Dakan (Bill) Jr Willis Richmond

Dakan, Willis (Bill) Richmond, Jr. departed this life April 23, 2008. A service to celebrate Bills life will be held at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 1:00 PM. He was born in Parsons, Kansas, August 24, 1924, to Mary Manchester Evans Dakan and Willis Richmond Dakan, Sr. He was raised in Parsons by his mother and her parents, Charles Ira Evans and Gertrude Bundy Evans. His family was involved in transportation, Grandfather Evans with the Katy Railroad, and Grandfather Okey Benton Dakan in automobile sales. During WWII he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, piloting high performance light bombers. Following World War II, he completed his degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota. Daughter Nancy Clark Dakan was born in Texas in December 1949 to Bill and Mary Lucas Dakan. They returned to Kansas in 1951, where son William Evans Dakan was born in April 1952, and son Thomas Teal Dakan was born in July 1956. He was the owner of Astropolymer Laboratories, now ACD (manufacturing) and DO Products, later Distributor to Industry (distribution). He earned his Masters degree in Business administration from Wichita State University. He earned civilian pilot and instrument flight credentials. He enjoyed golf at Crestview Country Club, courses across the country and throughout the world, scoring a memorable 78 on the Old Course of St Andrews in Scotland. He was a member of numerous civic and professional organizations, including Wichita Downtown Rotary International. He served as Vestryman and Senior Warden for St. Albans Episcopal Church, later joining Eastminster Presbyterian Church. He was a board member and President of Crestview Country Club. Beginning in 1982 his love and energies were devoted to a new partner and wife, Bonnie Johnson Dakan. They moved to College Station, Texas where he taught communications at Texas A M University. With Bonnie, he traveled the world, including China, Europe, and, by motor home, the Continental U.S. and Canada. In 1998, proximity to family prompted a return to Wichita. Renewed friendships and time with family were among the blessings of Bill and Bonnies return to Kansas. He was “Papa” to his grandsons Weston Teal Anders (1986) and Colin Dakan Anders (1989), Andrew Richmond Dakan (1995) and Robert William Dakan (1998), and granddaughters Sarah Marie Dakan (1997), Katherine Nicole Dakan (1998) and Rachel Jane Dakan (2001), who, with his wife, Bonnie, and children, Nancy Anders, of Colorado, Bill (Libby), Wichita, and Teal (Marty) of Kansas City, survive him. The family has requested that any memorial offerings be made to Eastminster Presbyterian Church 1958 N. Webb Road and/or Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS, 67202. Downing Lahey Mortuary East.