Richard "Dick" Lewis Fye's Obituary
Fye, Richard “Dick” Lewis
Richard Fye, 95, of Gainesville, peacefully joined his family and friends with God on January 3, 2020 at Haven Hospice. Dick’s guardian angel protected him while he was in the Navy through two wars, then at the age of 95 she took him to heaven. He was born to Rush Richard Fye and Lina Isabelle Babcock Fye in Toledo, Ohio on March 27, 1924. The family moved to Orlando, Florida in 1928, where he graduated from Orlando High School in 1943. He and his brother Terry then joined the Navy. The Navy sent him to the Great Lakes Training School and then to the Navy Radio School at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After receiving a 3rd class radioman rating his unbelievable experiences began. His guardian angel was with him in the Sicily invasion, the Italian conflict, when his destroyer was sunk by a mine at Normandy, and at Okinawa, Japan when his destroyer was hit by suicide planes. He was awarded numerous medals including the Medaille De Jubilee from France for his part in the battle of Normandy, the United States Navy Commendation Medal, WWII D-Day Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal, WWII Occupation Medal and 3 battle stars. When he was discharged from the Navy he went to work with the US Department of Agriculture, at the Insects Affecting Man and Animals laboratory in Orlando. In his work, he and his colleagues, after testing thousands of chemicals found one that Johnson Wax developed commercially and named the insect repellent “DEET”. In 1950 Uncle Sam called him back in the Navy for the Korean conflict. During his time in the navy he served on 2 destroyers, the USS Glennon and the USS Adams, and the mine sweeper USS Towee. Dick retired from the USDA in April 1979 after 53 years. He married his first wife Evelyn in 1946 who preceded him in death in 1991 after 45 years of marriage. His brother Terry and his stepson Larry also preceded him in death. In 1993, he married Maria Ethel “Tila” Forgas Vilallonga and they shared many wonderful years of adventures, travel and photography before her passing in 2017. He is survived by his stepson Eduardo Vilallonga of Hyde Park, MA , his stepdaughter Eliana Davidson of Alexandria, VA, and his loving friend and angel, Genoa Cruz of Gainesville, FL. Dick was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a fishing club. His hobbies were fishing, photography, and traveling with Tila around the US and overseas. He was a volunteer for 5 years at the Performing Arts Center and 20 years at the Friends of the Gainesville Library.
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