- Date Of Birth: January 17, 1925
- Date Of Death: August 23, 2016
- State: Maryland
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 Auxiliary, 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.
