Richard "Dick" B. Banks' Obituary
Richard B. “Dick” Banks was reunited with dear friends and family in the presence of his Lord on Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 2017. Dick was born on May 16, 1931 in Denver, Colorado to Burdette and Esther Banks. A lifelong lover of Colorado and mountains, Dick graduated from Colorado School of Mines in 1953 with a degree in Geology. After serving in the U.S. Army on Okinawa, he obtained a master’s in Petroleum Engineering at UT Austin. While working for Pan American Petroleum in Odessa, Texas, Dick married his one great love, Norma Jean Minter on December 20, 1958. Pan American (later Amoco) transferred Dick to Tulsa. They wanted to transfer him to Chicago, but smart and hardworking, and now the father of two boys, Dick started his own company instead. He founded Scientific Computer Applications in Tulsa in 1969, moved his office home in 2016, and never retired!Dick loved mountain climbing, skiing, trout fishing and scouting. He was a dependable volunteer and mentor and led Boy Scout Troop 162 for many years. He loved greeting people with Norma at the front desk of First United Methodist Church every Sunday and leading music in his Sunday school class. But most of all Dick will be remembered for heading up the Bicycle Ministry at FUMC. If you needed a bike, he’d give you one. Dick loved riding and working on bicycles, and rode Freewheel for several years. For 20 years, he led training rides twice a year for a week for students at Eugene Field Elementary School. He gave them all bikes, helmets, t-shirts, backpacks and water bottles—and taught them the rules of the road.He loved being a great husband, a devoted father, the best grandfather ever and a loyal and adventurous friend who always had a new joke to tell.He will be dearly missed by Norma, his wife of 58 years; his brother Roy and his wife Eileen; his sons Bradley, and Greg and his wife Elaine; grandchildren Cristopher Banks, Bethany Faber and her husband A.J., Danae Sessions and her husband Chase, Abigail Rice and her husband Lain, Joshua Banks, Tabitha Banks, and Tiffany Banks; great-grandson Willem Faber and many, many friends.The family would like to thank Seasons Hospice for their incredibly capable and compassionate care. Memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Tulsa, 1115 S. Boulder, Tulsa 74119 (www.fumctulsa.org) for Gathering Hearts for Honduras or the Tulsa Hub (www.tulsahub.org), a non-profit continuing Dick’s vision for helping adults and children through cycling. Condolences and remembrances may be sent to the family at www.floralhaven.com
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