Richard Lee Shiers was born on September 8, 1938, to Alva Gage Shiers and Myrtle Averal (Winchell) Shiers in his grandfather's home in Lyman, Nebraska.  Dick attended school in Lyman and graduated from Lyman High School in 1956. During his early years he helped his Dad and brothers milk cows in the morning before school and helped with the farming in the summer.  Dick was the oldest of eleven children, so he always had someone to play with.  His extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins were precious to him and remain close to this day.  In the summer of 1954 Dick contracted polio and was very sick.  He was one of the fortunate people who survived with no paralysis.

Dick wanted to go to college and because of the generosity of his grandparents, Flossie and Everett Shiers and aunt and uncle, Maxine and George Sobotka, who let him board with them, he was able to attend Nebraska State Teacher's College in Kearney.  Dick had several jobs while in college to help pay his expenses. One of those jobs was working in an all-night gas station on Highway 30, where one night he was robbed at gunpoint.  Fortunately, the robbers were captured before they got out of town and Dick was scared but not harmed.  Dick graduated from college in 1960 with a degree in Math Education.  He was hired to teach math at his old high school in Lyman.

In December of 1960, he married Janet Mitchell.  After teaching a year in Nebraska, Dick and Janet decided to move to Colorado so Dick could complete a Master's Degree.  The year they lived in Colorado they experienced temperatures of 30 below zero a little too often, so when it came time to look for a teaching job, they decided to focus on warm weather country.  Lucky for them, Lompoc had sent a recruiter to find some teachers and Dick was hired to teach math at Vandenberg Junior High, which was located in the old hospital barracks on Vandenberg Air Force Base.  That was the beginning of a long and happy career of teaching for Lompoc Unified School District that lasted from 1962 to 2002.   He later moved into the new Vandenberg Junior High School, then on to Cabrillo High School where his heart remains to this day.  He loved teaching math and spent many off-duty hours helping students and friends with their math homework and writing letters of recommendation for college. Dick was also very interested in the sports programs at Cabrillo. He was the sports trainer for several years and loved doing support work for the teams and attending the games.  Dick also taught math for Allan Hancock College for many years.  For several years Dick was the director of the Eisenhower Institute which was a program designed to help teachers in math and science develop ideas and curriculum to generate student interest in the subjects.  Many local elementary and high school teachers benefitted from this program and as a result, students were offered some "hands on" experiences to help them learn.  For two years, Dick was on loan to Hancock College to work on a program called Tech Prep which was designed to help students with math in technology and business.

Dick was a life member of California Teachers Association and National Education Association, life member of the California Mathematics Council, president of Lompoc Education Association and he spent several summers working on Project Time and the Tri Counties Math Project.

During retirement Dick loved to help his friend Aubrey work on tractors, play cribbage with a bunch of great friends and walk at the Mission with John, Ron, Bernie and Martha. He greatly enjoyed watching his grandson play soccer and had fun with the grandchildren.

Dick was a long-time member of the First United Methodist Church of Lompoc and served the church as chairman of finance committee, chairman of scholarship committee, board member of the Foundation and one summer helped to paint the church.

Dick is survived by his wife, Janet, children, Sharla Torr (Larry), Tracy Foust, (John) and Eric (Adrienne) and his grandchildren Courtney and Clayton Torr and Johnny Foust, his brothers Gary (Loretta), Butch (Linda), Tim (Kathy), sister Mary Ann, sister-in-law, Helen (David) Hughson and sister-in-law, Anita Chouris and nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Arnie, Donnie, Clifford, Jerry Lou, Keith and sister Becky Easton, nephew, Louie, and niece, RoxAnne.

Donations in Dick's name may be made to First United Methodist Church at 925 North F Street or the Cabrillo Stadium Improvement Project C/O Bob Lawrence at 4635 Titan, Lompoc CA 93436.

Services will be held on Monday, February 12 at 11:00 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Lompoc, California.  The address of the church is 925 North F Street.