Richard Cahill

Funeral services for Richard Cahill, 86, Humboldt, were held Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Humboldt, with Father Jim Tigges officiating. Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Humboldt. Dick died Dec. 31, 2011, at Humboldt Hospital.
It was a blizzardy night when Dick was born on March 5, 1925 to Henry and Eleanor (Gillette) Cahill, in Hampton, Iowa. His father was a railroad station agent, and at a very young age, Dick learned about hopping trains and having fun traveling between train stations (just some of his many youthful escapades).
Shortly after graduating from Hampton High School in 1943, he entered the U.S. Army. He was trained as an infantry and artillery man, then volunteered for paratroop training. Qualified for both paratroop and glider, he was shipped off to England in August 1944. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division just in time to join them in Operation Market Garden where he parachuted into Holland.
The Screamin’ Eagles of the 101st were withdrawn from Holland and were resting and refitting in France when the Germans launched the Ardennes offensive. Lacking reserves, the 101 was rapidly trucked to Bastogne where they were surrounded and fought for their lives until rescued by General Patton's forces. Dick was part of that gritty group of soldiers to survive.
He was also one of the soldiers assigned to occupy Hitler’s retreat in Bavaria. He returned in time for the victory march down Broadway in New York.
Dick went on to serve in the Korean war and returned home to the United States for good in 1951. Before he went to Korea, he went to officers’ candidate school and became a lieutenant.
On May 3, 1952, he married the love of his life, Leta Baltes, in Hampton, where the two started their lives together. They moved to California for a short period, then returned home to Iowa where they raised their three children, Tim Cahill, Warren Cahill and Mary (Cahill) Sanderson in Humboldt.
Dick (aka Lefty) loved sports. He was quarterback and captain of his high school football team. He “ump’d” baseball and AAA women’s softball. He officiated high school and junior college football. He also played softball on a men’s team in Humboldt. For more than 50 years, Dick had an avid interest in golf, made some “holes-in-one” and was an inspiration for his son Tim, to became a PGA golf professional.
Dick loved sports, but he loved the fellowship of the parishioners and clergy from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Humboldt even more. After his retirement from True Value Farm and Home in 1989, he was known to attend daily Mass and often say the Stations of the Cross. In his earlier years, he was an usher and Eucharistic minister. He was truly a faithful man. The support of his extended family and the St. Mary’s family meant very much to him, as did his “coffee-klatsch” and VFW buddies and all the friendships he made during his 86 years.
Dick is survived by his wife, Leta, and children, Warren (Cara) Cahill, of Pleasant Lake, Indiana, and Mary (Jack) Sanderson, of St. Joseph, Michigan. His son, Timothy, preceded him in death, as did his parents, three sisters and one brother. His brother, Henry (Dorothy) Cahill, of Marshalltown, Iowa, survives. His daughter-in-law, Donna (Fitzpatrick) Cahill, resides in Pensacola, Florida.
Dick’s four grandsons, Timothy, Thomas, Colin and Joseph Cahill, also survive. Dick and Leta have two step-grandsons, Ethan and Seth Clement; one step-granddaughter, Stephanie (Jack) Sanderson Guest; and three step-great grandsons, Tyler, Ethan and Owen Guest.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Mary’s Catholic School, Humboldt, or the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Post 5240, Dakota City, Iowa.