Richard Dillinger

Richard Dillinger, 86, of Peru died peacefully at his home on Sunday, June 10, 2018. A visitation will be held from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m., Thursday, June 14 at Ochiltree Funeral Service in Winterset, with family present to receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, June 15 at the Peru United Methodist Church in Peru with burial to follow in the Peru Cemetery. Memorials may be direct to the family for a later designation. Richard Dean Dillinger, was born December 13, 1931 in Villisca, Iowa, the son of Verl and Inez (Amerine) Dillinger. His parents moved to the Peru area when he was an infant and this is the area he continued living his entire life. On October 23, 1949 he married Mary “Lois” Decker and to this union four children were born: Linda, Dixie, Sharon, and Dick. Richard always farmed and took pride in his Saler cattle. In his younger days, only a green tractor would do, a ‘60 John Deere. He was a member of the Peru United Methodist Church and was baptized there. He worked for Farmers Co-op in Winterset, Huff Drilling of Winterset, and in the mid 60’s he started his own business, Dillinger Plumbing and Heating. He continued his business up until about three years ago but would still do small jobs for family and friends. He had many loyal customers. It was common to see him at sales on weekends; he loved to go. He was known for buying different kinds of old tools and spent hours in his garage soaking and polishing the tools; he really enjoyed it. Family meant everything to Richard. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend who will be missed by all. Richard is survived by his wife of 68 years, Lois Dillinger of Peru; daughter, Sharon (Bruce) Holtry of Winterset; son, Dick (Raedene) Dillinger of Peru; seven grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and seven great great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers, Larry, Harold, Bill; and a sister, Marilyn. He is preceded in death by his parents, Verl and Inez Dillinger; daughters, Linda Thompson and Dixie; brothers, Donnie and Robert; two grandsons Terry and Jerry; and two great-grandchildren, Audrey and Travis.