Obituary: Richard Chapman Lyon, 88, of Cedar City, Utah, formerly of Ludington

Richard Lyon

Richard (Dick) Chapman Lyon – April 20, 1936 – June 6, 2024

“He is just the most thoughtful man. I just love him.” If we had a nickel for every time someone sent that to us, we’d have an awful lot of nickels. To know Dick was to love him. Even on the last day of his life, he was asking the nurses and doctors about themselves and thanking them for what they were doing.

Dick was born on April 20, 1936, to H. Lyle and Emily Lyon in Wyandotte. The fourth-born of six children, Dick was a mischievous, curious little boy with a golden voice. He went to Michigan State University, where he met the love of his life, Kathryn Brown. The ponytail-bouncing brunette captured his heart and didn’t let go. They celebrated 54 wonderful years together this side of Heaven, and another 10 after Kathy passed. Kathy and Dick had two wonderful children – Mark and Susan – who were the lights of their eyes. Between them and their six grandchildren, they felt rich in blessings.

Dick spent many years in education – teaching history, advising at universities, and finally teaching health systems management for Ferris State University after a stint of running Baywood Nursing Home in Ludington. In 2019, he followed his daughter to Cedar City, Utah. He loved the mountains and sitting outside – sipping his coffee as he watched the sun make the mountains shine.

On June 6, 2024, Dick joined his bride in Heaven after a brief illness. He is preceded in death by his parents, H. Lyle and Emily Loree Lyon; his siblings, Martha and Raoul Sartori, Bob and Sally Lyon, Tom and Nancy Lyon, Gail Peterson, and Mary Emily and David Jenkins; and his precious wife, Kathryn Brown Lyon.

He is survived by his son Mark (Tiffany) Lyon; his daughter Susan (Steve) Merrill; and his grandchildren (Alex Lyon, Jack Lyon, David Vargas-Arvizu, Aidan Roustan, Zachary Merrill and Mackenzie Merrill).

A Celebration of Life will be held later this Summer in Cedar City, Utah. Those details will be on social media, or you can contact either Mark or Susan. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the grandchildren’s college funds. Donations can be made to The Lyon’s Den Scholarship Fund at the State Bank of Southern Utah. 

We ask that any who were affected by this amazing man that we got to call “Dad”, please do a random act of kindness and post it to social media with the hashtag #Thanks4TheMemoriesLyonheart. We hope that his legacy of kindness will live on.