Richard Etchell

<p>Richard Etchell, 82, never let his polio-crippled right leg slow him down and by the end of his life he'd been a farmer, builder, hunter, scuba diver and beloved family man.</p><p>“He was a very determined guy. He lived in pain all the time but he didn't complain and he kept going. It would have stopped most people, not him,” said his daughter, Denise Chrowl of Healdsburg.</p><p>Etchell, a longtime Healdsburg resident, died Saturday at the home he built and lived in for more than half a century. He'd suffered in recent years from a series of health issues, including strokes and the loss of the withered leg, but he died of bladder cancer, she said.</p><p>Etchell was born in Oakland, the oldest of three boys born three years in a row. “They were a handful,” Chrowl said. </p><p>The family decided to leave the city and moved in 1940 to a ranch on Olivet Road in west Santa Rosa with chickens and fruit trees.</p><p>There Etchell discovered his love of farming and he dropped out of high school in 10th grade to pursue the life of a farmer.</p><p>At 17, Etchell joined the Merchant Marines to help during World War II, fearing his age and disability wouldn't get him into other military service. After his service he returned to Sonoma County.</p><p>He married young and they had a boy, William, who died while still a baby. The tragedy led to the end of the marriage, his daughter said. Etchell then joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church and developed a strong spiritual nature he carried through the rest of his life.</p><p>He re-married in 1954. Dick and Georgette Etchell moved to Healdsburg in 1956 and over the years had four children.</p><p>Etchell along the way developed construction skills and in 1956 he built the family home. He and his brothers also were involved in buying property in Sonoma County and construction, including building the Colonial Park Mobile Home Estates in northern Santa Rosa, she said.</p><p>If Etchell was interested in something, he tackled it.</p><p>Frequently working with Hispanic workers on the farm, Etchell was determined to learn Spanish and did. He also was an avid fisherman and hunter and was known for his precise abilities to prune a tree or maneuver a back hoe.</p><p>For years he travelled to Mexico for dove hunting and became like family to a family there, adopting them in his heart and returning in his later years to visit.</p><p>“He was a generous, true blue sort of a guy,” she said.</p><p>At services Saturday several people spoke of his generosity, offering stories over the years that told of his caring.</p><p>“He was a generous true blue sort of guy,” said his daughter. </p><p>As well as Chrowl, he is survived by his wife, Georgette Etchell of Healdsburg; daughters Jeanne Burgess of Ceres and Marianne Etchell-Allan of Windsor; son Mark Etchell of Walla Walla, Wash.; brothers Robert Etchell of Healdsburg and Russell Etchell of Santa Rosa and 12 grandchildren.</p><p>Services were Saturday.</p><p>Memorial contributions may be made to Healdsburg Seventh-day Adventist Church, Heartland Hospice, Adventist Development and Relief Agency or to a favorite charity.</p><p>— Randi Rossmann</p>