Richard D. Elton

Richard D. "Dick" Elton, long-time resident of Sun City, has died at the age of 101.Dick, with his wife Elsie, moved to Sun City in 1971 when he was hired as a vice president at Glendale Community College after retiring from the State University of New York at Brockport.He is survived by his three children: Judith Elton of Peoria, AZ, Cynthia Elton of Oro Valley, AZ, and Wallace Elton of Saratoga Springs, NY; as well as his recent companion, Theda Vickers of Sun City. His wife Elsie died in 2000.Dick attended the State University of New York at Oswego. After serving in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, he earned a master's degree at Stanford University before taking a position on the faculty at SUNY Brockport. While there, he completed his doctorate in education at the University of Buffalo.In 1950, he started a traveling camp for boys called Ranger Camps, one of the first of its kind. Each summer through 1966, the camp left New York State with a group of teenage boys from the Northeast for an eight-week trip to the West Coast and back, camping in national and state parks across the country. Many of the boys had been to Europe but had not seen their own country, which Dick believed was important. Ranger Camps also offered his family an opportunity to explore the West. It was during these trips that Dick first became interested in living in the Southwest.While in Sun City, Dick was active as a volunteer. He served as president of his condominium board for 26 years and president of the Sun City Condominium Owners Association board for 6 years as well as on the Home Owners Association board and the Recreation Centers of Sun City board. He also gave numerous talks about his end-to-end hike on the 2,600-mile Pacific Crest Trail and other backpacking trips (4,000 miles total), his efforts to reach the highest point in each of the 48 states, and America's national parks.Dick was a full-body donor for the Banner Sun Health Research Institute. He loved to travel, and today various parts of his body are doing just that to help science and other individuals.There will be no public service. The family sends heartfelt thanks to Larisa and Emil Mercea and the staff at Larisa Sweet Home 2 for their skilled and loving care and to Hospice of the West. Those so inclined may honor his life by donating to Banner Sun Health Research Institute through the Sun Health Foundation (https://sunhealthfoundation.org/donate-az-online/) or the Pacific Crest Trail Association (www.pcta.org).