I received a forwarded email yesterday from Susan McCreary of Sierra Madre Search & Rescue:
"I don't know if you've heard, but our long time operations leader and team mate Dick Sale was hospitalized with a hemorrhagic stroke on Feb. 2 at Huntington. He is making slow progress but it will be quite awhile before we hear his voice on the radio once again."
Then this directly from Susan today:
Things have gone from bad to worse with Dick Sale. He is not expected to survive through next week. He's unresponsive with declining neuro status.
Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Dick is one of those San Gabriel Mountain old-timers that you could listen to for hours. His mother was a cook at Switzer's Camp before the 1938 flood. He lived there as a small child and went to the little rock church on the cliff every Sunday.
Big beard and always the red suspenders - what a character!
Please forward these updates to anyone you feel needs to be in the loop. The mountain rescue community is so large, and he knows so many people!
Melody and the team send thanks for your inquiries and visits, your thoughts and prayers.
Dick had a peaceful night and slept with eyes closed. His breathing is regular. He opens his eyes when people are talking in the room, but is otherwise mostly unresponsive. The hospital staff are providing basic comfort measures. Cindy England stayed with him last night and read to him from Dee Molenaar's book, Mountains Don't Care But We Do, which I think was a great choice. Thanks Cindy for being with him, and Arnold the night before. Bruce LaMarche and Jon Inskeep were in this morning to visit, per Cindy, and I expect he'll have visitors throughout the day. If someone could stay with him tonight or tomorrow night Melody would highly appreciate it, I'm sure. It's a comfort to her. Let me know, please.
Don't forget to sign Dick's Summit Register when you're in to visit...
La Vina Bldg. 3105 Huntington Hospital Pasadena.
Oh, Dick is so proud of SMSR! I remember a few years ago when he drove the new Search & Rescue van up to Adams' Pack Station to show it off. It didn't even have decals yet, let alone equipment...
It's sad news tonight. The visitors have been numerous for the last several days. Tonight it was just Melody, Dick's son Jeffrey and myself at Dick's bedside. My pager went off at about 8:30 pm for a missing hiker in the local mountains. I thought of staying put, and wondered out loud what Dick would do. Jeff's answer was "he'd already be out the door." I said goodbye and left for the search. At about 10:15 pm Dick passed away quietly, with Melody by his side. I was up on a ridge north of Monrovia looking at bear tracks with my headlamp. Our team leader Arnold Gaffrey, who was Operations Leader on the search, announced over the radio shortly after our missing hiker was found safe that "the subject at HMH (Huntington Memorial Hospital) has completed his assignment and no further assistance is needed." All of the search teams in the field knew Dick had passed on.
We miss you Dick Sale. You still had things to do and stories to tell.
Happy Trails.
Dick was often one of the key people behind the scenes in any SAR operation. Doing the planning for assignments that field teams would execute, debriefing crews, mapping assignments, and helping families understand what was happening in the search for their loved ones.
Most people think of helicopters, dogs and then ground crews when they think SAR. It is easy to overlook the vital role played by people like Dick. He helped make sure the helicopters, dogs, and field teams were in the right place to find the missing person.
