Richard William Wilson, 87, passed away October 6, 2007 in Kennewick, Washington. Dick was born on June 3, 1920 on a small farm in Northwestern Illinois to Howard and Theresa Meier Wilson. He attended a one-room schoolhouse in his early years and then went to high school in the nearby small town of Geneseo. In 1939 he joined his grandparents in southern California, attended a junior college, and worked at Northrup Aircraft as a machinist. In September 1944, he was inducted into the Navy where he received training as an electronics technician. He was honorably discharged in June 1946 as an aviations electronics technician?s mate third class. He immediately enlisted in the Naval Reserves, where he would serve for 34 years until he retired in 1980 as a Lieutenant Commander. In September 1947, after his active Navy duty, he attended the University of Wyoming where he studied Geology. Also studying geology was his future wife, Jacqueline Beldon. After receiving their Bachelor?s degrees, Dick and Jackie were married August 7, 1949, in Santa Ana, California. Returning to school, they both received their Master?s degrees in Geology in 1951. After a year of geologic work for the Bureau of Reclamation, Dick had a chance to attend Colorado State University in Ft. Collins where he received a Master?s degree in Physics. By now, Dick and Jackie had two girls and they made the move to Phoenix, Arizona, where Dick had a job with Motorola. Several years later, the addition of one, and then another son, completed their family. Dick continued working at Motorola, mostly in the Semiconductor Research and Development Laboratory where he was one of the early researchers and contributors in the semiconductor and transistor field. He received several patents for his work in this field, and before he retired after 30 years with Motorola, he was honored with the company?s highest Dan Noble Fellow award. Dick was the consummate ?fix-it man.? He was accomplished in everything from adding additional rooms to the house, reshingling the roof, and repairing cars, to fixing broken dishwashers and toys, and he was the only one all his kids went to for splinter removal. When he wasn?t fixing something, he could usually be found in his shop building something, and he made many pieces of furniture and wall units for the house. He also had the patience of a saint, which he needed when helping all his children understand their homework problems in chemistry, physics, and math. Dick was a lifelong outdoorsman and loved to camp and hike. One of his favorite hiking areas was Havasu Canyon and he organized and led several group trips into the canyon. Every summer he took his family camping and they explored all over the western third of the US and Canada. After the kids got older, Dick and Jackie became world travelers. They toured throughout Europe, the Middle East, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. They also bought a 5th wheeler and continued their exploration of the United States, traveling from Alaska to Florida. Dick is preceded in death by his wife, Jackie, and his sister, Phyllis. He is survived by his children: Carol Zdanovec of Spokane, WA; Lorraine Don White of Kennewick, WA; Tom Randi Wilson of Mesa, AZ, and Russell Sheila Wilson of Scottsdale, AZ. He is also survived by his sisters Patricia Clyde Evans of Chandler, AZ, and Beth Art Metzger of Costa Mesa, CA. Dick has 8 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. Inurnment services will be held on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, at 11:00am. at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix.