Richard Inglima, the son of Morris and Helen O’BRIEN Inlima was born May 30, 1925 in Brooklyn, New York. His entire schooling was there. While attending school he was a middle distance runner and held some American, state and city records for the mile relay, half mile run, and 200 and 300 yard dashes.
In 1943 he joined the US Navy and was sent to weather school. During WWII he served on the ship Intrepid CV11. This carrier saw much action between Saipan and Japan and was hit often by kamakazis. At war’s end, it was considered the most hit carrier afloat.
Before he was discharged, in 1946, Dick had heard of the University of Alaska. He decided to apply and was accepted, arriving in Alaska in June 1946. At the UofA he played varsity basketball and majored, as he says “in my future wife, Lynn Morris.
Lynn and Dick were married on May 1, 1947 in Fairbanks, Alaska, and spent that summer in Seldovia where he worked for Squeeky Anderson. The next fall they went to Spokane, Washington where Dick attended Gonzaga University and their daughter, Dianne, was born. The following summer they returned to Seldovia where Dick fished halibut commercially and helped Lynn’s Dad in the store, Morris and Morris. The next fall saw the family in New York where Dick studied at NY University and their son, Dicki was born there in 199. Summer found them back in Seldovia, commercial fishing and working in the store. Another son, Mario, was born in Seward in 1950.
For the next four years they lived in Anchorage where Dick worked for the Army Corp of Engineers, as a construction inspector in power house construction. He joined the UofA Alumni Association and served as president of the Anchorage chapter for a year. A second daughter, Lyni, was born in Anchorage in 1952.
Lynn’s father retired in 1954 and turned the store over to Lynn and her brother, Dickie Morris. Dick resigned from the Corps in order to operate the store with Dickie. A year later the Inglimas bought out Dickie’s share and operated the store under the original name of “Morris and Morris”. Another daughter, Helyn, was born there in 1955.
In Seldovia, Dick served on the PUD, as director, and on the City Council. He was Mayor at the time of the 1964 earthquake and tidal wave. “This was the time that the beautiful little town with its quaint boardwalk was razed and all of the canneries but one moved to Kodiak. Some of us tried very hard to stem the exodus and limit urban renewal, but to no avail. I resigned as mayor and we decided to move to Homer.”
There they purchased Homer Cash Store from Grandma Walli, changing the name to “Inglimas” They started operating out of the old store and opened a new store in 1968. They sold the store to Proctors in 1976 and moved out to Kachemak City.
In Homer, Dick served on the City Commission, held the office of Mayor, and had other civic and business ventures. They travelled, gardened, fished, hunted and enjoyed sharing their lives withe children and grandchildren.
Dick died in Homer on December 12, 2000, at the age of 76, and is buried in the Seldovia City Cemetery in plot 104.
The information in this biography, and the quoted text, comes from “In Those Days - Alaska Pioneers of the Lower Kenai Peninsula”, personal histories pulished by Pioneers of Alaska in 1991.