Richard Paul Foster Jr., 87, died on March 9, 2017.

He was was born on Jan. 27, 1930 in Farmington Township. His parents were Richard Paul Foster Sr. and Vasta Mae Parker.  The love of his life, Florence Foster (Benoit) from Newfoundland, Canada died in 2009 from ovarian cancer. He wore his wedding ring and stayed faithful until the day he died. They were married for 54 years.

Survivors: his children, Richard Paul Foster III, Anne Marie O’Gorman and Jessica McMillin; his grandchildren, Richard Paul Foster IV, Jaysan Matthew Gal, Ariel Nicole Warner, Chad O’Gorman, Maria O’Gorman and Deanna O’Gorman; great-grandchildren; a great-great-grandchild; anbd his younger brothers, Larry Foster and Wilson Foster of Davie County.

He joined the Navy after graduating from Mocksville High School in 1948. He decided he and the sea were not compatible and was Honorably Discharged and went into the Army Air Corps, which later became the U.S. Air Force. He traveled the world two times over and helped to protect the country.  He retired from the US Air Force August 1972.   He loved to fish, travel, was interested in health and mind and enjoyed the sport of target shooting. He had more than 200 skin cancer surgeries and suffered from Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia. He never felt sorry for himself and was a strong and happy man even through his final days.

He was honored by his family at Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., where he was receiving medical care these past years.  The medical center is dedicating a tree in his honor in front of the hospital so he can always be remembered. He was cremated and his ashes will be taken to Newfoundland Canada to join his wife’s ashes in the family plot. Some of his ashes are to be sprinkled in Kippen’s Brook where he and his wife fished and were happy for many years.  He loved God first, his family and America, was intelligent, had a fantastic memory, funny, a heart of gold, and was always trying to make people smile and laugh.