Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271994
Title: Richard D. Urlacher
Date: 7/24/1949-11/24/2025
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 7/24/1949
Summary: Richard Duane Urlacher, of Dickinson, ND, beloved father, brother, and friend, passed away surrounded by loved ones on November 24, 2025, at the age of 76. A Liturgy Of The Word service was held December 3, 2025, at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson. Burial was at the North Dakota Veteran's Cemetery, Mandan, ND. Richard was born on July 24, 1949, the son of Ralph and Bridget (Splichal) Urlacher. He was raised on the family farm near the Rainy Buttes and attended New England School. Richard's life took a noble turn when he was drafted into the US Marines in 1968, serving briefly before being honorably discharged in 1969. His service to his country remained a proud part of his identity throughout his life. Upon returning home, Richard met Joan Wanner. They married on June 7, 1974, at St. Patrick's Church in Dickinson. They were blessed with four children, Sara, Amy, Donald, and Heidi. Richard worked at Dickinson State College from 1974-1979, then worked for Bob's Oilfield Services and Tenneco during the 80's oil boom. Perhaps most notably, he dedicated many years of service as a janitor at Trinity High School from 1990 until 2008, where his kindness and work ethic left a lasting impression on students and faculty alike. After "retirement," Richard spent his time custom combining, driving taxi for D-Cab, and helping as a farmhand. He was an active man who simply loved to be busy. Richard had many hobbies including camping, cornhole, rodeos, bowling, race cars, and farming. His passion was sports! The type of sport, the level of the sport, the age of the athletes- none of that mattered to him. If there was a sport to watch on TV or attend in person, Richard was happy! Watching his grandkids in various sports brought him great joy! He knew the schedule for every local sporting event and made sure everyone around him was aware of who was playing and what the outcome of the game would mean. Once the games were over, Richard kept records of the scores just in case anyone might ask. He volunteered at local sporting events for many years, doing everything from taking tickets, working concessions, or calling bingo. Richard was a social person! He enjoyed attending community events and loved conversing with old and new friends. He never wanted to miss out on anything, and we truly believe that is what kept him young! Richard always had treats for the children around him, especially Tootsie Pop Suckers and Bubblegum for his grandchildren. Richard loved spending time with family and friends. He would spend hours talking on the phone with his life-long friend, Leo Praus. Richard knew everyone's birthday and was always sure to call into the radio station to give them a chance at winning the Paragon Bucks! Richard will be missed by all the friends and family he impacted in his own unique way. He is remembered for his warm heart and spunky personality! Rest in peace, Richard. Your legacy will live on in the hearts of many! Richard is survived by his loving daughters, Sara (Dallas) Lawrey, Amy Urlacher, and Heidi Urlacher; his son, Don (Jackie) Urlacher; his grandkids, Chantal (Mason) Heth, Brayden Urlacher, Ethan Lawrey, Ieesha Jordan, Iaunica Jordan, Jocelyn Urlacher, and Keegan Urlacher; three great grandchildren, Lilly, Emmett, and Reygan Heth; his siblings, Karen Kouba, Kenny Urlacher, Debbie (Chuck) Briske, and Barbie (Brian) Woehl; numerous nieces and nephews; special friend, Diane; and many other family and friends. Richard was preceded in death by Ralph Urlacher (father), Bridget Urlacher (mother), Beverly Braun (sister), Joan Urlacher (wife), Richard Wanner (brother-in-law).
Red ID: FND_I_79489 Image ID: 547525 Image Notes: FND001 271994

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

Enter a subject or term in one or both of the “Search” boxes.

  • “Item Detail” searches the Title, Creator and Summary fields of all item-level records.
  • “Collection Number” searches the Collection Number field only and requires an exact match.

The “DETAILS” button provides additional information about an item, as well as the following options:

  • “Collection Summary” details the contents of the entire collection in which the selected item is located.
  • You can print the image and its corresponding details by selecting “Print".
  • “Digitized Images from the Collection” returns a list of all digitized items within that collection (available from the “Collection Summary” screen).

Click on image to expand/zoom the image view.

“Photobook home” takes you back to the main Photobook page where you can start a new search.

“Featured Collections” showcases new and/or popular collections and the digitized images within those collections.

Information on how to order copies is located here.

The collections preserved in the North Dakota State Archives include over a million images. Only a small percentage of these images have been digitized. This photo gallery provides a preview of the images that have been digitized.

For more information on the non-digitized images, please refer to the finding aids found on our website at history.nd.gov, or ask a member of our reference staff for assistance.