Richard Cothran
Feb. 3, 1937-Feb. 3, 2020
Richard “Navy Dick” L.
Cothran, age 83, passed
away on Monday, Febru-
ary 3, 2020 in the Royal
Care nursing care facility
in Avon Park, Florida. He
was born on February 3,
1937 in Greenville, OH to
Lorris “Shorty” and Jewel
(Enicks) Cothran. After at-
tending Greenville High
School he enlisted in the
Navy in 1955, where he
earned the name he was
famously known as, Navy
Dick.
While stationed in San
Diego, CA he was intro-
duced by mutual friend
Merlyn Liesener, to his
Bride, Ione Foss. On No-
vember 29,1963 they were
married in the Chapel of
the San Diego Naval Base.
While in the service, 2 of
their children, Barry and
Robyn, were born. In 1978
he retired from the Navy
as an E9 Master Chief
Machinist Mate, and the
family moved to Ray, ND.
While in Ray they owned
the Blue Mill Motel and
he spent a lot of time on
his hobby of restoring
VW’s and repairing Spray
Coops for many of the lo-
cal farmers. In 1980, Navy
and Ione welcomed their
third child Brooke to com-
plete their family. Navy
Dick was never one to sit
still, so in 1988 he went
back to work as a civilian
for the Air National
Guard, which he traveled
the US removing asbestos.
He again retired in 2000.
Navy was well known for
his love of
Harley-Davidson motorcy-cles and Volkswagens. He
was a founding member
of the Ray Ramblers
motorcycle club and con-
sidered them all part of
his family. He always
looked forward to attend-
ing the Sturgis motorcycle
Rally. For the last 10 years
Navy and Ione have en-
joyed spending their
winters in Florida.
He is survived by: his
wife Ione, son Barry of
Napa, CA; daughters Ro-
byn (Scott) German of
Hankinson, ND; Brooke
(Ryan) Nelson of Fort
Ransom, ND. Grandchil-
dren, Caleb Cothran,
Jacob Cothran, Bailey Ger-
man, Hayden German,
Gavin Jorgensen, Gracie
Nelson, Mara Nelson,
Abby Nelson and Brynn
Nelson, his sister Sue Ru-
ben.
He is preceded in death
by: his mother and father,
Lorris and Jewel. His sis-
ter Joy and brother-in-law
Harold McMiller,
brother-in-law Jules Ru-
bin, father and
mother-in-law Emil and
Lillian Foss, sister-in-law
Elaine Volz.
Services will be held at
11:00 am, Monday, Febru-
ary 17 th at the Ray Audi-
torium/ Community
Center. Burial will be at
the Temple Cemetery,
Temple, ND. Friends may
call from on Monday from
10:00 am until service
time.
Fulkerson Stevens on
Funeral Home in Willis-
ton is assisting the family.
Friends may sign the on-
line register and leave
their condolences at
www.fulkersons.com.