bakery before and after school to earn money for college and attended the University of Minnesota. With the formative help of the bakery’s owner Wally Grohowski, he achieved journeyman baker status. Dick had a love of food, baking and cooking throughout his life and regularly baked his fabulous chocolate birthday cakes and more for his family. At the age of 21, Dick began working for MNDOT where he had a 42 year career. During that time he became a Registered Civil Engineer, building bridges and overseeing many large road projects. When he retired he’d achieved the level of Assistant District Engineer for the seven county metro area. With a great love of his country, Dick proudly became a member of the MN National Guard at the age of 21 where he served his state and country for 38 years. Prior to his retirement from the Guard he was honored to achieve the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5 and was inducted into the MN National Guard Court of Honor at Camp Ripley. Dick was a great builder of things; bridges and roads during his career; he built the home in Forest Lake on Clear Lake, where he and Lois raised their family and built 55 years of memories for family and friends. He built many great friendships but his most prized accomplishment was his family - especially his four grandsons who cherish the memories and gift of learning about lake life in the environment Dick created to enable family and friends to spend time together. He will be dearly missed by those who knew and loved him. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Monday, March 3rd, at the Church of St. Peter, 1250 South Shore Drive, Forest Lake. Visitation will be held one hour prior to mass. Interment will be at 10:30 AM Tuesday, March 4th at Fort Snelling National Cemetery Assembly Area #2. In lieu of flowers donations preferred to St. Peter’s Catholic School or the Minnesota Military Family Foundation.