Richard Carl Seeley
Personal
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: December 1, 1943
Date of Death: March 3, 2020
Birth Place: Glendale, CA
Death Place: Santa Barbara, CA
Richard Carl Seeley
December 1, 1943 – March 3, 2020
Richard Seeley, born in Glendale California, was an outstanding electrical engineer and inventor, a competent problem solver who could fix his car, do his own plumbing, electrical and carpentry work. Since he was a few years old he loved wires, taking things apart, and concocting new creations. He was a faithful employee of Raytheon for 40 years, a pilot, a lover of ham radio, and (old) nice cars. He received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering from UCSB, went to John Muir High School, and attended elementary and junior high school in the La Canada school system.
He was unimpressed with position, status, or himself, fiercely defended the underdog, and never tolerated meanness. He generously donated his time to help friends and family with house upgrades and even helped a friend build his airplane. He was embarrassed by praise of himself or anybody else and did everything with humility and no expectations in return.
He was dearly loved and survived by his family: wife Marianell Seeley Schaaf, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren: Robert, Yuli, Brayden, Ryder and Austin Seeley, his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren: Juliette, Joseph, Adam and Natalie Costa, his sister: Janis Seeley Derrick, and his mother-in-law: Mary Schaaf (Goggie).
His quirky sense of humor was unlike any other. His self-composed obituary was dictated with a smile and a gleam in his eye: “Dick Seeley …ran out of time.” He may have run out of time, but he never ran out of hope while battling prostate cancer. He enjoyed the small pleasures that life brought him to the very end: a doting wife who cared for him 24 hours a day, giggling grandchildren piled on his bed, Dr. Pepper, gyros, and TV shows about fixing junkyard cars, yelling political pundits, and battling robots.
A memorial will be held in his honor on March 28, 2020 at 2:00 PM at his daughter’s residence. All friends of Dick or the family are welcome. We look forward to hearing your memories and sharing ours.
Published in The Santa Barbara News-Press Online Edition from March 15 to March 19, 2020
[Great-grandson of SGS # 4172 – Richard Carl; Thomas Carleton; Erastus C.; Aaron Comstock (# 4172); Erastus (# 1901); Nathan; Sylvanus; Eliphalet; Jonas; Obadiah]
