Richard Toll, better known as Dick Toll, passed away at age 79 on November 20, 2024, after a short stay in the Four Corners Regional Care Center in Blanding, Utah. He was admitted to the care center following medical issues which troubled him during the last year of his life.
He was born in South Bend, Indiana, where his mother, Jeanette Shambleau Toll, lived with her parents while his father, John Toll, served in the Navy during World War II. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Chris Toll. He is survived by his sister, Mary Toll; his nephews, Josh Toll and Ben Toll; one great-niece, and two great-nephews His childhood was spent in Oak Park, Illinois, before the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky. He was a Boy Scout for many years, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout as a teenager. He enjoyed outdoor activities such as camping, although his passion was launching rockets!
He attended Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, for two years, where he declared a different science major each semester. Because he was unable to graduate within four years during the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the Air Force instead of being drafted. His last Purdue major was computer science, so the Air Force told him he would be enrolled in their computer training school. After he enlisted, he tested out of the training entirely and the Air Force had him work on its computers stateside for all four years of his service.
He stayed in Houston, Texas, after his discharge from the Air Force, where he worked on computers in the oil industry. After his mother died in 1999, he decided to switch careers to follow his lifelong interest in the outdoors which had started with scouting. He went back to school at the University of Guelph, Ontario, where he graduated with a BA in geography and history.
After graduation, he returned to the States and started volunteer work with the National Fish and Wildlife Service. After several years with them, he was hired by the National Park Service and started his final career as a park ranger at a variety of locations, including a Civil War battlefield in North Carolina, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace in Kentucky, the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson’s house) in Tennessee, and Arches National Park in Moab.
After his retirement from Arches, he stayed in Moab. He was a familiar figure there, where he was the treasurer for the Moab chapter of the Utah Friends of Paleontology and an usher at St. Pius X Catholic Church. He volunteered for many local organizations, including the Moab Valley Multicultural Center, the Moab Folk Festival, the Moab Arts Festival, Trunk or Treat, Community Rebuilds Haunted Bunkhouse, and the Wabi Sabi Thanksgiving Dinner Program.
A celebration of Dick’s life will be held at a later date.Donations in his memory may be made to the Canyonlands Natural History Association, the Utah Friends of Paleontology, or to Moab Solutions.
