Richard A. Colombi

Richard A. “Dick” Colombi, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather passed away on July 17th, 2019 in Federal Way, Washington after spending a day surrounded by his family. He was 84 years old. Born in Renton, Washington to Augustus Vadney and Harriet Colombi on February 11th, 1935, Dick grew up with his brothers and sister in what is now known as the Renton Highlands and later in Kennydale. He graduated from Renton High School in the class of 1953.

Dick married Susan J. (Sue) Bernert in 1954 and they had two children, Richard Jr. and Deborah. He joined the Seattle Fire Department in 1956 and the family settled in West Seattle. During the early part of his fire department career, Dick also designed and built homes along with a crew of his fire department buddies. Dick and Sue divorced in 1970.

Relocating to his hometown of Renton in 1973, and after spending many years as a single man, he met, courted and married Suzanne I. (Sue) Phelan (nee Hoffman) on March 26th, 1982.Thus was formed a blended family that included Sue’s three children, Anna, Jeffrey and Stacie. Dick and Sue settled in Maple Valley and had a wonderful life together.

The Seattle Fire Department defined Dick’s life and he spent nearly 35 years there working in many assignments from operations division to administration. His fire department career began a family affair with the fire service that included his older brother Jack, son Rick, son-in-law Joe, and nephews Jack Jr., and Bryan. He retired on December 31st, 1990 with the rank of Deputy Chief.

With Sue’s retirement on the same day, they immediately set off on their next adventure as snowbirds, spending the winters traveling the southwestern desert areas between Palm Springs and Arizona, with annual treks down to Puerto Pinasco, Mexico. After 9 years on the road, they purchased a home in Thousand Palms, CA and spent the next 17 years splitting time between their homes in the Northwest and Southwest until declining health brought this chapter to a close.

Dick is survived by his wife Suzanne, his children Rick, Debbie, Anna, Jeff and Stacie, his sister Susan, 9 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. He will be dearly missed.

Funeral services will be held at 12:00pm on Monday, July 29th, 2019 at Kennydale Memorial Hall located at 2424 NE 27th St., Renton, WA. Take Exit 6, N 30th St. off of I-405 and proceed east following the road as it winds around and becomes N 27th St. Continue to the junction of NE 27th St. and Edmonds Ave NE., the hall will be on your left, (approximately 1 mile).