Richard George Lindstrom of Geneva Illinois died of natural causes on November 26, 2021. Richard passed away peacefully with family close by at Bria of Geneva, where he had been a resident for 3 years.

Richard was born on February 18 ^th , 1930, in Hinsdale Illinois.  His parents George and Ruth emigrated from Sweden and settled in Brookfield Illinois.  Richard and his two sisters, Ruth and Betty Anne played, laughed, attended school, and visited the Brookfield Zoo on many occasions.  Richard graduated from Riverside Brookfield High School in 1948 and joined the Navy 3 years later.  But before Richard shipped out, his friends set him up on a blind date – with a girl named Joanne Wood.  The two of them hit it off quite well and they corresponded prolifically while Richard was deployed.  (Author's note: Many years later, after Joanne – or Mom as I called her – had become incapacitated to some degree, she pressed me into service.  She asked me to destroy all of those letters they had written.  And yes, she had saved them all.  I do not believe that they would have been all that embarrassing.  My guess is that they may have gotten a little "PG" rated – But who knows?  I honored her wish.  There were a lot of them.  I burned every single one of those letters.  So, yes, I can tell you they corresponded prolifically, and every word remained between the two of them.)  Richard completed boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Base and was assigned to the Naval base in New Orleans.  A short time later he was placed on duty aboard the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S Leyte (CV32) where he served as a storekeeper during the Korean War.  His battle station was on a fire crew alongside the flight deck.

After his deployment Richard came back home and married Joanne.  The two of them were crazy about each other – and that never ended!  They bought a small ranch house in Glen Ellyn in 1955.  Richard worked as a commercial artist for a while and eventually became a plumber, working in and around Glen Ellyn and Wheaton, Illinois.  They adopted 2 boys, and remained in Glen Ellyn for over 40 years.  He was a founding member and Deacon at Countryside Chapel for many years.  He would arrive at church every Sunday morning two hours before anyone else.  He would unlock the doors, get the boilers up and running, turn on the lights, and then double check all of it.  Everything was going to be "tip-top" if he had anything to say about it… (and he did).

At one point or another, Richard (Pops) probably worked in half of the houses in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn.  He knew everybody, and everybody knew him.  Wherever we went Pops knew someone.  He would say; "Oh, that's Mrs. So-and-so: she and her husband live over on Wakeman, near President", or "that is Mr. Smith, he has bad drains".  As he drove around in his red Ford work truck, he would stop in to visit with friends.  He liked to "drop in" and say hello.  He was cheerful in those days, with a dry sense of humor.  Eventually he "retired" from plumbing, as his knees were pretty "shot" and he went to work in the maintenance department at Wheaton College.

Mom was diagnosed with MS in her 30's but did not become symptomatic for another 40 years.  Eventually they moved from the house in Glen Ellyn, to a condominium in Wheaton.  Pops gradually became more and more of a caregiver for Mom and quit working altogether to take care of Mom full time.  When Mom passed in 2011, Pops kind of lost his purpose.  He had spent so many years taking care of her, that I think he just felt a little lost.  He moved into Windsor Park Manor for a few years, until a fall (bad knees) meant he could no longer live independently.  He then moved to Bria of Geneva, where he lived for the last 3 years.

"Pops" Lindstrom is survived by his two children: David (Heideh) of IL, Daniel of Guam, and his sister Betty Anne (Allan) Soldwisch of PA.  He was preceded in death by his brother Eric, parents George and Ruth, wife Joanne, and sister Ruth (Walter) Goers.  A celebration of life and memorial visitation will be held at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187 on Sunday May 22nd from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., with a service at 4:00 p.m.  Richard will be interred with military funeral honors along with Joanne at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Elwood, IL on May 23 ^rd at 10:00 AM.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the National MS Society: Joanne Lindstrom MS Memorial Fund . www.Nationalmssociety.org/donate  (in memory of Joanne Lindstrom)