Posted on: Thursday, July 4, 2002

Richard Booth, avid outdoorsman, dead at 89

By Kapono Dowson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Richard H. "Dick" Booth, 89, a Hawai'i trailblazer, died June 8.

Remembered as a man who loved to hike the backwoods of O'ahu, machete in hand, he spent many years clearing the trails of Tantalus, 'Aiea, Halawa and Wahiawa Hills. Booth took many groups, including those from Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club and Scout troops, up and down Hawai'i mountains.

Booth, who was born Sept. 23, 1912, in Portland, Ore., caught a boat to Hawai'i in 1939 after he identified a criminal on a wanted poster in a Seattle Post Office, said his wife, Mary. He didn't want to stay in rainy Seattle or Portland, so he took his $1,000 reward and headed for warmer climes.

Though he worked as a civil service telephone engineer for many years, his passion was the outdoors.

Booth fell in love with the natural beauty of the Islands. Serving many years as president of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, Booth was an avid hiker who took his wife and five children hiking almost every weekend when the children were younger.

Mary Booth recounted how once she got lost, and her husband had to come find her. "He never spent a night in the mountains that he hadn't planned on," she said. "He was very patient and kind. He loved the outdoors. We're going to miss him."

Survived by his wife, Mary; daughters, Janet Sanderson, Lynnell McNeill and Myra Dombrow-ski; sons, Don and Philip; 11 grandchildren; brothers, Jack and Bill.

Service will be at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at 'Aiea United Methodist Church. Casual attire. Donations to Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club and St. Francis Hospice Hawaii.