Date of Birth:
Thursday, December 5, 1929
Date of Death:
Monday, June 16, 2025
Age:
95 years old

Richard (Dick) Ray Rundle

Richard (Dick) Ray Rundle died on June 16, 2025, at the Seasons Hospice House, with family by his side. Born in Wessington Springs, SD, on December 5, 1929, 37 days after the stock market crash, his early life was a true Grapes of Wrath story. Dick had vivid memories as a five-year-old boy of helping his parents pack all their possessions into a Model A Ford and “head down the gravel roads to uncertainty” as he described it, leaving the Dust Bowl that had once been his home. These experiences left an indelible mark on him, fundamentally shaping the man he would become.

The promise of work for his father led the family to Minneapolis in 1937. Dick graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1947 and enrolled at the University of Minnesota (U of M), receiving his B.A. degree in Journalism. During this time, Dick met Joyce Kathleen Driscoll — the luckiest day of his life, he said. They married on January 20, 1951, but military service soon called Dick to enlist in the U.S. Army from 1952-1954, 14 months of which he spent in Korea. After his discharge, Dick returned to the U of M and received an M.A. in Mass Communication Research.

A career in advertising followed, first at Campbell-Mithun Agency and then at BBDO where he was VP, Director of Marketing, Research and Media. In 1971, he moved to International Multifoods, a Fortune 500 food company, where he was Division VP and Business Group Manager. Early retirement from Multifoods in 1985 led to a part-time role with St. Thomas University as Marketing Manager for its Master of Business Communication program.

Dick and Joyce had four children together, and five years after their youngest was born, they purchased property in NW Wisconsin and built the family cabin in 1967. The cabin became Dick’s respite from the rigors of the workforce, his place of retreat, and rejuvenation. He was able to make one last trip back up to the lake before he died, gazing at the majestic pine trees he loved so.

Golf held a similar place of importance and was an activity Dick and Joyce shared together, both as participants and spectators. Sadly, a serious injury to his leg in 2017 ended his amateur golf career, but he never tired of watching the PGA Tour.

Music inhabited a singular place in his heart, beginning at an early age. His tastes spanned across musical genres including jazz, opera, cowboy music (not country western, he would say), and the songs from the Great American Songbook, as sung by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, and others.

The light left Dick’s life on June 23, 2020, when his beloved Joyce died. They shared a lifetime built around Joyce’s incredible cooking and entertaining skills, travel, music, theater (founding members of the Rochester Friends of the Commonweal Theatre), family gatherings enriched by the presence of their children and grandchildren, and volunteer work at Rochester Community Food Response and elsewhere. He was a member of the Eastwood Golf Course men’s league.

Dick is survived by his four children, who provided him with purpose and comfort, especially in the last five years of his life after Joyce died: Thomas (Dawn Holm) of Fargo, ND, Kathleen of Bloomington, MN, Carolyn (Jeff) Piepho of Rochester, MN, and Anne (Steve) Billings of Webster, WI. His seven grandchildren were sources of great pride and joy: Colin (Lauren) Piepho, Robert (Michayla Cain) Billings, Chloe (Luke) Corey, Michael (Amy Skroch) Billings, Brian (Kay) Billings, Evan Piepho and Carly Rundle-Borchert. And delighting him to no end were his four great-grandchildren: Ava and Ella Corey, Cedric Piepho, and Wyatt Billings. He is also survived by his sister, Mariel Garber. Dick was preceded in death by his parents, Milton and Carol, and his sister, Bonnie Greengard.

A joint memorial service for Dick and Joyce will be on Friday, August 1 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church (1727 Walden Lane SW, Rochester), with visitation one hour prior to the service. Lunch will follow the service. A private family inurnment will take place the following day at Oak Grove Cemetery in Webster, WI, with military rites.

We would like to thank Seasons Hospice for the extraordinary care and love they gave to Dick during his time on hospice. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial gift to Seasons Hospice, Rochester, MN, or First Unitarian Universalist Church.

Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com