Richard Mayer
Mar. 21, 1937 – Mar. 5, 2017
Alamo
Richard “Dick” Mayer of Alamo died peacefully on Sunday March 5, 2017 two weeks shy of his 80th birthday. His daughters Debbie and Nancy (his little pooh’s) were by his side.
Born in Bend, Oregon to a sawyer father & pianist mother, Dick inherited their talents for machinery and music. His parents separated when he was 4, so he was raised by maternal grandparents until his mother resettled in the Bay Area. At 16, Dick’s mother passed suddenly, so he returned to his grandparents in Oregon and graduated Roseburg High in 1955.
He worked summers at Safeway, enrolled in Air Force ROTC, and earned his BA in Music from the U. of Oregon (1959). Dick completed USAF pilot training (1959 to 1966), met his wife Dianne at Beale AFB, and settled in Danville.
Dick became a commercial airline pilot for Pan Am (1966) made Captain, then flew with Delta. A lifelong lover of music, Dick played trumpet, coronet & sang with the Diablo Dixie Devils, SPBSQSA, Danville Community Band. Dick & Dianne were married for 50 years, and loved traveling, tennis, bridge, horses, friends and family. Survived by daughters Debbie Mayer (Oakland), Nancy Mayer Daetz (Danville), three granddaughters Lexi, Taylor, Morgan. Celebration of Dick’s Life on Thurs, April 13th from 11AM-2PM Daetz Residence – 622 Glen Road, Danville.
Published in East Bay Times on Apr. 11, 2017