RYDER, Richard Peter Guy Dudley (1929-2020)

[colinp]

From the Miami Herald 2020 - 

Richard (Nick) Dudley Ryder, the sailor, college professor, Key West barkeep, curmudgeon of renown, walking thesaurus and onetime 14 year old veteran of World War II, has died in Carefree, Arizona having attained the esteemed age of 90 years. Born on Christmas Eve, 1929 in Berkhamsted, England to Frederick Dudley Ryder and Gillian Elynor Quennel, he was descended from Nathaniel Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, but asked that this distinguished pedigree not be held against him. His parents divorced soon after his birth, and at the age of six his mother and stepfather brought him to Falls Church, Virginia. It was there he divested himself of the hated diminutive "Dickie" in favor of the more suitably American "Nick". His stepfather, John Fuqua was a strong influence on his childhood, but being headstrong and full of grit (as well as sick of school) he contrived to lie about his age, forged documents and joined the Norwegian Merchant Marines (!) catching the thrashing tail end of World War II in 1944. His military career was extended by three years in the U.S. Marine Corp. where he was stationed in Panama. Standing 6'1" tall, Mr. Ryder carried himself with the long legged strides and grace of a naturally born man of the sea, having been taught early in youth to sail by his father. His passion for wind born vessels never abated and somewhere in a dusty room is a shelf full of racing trophies to prove it. One suspects the terrifying drone of bagpipe recordings blaring from the stern might have aided these victories. The man was a wordsmith of high degree. He was unbeatable in Scrabble and the source to which one inquired for the answer to some obscure historical fact, traits well suited to his years as a Theater and Humanities teacher at the University of Miami and administrator at Miami Dade Jr. College. When this career failed to provide further challenges, Mr. Ryder fully embraced his salty nature and purchased the famed Bar 801 in Key West, Florida. This is probably where he put that gold earring in his left ear, the one he wore for the rest of his life, which helped promote his irascible, piratical, get-off-my-lawn persona. Oh, yes, he spoke the Queen's English but one rife with profane asides. Many happy years were spent sailing up and down the Atlantic seaboard between the Sunshine State and the family salt marsh farmhouse in Brunswick, Maine. He enjoyed the forested calm and friendliness of White Salmon, Washington in his last decade. Mr. Ryder is survived by his beloved [2nd - not in Debrett's] wife, Jeanne (Jenny) Ryder, his son, Christopher Ryder with wife Lisa, brother Paul Fuqua, his stepchildren Lynka Adams and Marc Dinnerstein as well as grandchildren Nicholas Ryder, Leah Adams Kroll, Willa Via, John, Katrina, and Sky Adams. His son Mark Ryder, brother Charles Fuqua, and the mother of his children, Angela Melotti Ryder, predeceased him. Raise a wee dram of rum and remember "Be good to yourself."

Richard Ryder Obituary (2020) - Miami, FL - the Miami Herald (legacy.com)