Richard Harley Haskin

May 10, 1928 - October 12, 2011

Richard Harley Haskin May 10, 1928 – October 12, 2011 Survivors include: Ilene (McLaughlin) Haskin, devoted wife of 63 years; Ilene Sue Haskin- Colovas (and the late George Colovas, a.k.a. Jamie Coe), daughter; Richard Michael Haskin, son; Nikolas J.L. Haskin, grandson of Richard H. and son of Richard M. Haskin. Dick Haskin was a proud, life- long resident of Dearborn, Michigan. He was born on Warren Ave. in the upper living quarters of his parent’s (Jay and Mae) grocery store. His interests while growing up were hockey, football, boxing, and motorcycles. In 1947, he graduated from St. Alphonsus High School. One day he came home to tell his mother that he met the most wonderful girl, and her name was Ilene. After some questions, Dick’s mother told him that she knew Josie, Ilene’s mother. Although Josie was a very protective mom, she was very fond of Mae Haskin, and let her hold her daughter Ilene as a baby when they came to shop at the Haskin store. After some time, Dick and Ilene married, and have been together for 63 years- their song, “It Had To Be You”. Dick was also a proud Ford Motor Co. employee at the Ford Research and Engineering Center for 37 ½ years.( After years in the grocery business, Jay worked for Ford). When asked either, “how long have you been married”, or “how long have you worked at Ford’s”, his answer was the same- “all of my life!” For many years Dick volunteered his time (and Ilene’s) to sports. He was General Manager for the Dearborn Thunderbirds, and Vice-president of the local little league football organization; while Ilene was the director of the cheerleader squad, Susie was a cheerleader, and Rick (Richard) played football. Also, Dick coached the Sunnyside Market hockey team, and they were the City, State Outdoor, and Lower Peninsula champions for each year that he coached. At a time pre-dating “travel teams”, they played over 70 games per year- every Sunday in Canada, and Thanksgiving Day was not exempt. Ilene was the administrative assistant (though that title didn’t exist in those days), Susie was a motivator, and Rick played on the team. Ford Motor recognized Dick with the “Bell Ringer” award for outstanding community service several years in a row. Through the years, he was known for his tough, “shoot from the hip” talk. Never lacking a strong opinion; nor shy about expressing it. Of course there were his favorite expressions, for instance: “…yes, and people in hell want ice water, too”; “in God we trust, the rest pay cash”; “…yes, and the path to hell is paved with good intentions, too”. In the later years he softened his replies: if you asked him how he was, he would smile and say, “If I were any better, I couldn’t stand it” No matter how tough he would come across, you knew where you stood with him; if he was with you, you had a friend and defender for life. He was very kind, loving, and had a good sense of humor.