Richard "Dick" Gleason
The death on July 27, 1954, of Pfc. Richard B. Gleason of Oberlin was reported by the Oberlin News-Tribune on July 29, 1954. The telegram to Richard's parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Gleason, 152 E. College St., from the adjutant general, U.S. army, sent from Washington, D.C., merely stated that he had died. Pfc. Gleason had been stationed in one of the northern-most outposts in Alaska since early 1954.
It was later reported that Pfc. Gleason and another soldier both died in Alaska as the result of methanol poisoning. A Lorain friend of the Gleasons currently visiting in Anchorage, Alaska, reported to them that the two soldiers became ill on July 26 and were taken by emergency flight to the hospital at Camp Richardson, near Anchorage, where Pfc. Gleason died at 5 pm Tuesday, July 27. His companion died during the flight.
Pfc. Gleason was serving with the 3rd Armored Division, U.S.A., attached to an air force unit, at an unnamed location 50 air miles north of Elmendorf. He had been on duty there since the beginning of 1954, following a brief holiday leave at home after five months of basic training at Fort Knox, Ky. He was inducted into the army August 4, 1953.
Born July 24, 1933, in South Amherst, Dick attended grade school there and high school in Oberlin, his family having moved to Oberlin in 1948. He was treasurer of the graduating class in 1952, and president of the Hi-Y that year. One of the most popular and respected graduates of the Oberlin high class of 1952, Dick was engaged to Mary Lou Broadwell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Broadwell. In OHS he starred both as a football and basketball player, and was a leader in many other school activities. He won varsity letters in football, basketball, and track. He was a member of First Church, attended Hiram College for one year, and worked at the Janby oil station during vacations before being drafted.
The last letter received by the Gleasons from Dick thanked them for a light meter they had sent for his birthday, and spoke of how much he was looking forward to receiving a hunting rifle he had ordered. He had been doing a lot of hiking, picture taking and hunting in Alaska, and had become very interested in the treating of furs. But he wrote that the rainy season had set it, and that life in the army there was "a nightmare" during that season. It interfered with his plan to hike to visit an Eskimo village. While waiting for the weather to clear, he was thinking of building a boat. The letter was written on July 21.
His parents and a brother, Robert, survived him.
Services conducted by Rev. J.F. King and Rev. T. S. Kepler were held at the R. W. Gleason home. Interment was in Evergreen Cemetery, South Amherst.