Richard Eugene Cullen

Richard Eugene Cullen, 82, of Frederick, Maryland, formerly of Clovis, New Mexico, passed away on Monday, April 13, 2020 at Country Meadows retirement community of Frederick. Rick, as he was known in his early years, was born in Yakima, Washington to Eugene William Cullen of Leadville, Colorado and Helen Wilson Cullen of Ontario, Canada on February 20, 1938. Rick and his siblings Peter and Patricia spent the summers of their youth living a cattle rancher’s dream on their Uncle Jidge and Aunt Jessie Tippett’s ranch which spanned Washington and Oregon along the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Rick graduated from Saint Edward’s Catholic Minor Seminary in Kenmore, Washington in 1956. Deciding not to continue his studies for the priesthood, he enlisted in the Air Force and was selected as one of the top ½ of 1 percent of enlisted recruits to join the secretive USAF Security Service. He served as a Russian language specialist in the 6912th Radio Squadron (Mobile) in Bingen and later Berlin, Germany. There he monitored Soviet military electronic signals for the National Security Agency. While stationed in Berlin he met and married Brigitte Petsch of Berlin, Germany on September 25, 1959. Having completed 4 years in the Air Force, he and Brigitte moved to his home town of Yakima. They eventually settled in Seattle, Washington where Rick completed the 4 year Bachelor’s degree program in Political Sciences at the University of Washington in 2 years. While at the university he held part time jobs as a Boeing draftsman by day and a powder monkey for a demolitions crew on weekends, while helping to raise their son Michael. In 1965 they gave away all possessions that would not fit in their 1948 Chrysler Windsor and drove to the East coast for a one way flight to Berlin, Germany. There Rick worked at IBM-Berlin while assisting with Brigitte’s aging parents and grandmother. Within the year, a job opportunity with the Federal Government enticed the family to leave Berlin for a Virginia suburb of Washington D.C.. While interning with the General Services Administration he quickly moved up and on to the Federal Aviation Administration as a Personnel Management Specialist. As a young Washington Bureaucrat Rick was now Dick Cullen to colleagues and his dearest friends. Virginia is where they would set roots for the next 35 years raising and educating Michael and their youngest Johanna who arrived in 1971. He took early retirement from the Federal Government in 1994 at age 56 so he’d have more time for reading, charity work and Native American studies. A voracious reader, the Library of Congress was his second home as he transitioned to studying the Papacy, entertaining the idea of turning his research into a doctorate. When not at the library he volunteered a great deal of time teaching basic workplace computer skills to the local Central American community through Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. In 2002 Dick and Brigitte moved to Clovis, New Mexico for the second chapter of their retirement. Close to their daughter Johanna and future son-in-law Jerry, they both loved the desert southwest. Over the next seventeen years Dick would take fine cabinetry classes with Johanna and plunge head first into making clay pottery and sculpture with Brigitte at their friends John and Shannon Muir’s art studio. Always the consummate communicator, Dick returned to his theological roots, being ordained in 2007 as an Elder in the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Clovis. There he lead worship on many an occasion as well as officiated at the wedding of his daughter. Having driven through every state of the Union and crisscrossed the country over five times with Brigitte as copilot they made one last stop in Frederick, Maryland so they could be closer to their son Michael and move into an assisted living community. Dick and Brigitte celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on September 25, 2019. He is survived by his wife Brigitte, his two children Michael Cullen (and Allison) and Johanna Cullen Pettrey (and Jerry), his brother Peter Cullen (and Laura), his sister Patricia Colgan (and Joe) and eight nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, his nephews Patrick Cullen and Benjamin Colgan, his niece Kellie Cullen and his sisters-in-law Christiane Petsch and Inez Marie Cullen. A celebration of life will be held at a later date where the family will welcome friends and family. Online condolences may be shared at www.keeneybasford.com. In lieu of flowers, the families ask that memorial donations be made in his name for any of the following: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Best Friends Animal Society or Navajo Ministries.