Richard Eugene (Rick) Lyon Jr. (1949 – 2025) passed away peacefully at home in Ridgway on April 24, 2025.
Rick was born in 1949 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to Richard Eugene (Gene) and Eva Mae Lyon. He had a happy childhood, with his sister Jeani and twin brothers Larry and Barry. He spent summers at a seaside hotel with his cousin and best friend, Skip Bullein, and had many unique adventures there.
After high school he followed in his father’s footsteps and enlisted in the Navy. He became a hospital corpsman, responsible for the health of the crew on the USS Sarsfield. The ship moored offshore in Vietnam, where it exchanged fire with the enemy onshore, and was hit by shrapnel. He traveled with the Navy around the world, and then became the medic on the minesweeper, USS Esteem, based in Seattle. There he met his wife, Peggy, and married in 1978. They moved to Ridgway in 1982, where they lived happily in the same house until his death.
He was a wonderful father, both to his children and his stepchildren. He was also loved by the neighborhood children and his children’s friends, and entertained them with games, treasure hunts and original songs. He led the outfitting and fun for the Youth Environmental Services (YES) teams, an outdoor education and volunteer program for high school girls that he and Peggy organized.
Rick loved hunting, photography, and old black and white movies. He was involved in community activities, including the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team, and was an EMT. His heroes had always been cowboys and cops, so he became a horseman and volunteered as a deputy marshal in Ridgway and deputy sheriff of Ouray County.
He is survived by his sister Jeani Morgan (Pioneer, Louisiana) and brother Larry Lyon (Grand Junction, Colorado); son Richard D. Lyon (Grand Junction, Colorado), daughter Theresa Liford (Post Falls, Idaho); stepson Charles Cosse (Las Vegas, Nevada) and stepdaughter Laura Cosse (Las Vegas, Nevada); and grandchildren Richard (“Deuce”) Lyon, Madeline Lyon, Jordan and Millie Cosse, Hamza, Michael and Yusuf Williams, Camille and Emma Liford.
