Surnames: Brown, Baldwin, Kuenkel, Waterman, Ayers, Ulesich

----Sources: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.)

RICHARD "DICK" McCUNE

Richard "Dick" A McCune died on Sept. 16, 2002 after a brief illness. Dick was born in Willard, WI on April 2, 1918, the son of Arthur and Hazel (Brown) McCune and the brother of Roland McCune.

Art ran a dairy farm on Hwy G (which is now the Volovsek farm), the barn and silo that he built are still standing. Hazel died in 1928 from complications of appendicitis. Art ran the farm until the late 1940's and then wet to work for Caterpillar Tractor in East Peoria, IL. The McCune's regularly attended church in Willard, with other family members, including McCune's, Brown's, Baldwin's and Kuenkel's.

Dick attended elementary school in Willard, which was a state authorized school. He then attended Neillsville High School graduating in 1937 and worked seasonally raking cranberries and working on his father's farm. He attended many of the class reunions, but was unable to attend this year's 65th reunion, due to poor health.

Following the hurricane of 1938, Dick answered an ad for "lumber men", to cut fallen trees in MA. He boarded with a family in Harvard, where he met and later married Daisy Gunderson in 1941. Their son Thomas was born in 1943. Dick was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1943. Due to his ‘mechanical' background and ability to fix and run tractors, he was considered an ‘engineer', assigned to the 297th Combat Engineers, and sent to Southampton, England. He was at D-Day plus three, when he built and re-built bridges throughout Germany for the advancing Allied Divisions. At the end of the war, he was offered the opportunity to re-enlist, but chose to go home to his wife and son.

The family purchased a Legacy Stone for Dick at The Highground in Neillsville. Dick was able to view the stone during a trip to Wisconsin, and felt that being associated with The Highground was an "honor" for him.

Dick and his family settled in Fitchburg, MA where three daughters were born. Dick worked at General Electric Company, as a machinist, until he retired in 1980, after 32 years. Dick was a member of the GE Quarter Century Club. Dick and Daisy enjoyed many years of camping, and held many positions within the North American Family Campers Association. They visited ‘out home', in the ‘coach' as often as they could. On one trip, they attended Mayme McCune Baldwin's 90th birthday party in Sun Prairie. His last visit to Willard was in 2000. Dick kept his subscription for the Clark County Press, so as to keep up on the local news. He especially enjoyed the "Grand Old Days" section of the paper.

Preceding Dick is his wife of 57 years, who died in 1998 and his brother Roland, who died in 1957. Surviving Dick is a son, Thomas McCune of Fitchburg; daughters, Linda Waterman of Westminster, MA; Jo Ayers of Feeding Hills, MA and Nancy McCune of Londonderry, NH; seven grandchildren; four great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Local cousins surviving Dick include Ruth (Kuenkel) Ulesich of Willard, and Carl and Frank Baldwin, both of Sun Prairie.

Funeral services were held at the Chapel at Sawyer Miller Funeral Home in Lunenburg, MA and interment was at the family plot at Bellevue Cemetery in Harvard, MA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to The Highground Memorial Fund or the American Cancer Society.