When he called and asked me to “geuess what I got”, I thought for sure it was another wooden sword or a hockey stick. I don’t think those things could hold a candle to his very own library card. Yep, he’s heather’s boy.
Heather’s son
January 29, 2010 by jeff1945-2009
December 30, 2009 by jeff
Richard “Dick” Clark Ilse, age 64, of Minneapolis, died peacefully at home with family by his side on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 after a four-year journey with bile duct cancer.
Dick was born in Duluth, MN, and lived there for 52 years before moving to the Twin Cities. Dick served in the Minnesota National Guard while studying geography at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. After graduating, he worked at the Duluth City Planner’s office, then went to the Arrrowhead Regional Development Commission where he was instrumental in introducing personal computer technology to small government units in the area. Dick was an independent information technology consultant until 1998, when he began working for the Minneapolis Urban League, where he worked to within the last two weeks of his life. He managed information technology, and is widely regarded as the most friendly, helpful and sociable “I.T. guy” ever. He frequently went above and beyond the call of duty in volunteer service to MUL’s many outreach projects, which included running the photo shoot for the Black Santa event, coordinating the parade for Family Day, teaching afterschool and summertime computer classes for youth in the Other Options Program Services, and making tax preparation assistance more accessible through the Accountability Minnesota Tax Clinic.
Dick had a kind, gentle personality. People were drawn to his humanity, inclusiveness, and compassion. He was known for his bright smile and self-deprecating humor in the worst of times, which especially shone through near the end of his inspirational battle with cancer. One of his gifts to the family he loved was his infectious and complete enjoyment of being in their company.
He loved observing Lake Superior and its shipping activity, hiking and bicycling along its North Shore, taking sailing and paddling adventures with family in the Apostle Islands and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, babysitting his grandkids, and creating elaborate transportation schemes involving multiple vehicles (and perhaps a brother or two) to get kids, cousins, and/or pets from Point A to Point B. He had a propensity for telling Prairie Home Companion jokes at inopportune times and was prone to burning popcorn. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Dick is survived in life by his wife of 40 years, Sandra of Plymouth, MN; his dog, Gabrieli; children, Bryan (Sara) Ilse of Minneapolis and Jeff (Heather) Ilse of Minneapolis; grandchildren, Ethan and Lillian; brothers, Bob (Margo) Ilse of Duluth, John Ilse of Finland, MN, and Bill (Kate) Isles of Duluth; sister, Judy (Larry Heinis) Ilse-Heinis of Hermantown; mother-in-law, Carol Randall of Tampa, FL; aunts Doris Elg of Brainerd, MN, Betty Flax of Oro Valley, AZ, Josie Ilse of Virginia, MN; along with nieces, nephews, and cousins by the dozens.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Kay and Clark Ilse and father-in-law, Darrell Randall.
A funeral service and celebration of Dick’s life will be held Saturday, January 2 at 2:00 pm, at Grace University Lutheran Church, 324 Harvard St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, 612-331-8125, www.graceattheu.org. Following the service, there will be plenty of time and space for sharing food, stories, songs, readings, or whatever you would like to contribute in remembrance of Dick’s life.
See www.caringbridge.org/visit/dickilse for more information. We have savored and appreciated all the stories, prayers, condolences, and notes of support left at Dick’s CaringBridge guest book.
Flowers and live plants are welcome. If preferred, donations may be sent en memorial to an organization Dick supported, Heifer International, which works with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. With gifts of livestock and training, Heifer International gives families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, empowering them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.
Heifer International
1 World Avenue
Little Rock, AR/USA 72202,
(800) 422-0474
http://www.heifer.org/
beams
November 8, 2009 by jeffthe bulkheads are installed on hull #2 and I just finished the beams. It’s been a rainy cold fall, but I’ve been lucky to fit most of the work I want to do inside the garage. I’m still trying to finish as many of the little bits before winter comes, to make way for the hulls in the yard next season.
