Richard Lee Estes (1936 - 2022)

Born 8 Jun 1936 in Smithshire, Warren, Illinois, United States

Died 5 Apr 2022 at age 85 in Oakdale, Stanislaus, California, United States

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Biography

Richard “Dick” Lee Estes passed away unexpectedly but peacefully on April 5, 2022, surrounded by his loving family. Dick was born June 8, 1936, in Smithshire, Illinois to Dwight and Sarah Estes. Our Dad married the love of his life, Carol Ann Roggensack in 1957. They started their family in Illinois with two children and then moved to Texas where they completed their family with their third child.

Dick started his career working for the Rock Island Lines railroad in Illinois. He took some finance classes in Junior College and soon joined Seaboard Finance. He worked in the finance industry for many years before joining the automotive industry in San Antonio, Texas. He moved to California for better opportunities in the auto industry and to be around family. He honed his salesman skills and worked his way up to General Manager of multiple dealerships in the Bay Area. He owned Fremont Dodge in Fremont, California before relocating to Modesto. In Modesto, he was the General Manager for Bill Hughes Dodge. He opened his own used car dealership in Ceres, California where he remained until he retired. While running his used car dealership he was also a Director and Vice President of the Independent Automobile Dealers Association of California (IADAC).

Family was always Dad’s top priority. He enjoyed boating, camping, and motorcycling with his family. He took great pleasure in watching his children and grandchildren play football, baseball, softball, hockey, and soccer.

Dad’s other great passion, or maybe addiction, was golf. His addiction escalated after joining Oakdale Golf and Country Club over 35 years ago, to our mom’s great delight. He was a proud member of Bogeys Unlimited for many years. We think Dad liked the 19th hole and rolling dice as much as he liked playing the game and boy was he lucky! He also enjoyed belonging to the Oakdale Men’s Dinner Club.

He was happily married to his wife Carol and they both appreciated every one of their 65 years together. He leaves behind his children Lori (Britt), Darren (Cindy), and Brett. He was the loving Papa to Cherise (Ryan), Heather (Chris), Ian (Kim), and Brandon. He was the devoted Great Papa to Colton, Rhett, Remi, Rylee, and Cade. As the patriarch of our family, our husband, father, papa, great papa he will be greatly missed by all who loved him. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.oakdaleleader.com/obituaries/richard-estes/

• information provided by his wife, Carol Ann Roggensack Estes
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/238927171/richard_lee-estes: accessed April 4, 2024), memorial page for Richard Lee “Dick” Estes (8 Jun 1936–5 Apr 2022), Find a Grave Memorial ID 238927171, citing Saint John's Catholic Cemetery, Escalon, San Joaquin County, California, USA; Maintained by Debi Bautista (contributor 46861665)