Dick Pelletier was good. He was a good man who made a good life.

The neighbors in Cameron, Wisconsin were lucky too. If there were lawns that needed mowing or driveways that needed plowing, Dick was there to help. If there were trees that needed trimming or docks that needed to be put in. He was there with waders on to help. If there were beers to drink after, in the shade of a tree, the breeze from the lake on his face, he was there. He was good.

He was a good friend and storyteller. Oh, the stories we’ve heard about this crazy group of friends. Long time friends. Fish stories for sure. Legendary stories of crazy camping trips, fishing trips, weekly golf adventures. You know these friends. This group of friends knows how to tell these stories too. Find one of them later and ask for one. Maybe ask about the time Dick was responsible for the food on a fishing trip to Lake of the Woods and he only brought baloney sandwiches and baked potatoes to eat for 3 days or ask about the adventures of TWT, or ask about the epic all day water balloon fight. These friends have hours and hours of stories to tell.

Dick loved practical jokes. He once replaced the giant turkey George was grilling with a tiny bird he had scorched to dark black. George took off the lid of the grill and his beautiful turkey had become a shrunken blackened rock. So funny. Dick had the best lawn on the block in White Bear Lake. Once, his neighbor Bob grabbed Armor All by mistake instead of weed killer to get rid of some weeds on his own lawn, Dick sent him a letter from the city of White Bear informing him he won an award for shiniest lawn on the block. No one was safe from his jokes. Grandson Max once accidentally rode his bike into a mailbox, sure enough, the next time we visited the lake Dick found an old mailbox and attached it to the front of Max’s bike. Dick loved wrapping gifts in crazy ways. You could NEVER guess what the gift was by looking at it or shaking it. He had a good sense of humor.

He was a good husband, father and grandfather.
 

He and Diane were married for 49 years. He cherished Diane. He let her have the upstairs tv and he took the basement one. They were so lucky to be such great partners in life. They built a retirement home on a lake and actually got to spend almost 20 years together, in retirement, in that home. What a blessing. They took vacations, and even though they were mainly fishing related, they did it together. Dick was lucky, for a lot of their life together his house was filled with testosterone. 3 men and 1 lady. Diane dreamt of a holiday afternoon NOT filled with an action movie. But she had no chance. She was outnumbered. 3 to 1. conversations at the dinner table were always about food plots, hunting clothes or Swedish pimple lures.

He maybe didn’t know it, but he was a good teacher too. He taught kids in the community hunter safety, he taught his daughters in law how to ice fish, he taught his grandkids how to play cards. He taught his boys how to back up a trailer, how to launch a boat, how to fillet a fish, how to fall asleep in a tree stand and not fall out, how to throw horseshoes, darts, and baseballs. Most of all, he taught his boys how to be good husbands and fathers. The best. Because of him, they are good.