DeLong, Richard P. "Dick" age 96, and longtime resident of Anoka, passed away December 31st in Chandler, Arizona, after contracting the flu. Dick grew up in Anoka, enjoyed hunting and fishing with his dad, was active in Boy Scouts, attended the First National Jamboree in 1937 (the one that was postponed because of polio), and worked with his dad at the lumber yard. He was a standout basketball player on the Anoka High School Maroons, graduating in 1939, the year of the tornado that changed the team name. Dick graduated from Macalester College in 1943 with a BA in economics. He served as senior class president and began dating the homecoming queen. He participated in Civil Air Patrol and learned to fly the Waco PT-14, a US Army training biplane. He signed with the US Navy in 1942 and upon graduation went on active duty, attending Officer Candidate ("90-Day Wonder") School at Northwestern University in Illinois. While on leave in 1943, he married Ethel Wagner on Halloween. Dick served on the escort aircraft carrier USS Sangamon (CVE-26) and, after eight months, was attached as a Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer to US Army units operating in the Pacific Theater. He was in the Philippines when WWII ended, and was discharged as a Lieutenant JG. Returning to Anoka, Dick went into business with his father, operating Rum River Lumber Company on 2nd Avenue in Anoka. Dick and his brother Scott Jr. became owners of the company upon the death of Scott Sr. in 1961. Dick has always been involved in his community, serving as president of the Lincoln School and Anoka High School PTAs, as president of the Jaycees, as chairman of the local Salvation Army for several years, as scoutmaster of BSA troop 318, as a member of the building committee of the First Congregational Church, and as vice-president of the Midwest Lumberman's Association. He was a lifelong member of the American Legion. Dick and Ethel made their home in Anoka, in a house overlooking Goodrich Field (where Anoka High School played football), and had a picture window installed in the family room so the games could be watched in comfort. Dick was supportive of Ethel's many musical activities, and they were conscientious parents to their three sons. People from all walks of life were welcome in their home. Dick enjoyed deer, pheasant, and duck hunting. One highlight was flying to Gods Lake in Manitoba in 1957 and 1958 in Darrah Cutter's seaplane to go fishing. Experiencing a religious conversion, Dick and Ethel and their family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1961. He served in many leadership and service positions in the church, and helped to build the building in which his funeral will be held. Ethel died suddenly in 1988 of undiagnosed cancer. In 1990, while serving as a church volunteer in Chicago, Dick met and married Marje Stradling. After briefly residing in Anoka and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, they settled in Nickerson, Minnesota, where the DeLong family has owned some property remaining after Dick's grandfather George P. DeLong closed the sawmill and planing mill he had purchased there in the 1890s. Dick and Marje wintered first in Georgia, and later in Arizona. Continuing his church service, Dick and Marje served for 18 months as missionaries in Denmark, ministering mainly to refugees. They have continued their service since, for several years visiting prisoners at the state prison at Moose Lake. Dick was a patriotic American, and lamented the erosion of constitutional government. In his later years he contributed to several conservative organizations, hoping in that way to make a difference. Dick was preceded in death by his parents, Scott H. DeLong and Julia A. Holen DeLong, his five siblings, George, Anne, Marjorie, Scott Jr., and Cynthia, and his first wife, the singer Ethel L. Wagner DeLong. He is survived by his three sons, Pete (Angie), Doug (Jenna), and Craig (Karen) and their children; his second wife Marjorie Pope Stradling DeLong, and her six children, Bruce (Krystyna), Gary (Rebecca), Joanne South, Dann (Alissa), Rebecca Gugeler (Jim), Ellen Burgoyne (Eric) and their children. A service will be held at the LDS Church, 2742 Yellowstone Blvd, Anoka, at 1 pm Saturday, January 6, 2018. Funeral arrangements are by Thurston-Lindberg Funeral Home