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Richard “Dickie” Bradford, 78, peacefully went to heaven on June 24, 2023, in Palmer, Alaska with his wife, Pamela (Rogers), by his side where she has been for 59 years. They shared an unconditional love that provided hope and inspiration for us all. Dick’s legacy includes one daughter, Theresa (Mark) Savel, three grandchildren, Christina (Jeff Dolena) Savel, Forrest (Allye Brodie) Savel, and Nathaniel (Leann Fitzpatrick) Savel, and two great-grandchildren Evelyn and Brooke Dolena.

Dick was a craftsman, an outdoorsman, a Brewmeister, an antique and coca cola collector, a youth sports spectator, a Nascar fanatic, and a musician. Dick took pride in everything he did. If it wasn’t done right, there wasn’t any sense in doing it at all.

His work can be seen all over Alaska from village schools and post offices, the Captain Cook Hotel, Chugiak auditorium, to his own house (his pride and joy). He and Pam built every ornate detail of the home which would challenge any museum to its novelty.

From his youth, he could be seen with a rifle or fishing pole. He put a rifle in his daughter’s hand the second she was strong enough to hold it always emphasizing respect for the weapon and the game. It was important.

Dick’s pride and joy were his craft beverages mostly beer and wine that would knock your socks off. He loved to share rarely walking into a doctor’s office, grocery store, or hockey game without a bottle in his coat to give to a friend or stranger. The beverages were the perfect metaphor for Dick’s life, sometimes too sweet, sometimes not sweet enough, sometimes bubbly and fun, and sometimes outright onery and blow up in your face. We loved them all, just like him.

Dick could tell you anything about antiques and he always had a good story, or stories, to go along with it. He was quite the storyteller. No one could compete with some of the predicaments he got himself into that made a good story.

Dick rarely missed an event his grandchildren participated in even if it meant standing at a hockey rink in Glennallen at 40 below. But he didn’t just love his grandchildren, he loved everyone’s children. He frequented basketball and hockey games even when his grandchildren weren’t playing. He usually had a favored team, but really just rooted for the love of the sport. He could always be seen behind the goalie in a red polka dot hat and a handful of rainbow unicorn lollipops for big and little children.

Dick’s heart broke when Dale Earnhardt died and the sport was never quite the same, but he remained a loyal fan. He cherished the times he took his grandsons to races.

In Dick’s early years, he played bass for the first Mojos south of St. Louis in DeSoto, Artesian, and Herky, MO. He often talked about playing in the clubs with bands like Ike and Tina Turner and Chuck Berry. In his last moments, he listened to Ray Charles, his all-time favorite, smiled and said, “I love that.”

Dick was truly one of a kind and will be missed dearly by many. His memory will live on in the stories we retell.