Richard Alan Cleveland, aged 86, died peacefully at home in Newcastle within a circle of loving family, after suffering a stroke on March 31. Dick was an active volunteer in the community and an avid pickleball player right up until his illness.
Born in Broadalbin, N.Y. on Nov. 13, 1939 to Roland and Mary Cleveland, Dick grew up there and in Canton, Mass., graduating from high school in 1957. He married Sue Schmidgall and together they had two children, Kaaren and Matthew. Dick and his family moved to Camden in the early 1970s. After divorcing, Dick had the good fortune to meet Elizabeth “Betsy” Evans, with whom he spent the rest of a long adventurous life.
Dick was always curious about how things work, and he held many jobs with various organizations. His favorites were Hurricane Island Outward Bound in Rockland and Earth’s Best Baby Foods in Vermont and California. In his 60s Dick found his true calling as a locksmith and created a successful one-man business, The Local Locksmith. He was locally legendary for getting many people out of a fix.
Dick was an active volunteer with the Ecumenical Food Pantry, delivering groceries faithfully each Tuesday. He also helped with the Newcastle Veterans Memorial Town Park gardens. He is a former Skidompha Library and Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust volunteer.
Dick and Betsy loved to travel far afield for months at a time. They went out to New Zealand four times, for a total of one year exploring that country. On their first visit there, they had only their backpacks and thumbs for hitchhiking! One spring they walked Hadrian’s Wall in England. Another spring they spent a month in Tasmania. More recently, they’d enjoy a winter month in the Pan Handle of Florida and in Georgia.
Dick was known for his wry and sly sense of humor and sometimes gruff exterior. But underneath that was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, and friend. He will be terribly missed.
Dick is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Betsy; and his sister, Sheila (David) Oates, of Higganum, Conn. His sister, Natalie (Jim) Casco, predeceased him. He leaves behind two children, Kaarie Christie, of Camden, and Matt Cleveland (Karen Goselin), of Dunbarton, N.H.; two stepsons, Edward Seidel (Lisa Katz), of Damariscotta, and Charles Seidel (Laura), of Walnut Creek, Calif.; nine grandchildren, Hayden Christie, Theo and Toby Seidel, Austin (Haleigh) and Owen Cleveland, Logan, Heidi, Xander, and Luke Seidel; three great-grandchildren, Joana, Elias and Noah; and many beloved nieces and nephews.
The family asks that those so inclined make a gift in Dick’s memory to Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust or Skidompha Public Library, or volunteer at your local land trust.
