Richard Thomas Fell

A salute to our captain Dick Fell; his last sunrise flight west left Denver on December 10, 2025.

DeWitt, Iowa was his hometown.  Born to Lyle and Minnie Fell on November 24th, 1937, and welcomed in life with sister Linda and brother Ronald.  He graduated from DeWitt High School in the class of 1955.  While he managed only a single touchdown on the football field, he excelled as a runner, highlighted by a 2 mile relay state championship his senior year.  He attended Iowa State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering while participating in the ROTC program.

Rich began his flying career in a Cessna 120 and a Cessna 140.  He joined the United States Air Force in 1960 following his college graduation,  where he became an F-100 pilot.  During his six years of military service, he was based stateside in Bainbridge, Lubbock, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Alexandria. He then spent three years stationed overseas at Hahn Air Force Base in Germany.

Dick was honorably discharged in 1966 and went to work for Continental Airlines. After 31 years of flying with Continental, he had accumulated more than 25,000 hours in a variety of aircrafts.  During his spare time, he loved to travel with his family and pursued adventures as an outdoorsman while sailing, hunting, skiing, fishing, and raising waterfowl. He was a fan of country and western music, particularly the songs of George Jones, whose lyrics he found straightforward and articulate!

After retiring from flying in 1997, he continued with his existing hobbies and learned new skills allowing him to successfully restore award winning cars.  His favorites were a fine pair of 1936 Fords:  a Roadster and a Cabriolet.

Richard is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mercedes, four sons, Rick (Jaime), Mark (Susan), Jeff (Tracy), and Michael (Carolina), as well as ten grandchildren, one great grandchild, and many loving family members and friends.

He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony at Fort Logan National Cemetery with family in attendance.  In lieu of flowers a memorial contribution can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org)

“And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.”  – Christina Rossetti

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