Many have asked about the arrangements for Richard “Dick” Warfield. Below is the information and the full obituary. Thank you all so much for your kind words, prayers and love for our family.

Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, October 25 at Moore Funeral Home, 12 S. Second St., Denton, MD. A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, October 26 at Saints Peter and Paul Church, 1210 S. Washington St., Easton, MD. Interment with military honors will follow at the Maryland Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Beulah.

Memorial contributions may be made to Waterfowl Chesapeake, Inc., 40 S. Harrison St., Easton, MD 21601 or the Caroline County Historical Society, P.O. Box 514, Denton, MD 21619. Online condolences can be made at moorefuneralhomepa.com.

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Richard (Dick) Tubman Warfield, 91, formerly of Denton, MD, died Friday, September 23, 2016 at Heartfields Assisted Living, Easton, MD. Born January 17, 1925 at Brick House Farm in Lisbon, MD, he was one of ten children of the late Bernard Dalrymple Warfield and the late Josephine D’Unger Warfield. Following graduation from Lisbon High School he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a Radioman aboard the destroyer USS Richard P. Leary which participated in the invasions of Saipan, Tinian, Palau, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The ship also engaged with Japanese warships in the Battles of Surigao Strait and Leyte Gulf earning him the WWII Victory Medal, Pacific Theater Ribbon with 6 battle stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with 2 battle stars, and the American Theater Ribbon. Until shortly before his death, Dick recalled watching from the deck of his ship as the U.S. flag was raised by Marines on Iwo Jima.

After the war, he attended the University of Maryland, graduating in 1950 with an Agricultural Economics degree. Following graduation he took a position with the Farmers Home Administration making loans throughout Maryland’s Eastern Shore. In 1953 he married Adelaide Callahan Dunham of Talbot County and  resided for 40 years in Denton until her death in 1994. He subsequently married Virginia Merrill and lived in Gainesville, Florida until 2010.

Dick transitioned from public to private lending in 1961 when he became Farm Specialist and Comptroller of the former Denton National Bank, followed by a long career with the Peoples Bank of Maryland where he retired as Vice President in 1990 and served on the Board of Directors. He was instrumental in guiding the bank through its conversion from manual to computer-based operations.

Dick was elected to the Denton Town Council and served as the Town Mayor for three terms between 1975 and 1981. He was a member of the Denton Rotary Club, Caroline Country Club, Denton Chamber of Commerce, Choptank River Yacht Club, the Coast Guard Auxillary, and the Eastern Shore Council of the U.S. Navy League. He was a founding member of Upper Shore Aging, Inc. and also served on the boards of the Upper Shore Aging Housing Corporation, the Easter Seals Society of Delmarva, and the former Maryland Association of Retarded Children. After returning from Florida six years ago, he volunteered for the Waterfowl Festival in Easton.

During retirement he published the Scuttlebutt newsletter for the USS Richard P. Leary and loved attending annual reunions with former shipmates throughout the country. He also enjoyed boating and fishing on the Choptank River and navigating his trawler along the Intracoastal Waterway. Dick was an avid bridge player as well and, in his later years, loved being challenged by jigsaw puzzles.

He is survived by a daughter, Judith Warfield Price of Grasonville, MD (Robert Koenke); a son, Richard Tubman Warfield, Jr. of Denton, MD (Loretta); a granddaughter, Melinda Warfield; four grandsons, Kyle Warfield (Rebecca), Benjamin Warfield (Kristen), R. Reeves Price IV (Grace) and Andrew Warfield Price; and three great-grandchildren, Samantha, Madison and Jackson Warfield. He is also survived by two stepdaughters, Judy Yancey and Janet Merrill of Florida; two stepsons, Stephen Merrill of Florida and Christopher Merrill of South Carolina; one step-grandson, Brian Merrill and two step-granddaughters, Kristen Merrill and Ginny Merrill.

Also surviving Dick are two brothers, Donald Warfield and David Warfield both of Lisbon, MD and three sisters, Marie Warmenhoven of Ashburn, VA, Mary Amrhein of Baltimore, MD and Barbara Feaga of Ellicott City, MD. In addition to his two wives, he was predeceased by one step-daughter, Nancy Gail Dunham; two brothers, Bernard Warfield and John Breckenridge Warfield, and two sisters, Jean Culwell and Josephine Johnson.

Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, October 25 at Moore Funeral Home, 12 S. Second St., Denton, MD. A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, October 26 at Saints Peter and Paul Church, 1210 S. Washington St., Easton, MD. Interment with military honors will follow at the Maryland Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Beulah.

Memorial contributions may be made to Waterfowl Chesapeake, Inc., 40 S. Harrison St., Easton, MD 21601 or the Caroline County Historical Society, P.O. Box 514, Denton, MD 21619. Online condolences can be made at moorefuneralhomepa.com.

A note from the editor...
A note from the editor… Many avid readers of The Caroline Review will recognize the significance of this obituary. While the magazine always includes a listing of those within the county who have recently died, it very rarely offers a lengthy obituary like this one. Dick Warfield was the devoted husband of the founder of the Caroline Review, Adelaide Warfield, and the father-in-law of the current publisher, Loretta Warfield. He was also my hero and my dad.

A quiet, selfless man, he taught me many life lessons that I embraced, and a few that I disregarded, at my own peril. Fortunately, I came around in due time.

He exemplified service. Service to country, service to community, and service to family. Though an exceptional, empathetic leader, he never sought to lead, but only to serve. Over the years, many people have shared with me how much they appreciated his help with a startling number of variations. To offer just one example, I recall “helping” him and other community members clear ground for the Caroline Country Club golf course with my child-sized hatchet.

He enjoyed being a part of anything that made things better. Until recently, I wasn’t aware that he was involved in so many community organizations, boards, and councils, many of which are not listed here. When he married my mother, he became an instant father to my disabled half-sister, Gail, which was a big commitment. As mayor of Denton, he poured himself into each challenge always moving toward what was best for his community.

How do you value a life? This shipmates he was “Hank”; to my mother he was a knight in shining armor; to me, the man I wanted to become someday; and to Caroline county, a blessing.

Rich Warfield