RICHARD DANIEL "DICK" AUGER
May 1, 1919-March 9, 2013
Richard Daniel “Dick” Auger died Saturday morning, March 9, 2013, in Raleigh at Rex Rehab and Nursing Center.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 13, 2013, at Saint Paul United Methodist Church, 204 E. Chestnut St. The family will receive visitors in the church immediately following the service. Interment will be beside his wife, Margaret, in Whiteville at a later date.
Dick was born in Bolton on May 1, 1919, the son of Arthur M. and Zillah Jones Auger. He spent most of his childhood in Whiteville and graduated from Whiteville High School in 1936. He had one older brother, the late Milford Auger of Burlington.
Dick had the great good fortune to marry his wife, Dora Margaret Cooper Auger, whom he met during his Army training in the mountains of West Virginia. She loved her children above all else and was a wonderful mother. Three children, Sandra Pittman of Greensboro, Scott Auger of Cary and Rene Edwards of Smithfield survive. They also had six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Dick graduated from Louisburg Junior College in 1940, where he was a champion boxer, sang in the school chorus and played trumpet in a swing band. After graduation, he worked for a short time as a clerk at Camp Davis in eastern North Carolina. He then entered the Army at the start of World War II and soon advanced to the rank of Captain. In 1944, he joined the fight in Europe just 20 days after the Normandy invasion, in command of a transportation company delivering fuel to support Patton’s Red Ball Express. He served in Europe until the end of the war in 1945.
After leaving the Army, Dick studied accounting at the University of Montana, where he graduated in 1947. Dick and Margaret were married in Missoula, Mont., on Dec. 19, 1946. When Margaret passed away on Feb. 9, 1993, they had been married for over 46 years.
Dick’s first job after graduation from the University of Montana was as Assistant Auditor for Columbus County. He was soon volunteering time to organize and lead a Boy Scout troop. In 1948, he changed careers to professional Scouting as District Executive in the Cape Fear Council of the Boy Scouts of America. For four years, beginning in 1950, he was District Executive for the Central North Carolina Council living in Concord. In 1955, he was transferred to the East Carolina Council as District Executive and Field Service Director. The family lived in Wilson for 10 years. There, he was a charter member of the Sertoma Club and its “Man of the Year” in 1963. In 1965, Dick became the Scout Executive for the Tuscarora Council headquartered in Goldsboro, where he served until his retirement in 1981.
Dick was committed to Boy Scouting and dedicated his life to advancing the cause of that great organization. One of his greatest talents was to recruit outstanding leaders from the community to support Scouting, who invariably became his closest friends. He was also a man who was not afraid to dream big and then find a way to make dreams come true. It was his dream that led to pilgrimages of faith and patriotism to Halifax, Bath and Washington, D.C. that involved thousands of Scouts and volunteers. It was also his dream and leadership that resulted in development of the new Camp Tuscarora Scout Reservation.
Dick continued to be active in the community as a member and president of the Goldsboro Rotary Club. He was a man of strong Christian faith and member of Saint Paul United Methodist Church. He frequently taught in the Paul Edwards Sunday School class and especially loved to sing the old hymns of his faith. One of his favorite groups for fun and fellowship in Goldsboro was the ROMEOS — Retired Old Men Eating Out.
He was very well-known for his beautiful woodcarvings of birds and was an avid bird watcher. In his retirement, Dick shared his talents by teaching woodcarving at Wayne Community College. He loved the company and frequent visits of his many friends. He built his life around sharing his experiences, his recipes and his tall stories (some true). One of his greatest pleasures was camping and fishing with his buddies on Ocracoke Island. There was nothing in the world that he enjoyed more than hooking and landing a flounder while drifting with the tidal current off Portsmouth Island. His next greatest pleasure was to then to fry up a fish dinner over a camp stove and serve it with hush puppies and slaw for a hungry bunch of fisherman.
The family would like to express their appreciation for the many friends and neighbors who cared for Dick in his time of declining health, which made it possible for him to remain at home until he was 92 years old. We especially give thanks to Anita Fawcett and Annie Smith for their love and caregiving. We also recognize and give thanks to Bill Moon for his friendship and assistance to our family. The staff at Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing in Raleigh and Hospice of Wake County should also be commended for their professional and caring service to Dick.
When visiting the Town of Duck on the Outer Banks, we always enjoy stopping by the Clinton Memorial Chapel in the Woods overlooking Currituck Sound. There is a wonderful quote by Stephen Grellet on a stained glass window in the chapel that his son would like to share in loving memory of his Dad: “I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to a fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” Dick did a lot of good things through his work in Scouting and will be greatly missed by his many friends and family. The family got it exactly right when they said that Dick was the happiest man they have ever known.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.seymourfuneralhome.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on March 11, 2013 1:48 PM