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
Happy Halloween
November 2, 2009 by jeff
September 25, 2009 by jeff
The cuddy is completed enough to get it out of the garage:
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| From fall 09 |
And the beams are underway. I have all the panels scarfed and I special ordered some 20′ lengths of clear vertical grain douglas fir. Very nice stuff.
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
I’ve also got the bulkheads ready to install and we’re heading to the shop this weekend to see how it goes.
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| From fall 09 |
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| From fall 09 |
happy builder
August 19, 2009 by jeffI know this blog isn’t exactly boat building central, but I wanted to publicly state how happy I’ve been building a Richard Woods designed catamaran. Being an inexperienced builder, I was afraid I’d get into problems and not know where to turn with questions. I had heard from other sources that Richard is excellent with support, and that made me much more comfortable jumping into this project. I’m a couple seasons into my build, and I can say that I’m thrilled with both the plans and the support that Richard provides. On buying the plans, my expectations were that the designer would be available to clarify things in the drawings if I didn’t understand what they were asking for. Richard’s drawings are plenty clear in the first place, so I’m not even sure that kind of support has been necessary. He has, however, gone above and beyond by giving me the kind of building advice and support that only a person who has built many of his own boats can give, and that kind of direction can be so hard to find, when you don’t know whose ideas you can trust.
It’s like deja vu all over again
August 18, 2009 by jeffWe just spent 2 weeks working on the second hull and I’m feeling good about the progress. The center line and inner stem all are all glassed and the bulkheads are nearly ready to be glassed in. Working on this hull has been a lot like rebuilding a puzzle that you’ve already completed. You already know where every thing goes and how it fits together. It’s just a matter of executing it properly. Being that it didn’t look any different than the other hull and the fact that I was putting in a lot of hours this trip, I never got around to any new pictures, but we’re going to go up again for a short trip and I’ll probably get some then. Since I have a hard time posting without pictures, I’ll include this one of me taken just before I returned to my non-boat building job…I like to call it the boat paying for job. You may wonder what it has to do with boat building, and the obvious feature is that I temporarily have much more facial hair (no time for shaving while at the shop), but if you look closely, you’ll see what this project is doing to me. The gray hairs have made their way from my scalp to my face. I knew going in that this was going to take years to complete and I’m still prepared for the huge amount of work ahead of me, but I’m pretty sure these short intense trips up north are removing years from my life. I guess I better get some more wheat grass growing, so I can bank a few more years up to even the score. I’ll make up the rest when I’m sitting on board under the stars instead of under an airport.
I will cut you
July 31, 2009 by jeffok, not really, but Ethan has been very into his wooden swords, daggers, and shields. He’s even been making some of his own. When we practice sword fight, it’s a good way that I can hit him with a stick and not get in trouble with the authorities. Kidding again… mostly. :)
starboard hull
July 5, 2009 by jeffFor the first part of the trip, I glassed the bulkheads in and did some work on the side of the starboard hull that was easily accessible. Moving the hull off the forms was the most stressful event of this project so far. I knew it was going to be difficult to get it clear of the forms, but with 9 lifters and a couple tries we did it. I think the boat survived far better than my nerves did.
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
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| From summer 09 |
The rest of the trip to work on the hulls was mostly uneventful. I’ve got the second half of the port hull foamed, sanded and ready for fiberglass.
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| From summer 09 |
splash!
June 14, 2009 by jeffI don’t know if I’d call it a launch, but I did indeed take the dory out for a little spin today. I wanted to check everything out and see what worked and what didn’t, before I took Ethan or anyone else out. I’m glad I went out alone; it took some getting used to, but all things considered, it went well. The boat sails in the lightest breeze. At times, I couldn’t feel any wind on my face, yet I was still ghosting along. It all may have been a bit easier if I actually remembered the rudder. I steered with an oar off the transom and it was quite awkward.
The boat also rows well, but the 5 1/2′ oars I borrowed were way too short, so when make a set of 8 footers, I’ll be much better off.
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| From Dory |
