Richard Irvin Tilton's Obituary
Visitation will be on Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 6:30 PM until 9:00 PM, at Magnolia Southern Mennonite Church located at 2800 Hwy 26, DeRidder, LA. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM, Friday, January 24, 2025, at Southern Magnolia Mennonite Church with a visitation to start at 1:00 PM, under the direction of Labby Memorial Funeral Home, DeRidder, LA.
Richard Irvin Tilton was born Oct 27, 1954 to Richard Thaddeus and Mertie Sue Tilton in DeRidder, Louisiana. He peacefully left this world the morning of Jan 22, 2025, reaching the age of 70 years old. Irvin was the oldest of 10 children, and times were tough growing up, especially when a tragic house fire claimed his father, three brothers, and one sister when he was twelve. Dad gave his heart to the Lord when he was sixteen and testified that the Lord had saved him.
Irvin joined the US Air Force when he was 18, training as a jet mechanic. Dad loved flying, and he next spent two years as a crop duster pilot. After walking away from two crashes, he decided to take it as a sign and gave up his wings to join a crew maintaining production on an offshore oil rig in the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Some friends from home worked on the same crew. They sometimes fought the sea to make it home, but, anytime they were in season, he walked back through the door with oversized bags of the fresh satsumas that he picked up returning to the shores of Louisiana.
Family was incredibly important to dad, and he was never happier than when surrounded by loved ones. Around the table or the living room, family voices filled the space with warmth and his heart with joy. With the goal of being home every night, he quit working offshore and an opportunity for Tilton Logging Company opened up. He ran the business for 35 years, and his crew became almost a second family. Affectionately known as “Skyhawk”, his steady, unruffled nature was the foundation for the business. In an ever-changing world that depended on the weather, the price of lumber and when the machine warranty ran out, he was a steady hand at the wheel.
Irvin married Catherine Graham on May 17, 1974 and they lived in Lubbock, TX, where he finished his military service. Three children were born to the union. He treasured the children he gained as his son and daughters married, and welcomed them unconditionally, accepting and loyal to each individual as his family branched outward. He was a calm, constant figure in their lives, always having their backs, and they will deeply miss the feeling of belonging and love he gave them.
He will be held in loving memory by his wife, Catherine, his children, Joni and Jason Nichols, Silsbee, TX, Richard Heath and Jeanie Tilton, Iroquois, SD, and Jessica and Glen Ratzloff, DeRidder, LA, and eight grandchildren. His sisters, Donna and Perry Abel, Pitkin, LA, and Lena and Webster Boggs, Sugartown, LA, His mother in law, Betty Graham, sister-in-law Pat Williams and brothers-in-law Robert Graham, and George and Opal Graham, DeRidder, LA. He was predeceased by his father and mother, four brothers, three sisters, one daughter-in-law, and his father-in-law
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