Richard Randel Lyman

Dick Lyman
Escalante, Utah

On Saturday, 10 August 2024, Richard Randel Lyman, devoted husband, and father of four sons, passed away at the age of 87, concluding a decade long struggle with dementia. Richard “Dick” Lyman was born on September 27, 1936, in Richfield, Utah, to Randel and Gwen (Hickman) Lyman, the first of 6 children. He was raised in Escalante, spending much of his early years at his grandfather’s and father’s sawmill on the slopes of the Escalante Mountain in Main Canyon. Here he had fond memories of the mill and playing with his younger sisters. He loved to retell his experience of being warmly fitted with his sister Deanna upon a load of lumber – the truck cab being fully occupied with his parents and sister Rosemary – and hauled up to Salt Lake City as a family to deliver the lumber for the war effort. Dick’s family moved to the town center of Escalante in 1944 and purchased the local phone company, his mother being the switchboard operator, and his father being the linesman. Dick accompanied his father while making line repairs in Escalante; west to Panguitch, and east to Boulder. Dick also delivered newspapers for a period of his youth, at first with a motorized scooter, often with a sister riding in the side car, and then on horseback.

 Dick attended high school in Escalante, where he played baseball and basketball and began his courtship with Mary Coombs. In 1954, they were voted King and Queen of the Kriss Kringle Ball. After receiving his high school diploma in 1954, he began attending school at the College of Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah. Using the drafting skills he was learning at CSU, Dick designed the motel that he, his father, and others would complete in 1956 – the same year that he graduated from CSU with an Associate of Science Degree. While pursuing additional instruction at Utah State University in 1957, his father persuaded Dick to go to Southern California to get some work experience. He secured a position with Boller and Chivens, where they designed and built a mounted tracking camera for photographing the Sputnik Satellite. While home in Escalante during the holidays, he had an encounter with his grandfather, Vern Lyman, who instructed him that if he had any sense, he would go and court Ephraim Coombs’ daughter, Mary, from Boulder, Utah. He did, and they dated for a few years. Dick also attended the University of Utah and served in the Utah National Guard.

 On August 26, 1960, Mary and Dick were married in the Salt Lake Temple. At one time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allowed newly married men to go out on missions, supported by their wives. Dick had hoped that would be the case for him, but the Church decided to discontinue the practice, so he never served a mission. However, he was always missionary minded. Dick served as a Stake missionary, a Stake Seventy, and spoke with anyone who was willing to listen about the Church. Having only sons, he supported the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts programs, serving at different times as Cubmaster and Scoutmaster with the local troop. He served faithfully in the Church throughout his life, eventually becoming a High Priest Group Leader and a Stake High Councilor.

 Dick and Mary lived in various locations in both Utah and Southern California, raising their four sons, ultimately settling in Bountiful, Utah. He was a devoted husband and father, ever concerned about providing for his family’s wants and needs. Working on the forefront of a defense industry boom during the Cold War, he was instrumental in pioneering the development of fiberglass and carbon fiber winding technology. Dick worked for a number of high tech aerospace companies, including: Okaw Industries; Engineering Technology; Hercules; Aerojet General; Edo Corporation/Fiber Science; Lear Siegler/Royal Industries; ALCOA TRE/Fibertek; and Applied Composite Technology. Notable achievements include: fabricating the Beechcraft Starship (the first civilian aircraft with a carbon fiber wound fuselage); designing external fuel tanks for military aircraft, carbon fiber wound rifle barrels and prosthetic feet. Dick holds two US patents for his work with filament wound pressure vessels. Dick and his wife Mary would take ownership of the Padre Motel (the same motel he designed and completed) in 1993, and operated it for 27 years until Mary’s death in 2020.

 Dick is lovingly remembered by his sons: Richard "Randy" (Rebecca) Lyman, Ephraim; "Kendall" (Lisa) Lyman, Cray (Kari) Lyman, and Charles "Russ" Lyman; along with 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Five siblings also survive him: Deanna Greer, Rosemary Smith, Joyce Woolsey, Blaine Lyman, and Evelyn Corning. Dick was preceded in death by his wife, Florence Mary Coombs Lyman; mother, Gwen Hickman Lyman; father, Randel Wilcock Lyman.

 Funeral services will be held in the Escalante Ward Chapel at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 24, 2024. Friends & Family may attend viewings in the Barton Creek Ward Chapel (640 South 750 East, Bountiful, Utah) at 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 22, 2024; and in the Escalante Ward Chapel at 9:30-10:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 24, 2024. The burial will be in the Escalante Cemetery. Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary; Richfield, Salina and Manti. Live streaming of the services and online guestbook at: https://www.maglebymortuary.com/obituaries/richard-lyman