The Rev. Dr. Richard (Dick) Thomas Disseler, Sr. of Pleasant Hill, Tennessee passed away on Sunday, June 11th, 2023. Dick was born on January 1st,1930 in Quincy, Illinois. He was the son of Albert and Flora (Bentrop) Disseler.
He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Eloise Ruth (Grunewald) Disseler, of Pleasant Hill, Tenn.; son Tom Disseler (Shirley) of Salisbury, NC; daughters, Amy Disseler of Tampa, Fla., Ellen Disseler of St. Louis, Mo.; grandsons Steven Disseler (Alison) of Bedford, Mass., Ryan Disseler (Leigh) of Salisbury, NC; granddaughter Sarah Faichney of Aspen, Colo.; great grandson Grayson Disseler of Salisbury, NC, step great granddaughter Rachel Faichney of Tampa, Fla., sister-in-law Julie Disseler of Milwaukee, Wis., nephews, nieces, grand nephews and nieces.
Dick graduated from Quincy High School in 1947. Was drafted in the U.S. Army on April 15th,1951 with an honorable discharge on Dec. 15th,1953 as Retired 1st Lt and awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service in 1953. After the Army he enrolled at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois and graduated with a B.A. in 1957. He then went on to Eden Seminary in St. Louis, Mo. where he received his Master of Divinity Degree in 1960. Dick did go on to earn his Doctor of Divinity Degree while serving a church later in his career.
During his time at Elmhurst College, Dick met the love of his life, Eloise, who was a recent graduate of Elmhurst College as well. They dated for over two years and were married on Jan. 29th,1956 in Dayton, Ohio with his father-in-law and two brothers-in-law officiating the wedding. Over their more than 67 years of marriage they hardly ever spent a night apart from each other. Dick was also a devoted father of three who stayed very active in his kid’s lives all the way through adulthood. He is remembered as a dad who would hurry home from the office to have dinner with the family and then participate in games around the table before going back to church for committee meetings and the like.
In 1960 Dick was ordained to ministry and had his first church as a pastor at the First United Church of Christ in Troy, Ohio. Dick and Eloise and their three children lived in Troy until moving on to Deer Park, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, in 1969 where he became the senior pastor at Trinity UCC there. In 1975 Dick was called to be only the second pastor of the United Church (UCC) of Marco Island, Florida. Dick and Eloise both call that decision to move the family so far away a real leap of faith. It was there that Dick’s ministry really flourished and took hold. Dick was involved in many community events over the years along with his ministry duties. This church was also very involved in building homes for Habitat for Humanity in Immokalee, almost an hour away and only the second of its kind for this organization at the time. Along with his professional work Dick also was an avid golfer and tennis player. They finished raising their family in this community and stayed there for 21 years before retiring in 1996.
After retirement from active ministry, he and Eloise moved to Uplands Village in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee and have been there ever since. It was there that they bought their first home together and was used for many family visits, and neighborhood get togethers over the years. Dick remained active in retirement and while still playing golf and tennis on a regular basis also became a Master Gardener. Shortly after arriving at Uplands a friend of Dick’s introduced him to the Cumberland County Playhouse where he found he had a real love and interest for acting. Some of his more major roles were as the General in White Christmas and as the Judge in To Kill a Mockingbird. Something that he and Eloise started doing while still on Marco Island was leading groups on tours to many different parts of the world. They kept leading these tours while in retirement as well, with memorable trips to Europe, The Holy Land and Alaska to name a few. Both Dick and Eloise have truly enjoyed their 27 years of retirement together.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 15th at Pleasant Hill Community Church. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Pleasant Hill Community Church, Eden Theological Seminary, or Cumberland County Playhouse.