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Richard Babcock Tyler was born in Delaware, OH, on
10 Feb 1932, the only child of Thomas John Tyler and Mildred Loxena Freshwater
Tyler. Sadly, Dick’s mother died in 1938 when he was only six years old. His
aunt, Frances Tyler, cared for him for one year, and he remained close to her for the rest of his life.
Approximately a year later, Dick’s father remarried and Margaret Witmer Tyler
became Dick’s stepmother.
Dick graduated from the New York Military Academy,
Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY, in 1949. He attended Princeton University for a year and
then entered West Point with a Congressional appointment on 5 Jul 1950. Dick was
an outstanding cadet and an excellent student. He, his roommates and his company
mates, particularly enjoyed the regular visits from his parents who lived in
nearby Mt. Vernon, NY—partly because his parents always seemed to bring very
large amounts of ice cream and other goodies for hungry cadets.
On 4 Jun 1954, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the
Corps of Engineers, and on 8 June graduated 17th in the Class of 1954. Two days
later, he was the best man at Bill Epling’s wedding at West Point. After the
Engineer Officer Basic Course and Jump School, Dick received his first overseas
assignment—to the 547th Engineer Battalion (Combat) in Darmstadt, Germany.
While on duty in Vilseck, Germany, he met his soon-to-be wife,
Margaret Alice Scott, an employee of the Army Special Services. They were
married on 22 Sep 1956, in Oberammergau, Germany, where they continued to live
while Dick attended the Intelligence Specialist Course and the Intelligence
Orientation Course. He graduated with honors in February 1957 and was assigned
to an intelligence unit with the 522nd Military Intelligence Battalion in
Munich, Germany.
During an assignment in Vienna, Austria, a local ambulance
collided with the car Dick was riding in. Dick was badly injured and in a coma
for weeks. He eventually recovered completely, but as a result of the accident,
he transferred to the Ordnance Corps and was assigned to Aberdeen Proving
Ground, MD. There, Margaret and Dick’s first child, Thomas Scott Tyler, was
born. Dick’s next assignment was to graduate school at Purdue University in West
Lafayette, IN, where their second child, Robert Bruce Tyler, was born in 1959.
Dick graduated with a master of science degree in Engineering in 1960. Dick then
was assigned to the Detroit Arsenal in Michigan, where their third child, John
Richard Tyler, was born in 1960. In 1962 Dick was assigned to Bangkok, Thailand,
where he was involved in research and development with the Defense Advanced
Research Project Agency. Dick and Margaret’s fourth child, Marian Winifred
Tyler, was born in Bangkok in 1963.
Dick resigned his commission in 1964 to pursue his legal
education and career. He obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of
Minnesota Law School in 1967 and practiced law in Minnesota prior to joining the
faculty of the Law School of the University of Missouri in 1972. He retired in
1997 and was designated Professor Emeritus of the Law School.
Dick was a devoted father and very involved in his children’s
activities, such as competitive swimming, Little League football and Indian
Guides. An organization for fathers and sons, the Indian Guides required all
members to choose special names. Dick and the boys chose deer-related names: the
boys were “Running Deer”, “Walking Deer”, and “Standing Deer,” while Dick chose
(Margaret’s favorite) “Spent Buck”. Family vacations of canoeing, camping and
skiing became household traditions. In the early 1970s, Dick made two fiberglass
canoes, and the family paddled these boats into the 1990s, enjoying nearly
annual canoe trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, as well as occasional
river float trips.
Dick was active in his church and many community organizations,
including the Sierra Club, The Compassionate Friends (an organization for
bereaved parents), and Veterans for Peace. A proud member of Veterans for Peace,
he protested unjust wars alongside fellow veterans who understood the sacrifices
the Army asks of its soldiers. He felt keenly the obligations the citizenry has
to the government and the responsibilities we all share towards those who serve.
Dick was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer shortly after he
retired in the spring of 1997 and was treated with a very aggressive course of
chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He approached the cancer treatment as he approached his life:
with his family in mind, a stoicism which belied the pain and discomfort
involved, and with a delightful, dry wit. In an effort to continue his
normal activities, Dick chose to teach another course in the fall. How he
carried himself during this time bears testimony to his intense commitment to
others and to his approach to life: giving your best in all that you do. In the
last few weeks of his life, he graded exams and assigned final grades. The
cancer seemed to be in remission, but the radiation had severely damaged
his lungs. He died on 20 Jan 1998 in Columbia, MO, with his family at his side.
Surviving family members include his wife Margaret; children Tom,
Bob, and Marnie Tyler; and grandchildren Jeremy, Nickolas, and Ellinor Tyler.
Dick was preceded in death by the tragic loss of his 17-year-old son John in
1977. He was greatly loved by his family and many, many friends. He is still
deeply missed and fondly remembered.
George Washington once wrote: I hope I shall possess firmness
and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles,
the character of an honest man. Richard Babcock Tyler is deserving of such a
tribute.
—Prepared by Dick’s wife Margaret,
with assistance from his roommate, Bill Epling
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