Died May 25, 2017,Galisteo, New Mexico
College: Calhoun
Widow: Leslie Gallery-Dilworth
61 Camino San Cristobal
Lamy, NM 87540-9765
267-882-6555
Children: Andrew; Wyatt; Richardson III
From http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/richardson-dilworth-78-outdoorsman-son-of-former-philly-mayor-20170613.html
Richardson Dilworth, 78, an outdoorsman who loved the deserts of the Southwest, died Thursday, May 25, of dementia at his home in Galisteo, N.M.
Mr. Dilworth was the youngest son of former Philadelphia Mayor Richardson Dilworth, who was swept into office on a Democratic reform ticket in 1956 and was mayor until 1962, and who also had been the city’s treasurer, district attorney, and school board president.
“All of [this] gave his son a long-standing fascination and disdain for politics,” said Richardson Dilworth III, a professor of politics at Drexel University, Mr. Dilworth’s son, and grandson of the mayor.
Mr. Dilworth was born in the family home on St. James Place in Society Hill, and grew up on Washington Square.
Like his father, he graduated from St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Mass., and from Yale University in 1961 as a Russian history major. He served as an officer in the Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and San Diego before the outbreak of the Vietnam War.
“He just missed it,” Richardson Dilworth III said.
After a brief stint as a loan officer at PSFS in the late 1960s, Mr. Dilworth tried law school for a year, then decided to go into real estate with a friend, Warren Lexton. The firm Lexton & Dilworth was at 250 S. 17th St. in Center City. The partners bought and sold real estate until disbanding in the mid-1980s, when Lexton moved to Florida.
The parting was amicable. Lexton said from his home in Florida that Mr. Dilworth was “very nice to work with.”
Mr. Dilworth had a deep affection for the Southwest his entire life. While in college, he landed a job with an oil company there, and he had enjoyed hiking and camping in the arid deserts and the Sierra Nevada while stationed in San Diego.
“He took me hiking in the Sierras when I was 10,” said Richardson Dilworth III. “In recent years, he became a day hiker.”
In 2002, Mr. Dilworth and his wife, Leslie Gallery Dilworth, moved to a property in Galisteo that they previously had purchased. “My stepmother is an architect, and she was gung-ho to design a house,” Richardson Dilworth III said.
Mr. Dilworth’s interests included film, art, intricate woodwork, and “anything in miniature,” his son said.
He especially enjoyed building intricate birdhouses — more popular with humans than birds — and collecting miniature architectural renderings, models, and trains. He read fiction and world history.
In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by his former wife, Annabelle Lloyd; two stepsons, Wyatt and Andrew Gallery; two grandchildren; and a brother and sister. Two brothers and two sisters died earlier.
A memorial celebration will be private.
Andrew Block remembers:
It’s with a great deal of sadness to report the passing of Dick Dilworth on May 25th in Galisteo, NM. For those who knew him, we will always remember his self effacing humor, very quick wit, wonderful knowledge of history, passion for reading and loyal friendship. There will be a celebration of Dick’s life in his hometown of Philadelphia on October 1. He leaves behind his wife, Leslie(lesliegd@me.com) and son Richard(dilworth@drexel.edu).
Andy Block