Richard (Dick) Bartlett passed away peacefully June 16, 2026surrounded by his family. Richard was born July 25, 1940 in Belvidere, Illinois to Ken and Virginia Bartlett. Dick spent his early childhood living in Illinois and Texas before moving to Dyersville, Iowa during the 7th grade. When he moved to Dyersville, there was another new student in his class who had recently moved from Minnesota to Dyersville named Inez Goerdt. Three years after the two of them graduated from Xavier High School, they were married at Saint Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville. When they graduated from the University of Iowa, they moved to Dallas, Texas with a one-year-old son and their second child due two months later.

Dick’s first job was with 3M. After five years with 3M, he moved on to a very successful career in the reinsurance business that took him from Dallas to Kansas City to Philadelphia. Upon retiring at the age of 59, Dick and Inez moved to Oceanside California where Dick took on a new role of “super volunteer.” In the days before FaceTime, Dick spent numerous hours everyweek arranging for families of military members serving in Iraq to connect through the video conferencing facilities at the University of California San Diego. Dick was very involved in the formation of Mainstreet Oceanside’s Sunset Market, which has grown into San Diego County’s largest food and music street fair with up to 240 food and retail booths every week.

Dick traveled often during his career but still managed to find the time to coach each of his four children in sports and take them to many sporting events. He was an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, and Iowa Hawkeyes. He passed on his love of baseball to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, teaching those that were willing to learn how to manually score every at bat during the game.

Dick had a special way of developing a unique relationship with each of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He supported their interests, attending countless ballgames, plays, musicals, and loved to take them on trips domestically and abroad.

Dick is survived by his wife Inez, children Charlie (Melissa), Barb, Beth, Dan (Pascale), his sister Susan, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Judy.

Visitation will be held Friday, June 19th at 10 a.m. with funeral mass at 11 a.m. at St. James Catholic Church 309 S. Stewart Rd, Liberty MO 64068. A celebration of life will be held in Dyersville IA on Sunday, August 30th at the Dyersville Country Club.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Parkinson’s Foundation.