Richard G. Zuelow

Richard G. Zuelow of Falmouth died at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough on April 23, 2024. He was 88.

Dick, as everyone called him, was born in Glasgow, Montana on July 27, 1935, the son of Gerald E. and Dagny C. (Sherven) Zuelow. He grew up in Fort Peck, Montana, where his family lived while Dick’s father was employed by the Army Corps of Engineers during the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. In 1952, the Zuelows moved to Richland, Washington and Dick graduated from Richland High School the following year.

Always mechanically inclined, Dick attended the University of Washington and received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1957. He worked as a flutter engineer. Starting his career at Boeing in 1962, Dick was involved in the development and safety analysis of jets, including the 747, the 777, and the 767. He retired in 1995.

Dick married Helen Lohmeyer in Seattle on March 19, 1965. With their son, Eric, they made their home in Kirkland, Washington for many years. They enjoyed camping, hiking, vacations in the United Kingdom, and annual journeys down the Washington and Oregon coasts. Dick also supported Eric’s passion for bicycle racing. 

In 2005, Dick and Helen moved to Eugene, Oregon, where they purchased a home with a garage big enough to accommodate Dick’s love of antique cars. Dick not only restored a 1947 MG-TC, but also, over fifty years, brought back to life a 1931 Model A roadster pickup truck that had been all but destroyed by fire. Helen and Dick resided in Eugene until joining Eric and his wife, Katie, in Falmouth, Maine in September 2020. 

Dick is remembered as a kind and gentle man with a wonderful sense of humor. He was curious about just about everything, but he especially loved hiking, classical music, model building, antique automobiles, history, science, and reading anything he could find about airplanes, tall ships, and cars. As a young man he played the piano and, marching in his high school band, the clarinet. When just a boy, he showed his aptitude for engines by motorizing his bicycle. Dick later rode Indian and BSA motorcycles to work for several years before graduating to a succession of exciting cars. 

Dick was preceded in death by his sister, Diane Diethelm of Eugene, Oregon. 

In addition to his devoted wife, son, and daughter-in-law, Dick is survived by his granddaughter, Brigid “Bridie” Zuelow; two sisters-in-law, Vivian Lohmeyer of Eugene, Oregon and Rene Perdue of Phoenix, Arizona; two brothers-in-law, Jerry Diethelm and Steve Perdue; two cousins, Jim Zuelow of Arizona and Lew Zuelow of California; and several nieces and nephews.

A private memorial will be held at a later date.

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