Richard A. Pecaut

Richard A. Pecaut, 78, of Dakota Dunes died Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, with the Revs. Torey Lightcap, Patricia Roberts and John Hantla Sr. officiating. Burial will be in Logan Park Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, with the family attending 6 to 8 p.m., and a service at 7 p.m., with the Rev. Patricia Roberts presiding.

Mr. Pecaut was born Nov. 21, 1930, in Sioux City, the son of Russell and Josephine (Steele) Pecaut. He graduated from Central High in 1948 and from Iowa State University in 1952 with a degree in business.

Dick served in the Naval ROTC program at ISU, in the U.S. Navy in both the U.S. and Morocco, and in the Naval Reserve for many years thereafter. He began a career in the investment business with C.W. Britton in 1955. In 1960, he co-founded Pecaut and Co. with his father and his brother, Jack. He co-founded the Securities Industry Association Group F and served on the N.A.S.D. Region 7 Board of Directors. At one time he was the oldest living member of the Midwest Stock Exchange. At one time he was nationally honored when he was chosen as one of Money Magazine's "Top Ten All-Pro Stockbrokers." He retired in 2001.

He married Dorothy Kent in 1953 in Wilmette, Ill. She died in 1997. He married Marilyn Moody in 1998 in Des Moines.

Mr. Pecaut was a lifelong Sioux City booster and a longtime member of the Chamber of Commerce. In 2000, he sponsored the Dakota Dunes PGA Tournament to keep it in Siouxland one more year. He served on and chaired the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Home and Goodwill Industries and also served on the board of St. Luke's Hospital. He served on the vestry of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church and chaired the renovation of this Sioux City landmark. He was an active member of Sertoma and the Jesters. He belonged to Calvary Episcopal Church.

In 2008, he received the "Friends of Conservation" award from the Woodbury County Conservation Board for his longtime support of the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. He served on the Iowa State University Dean's Advisory Council, was selected as an ISU Alumni Association Life Member, received the John D. DeVries College of Business award from the ISU College of Business and received the National Distinguished Fiji award from Phi Gamma Delta in 2003.

Dick felt he had a wonderful life with a loving family and many good friends and business associates. He had a sharp wit and loved telling jokes. He was a voracious reader with a keen mind, always up on what was going on. He valued honesty and hard work which were hallmarks of his professional career. Dick was proud of being from Sioux City and the fact that his great-grandfather, Gustav Pecaut, was among the first European settlers in the area in 1852. He felt especially blessed to have found love twice, first with the Rev. Dorothy Kent Pecaut and later with Marilyn Moody Pecaut.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; a sister, Betty Paul of Danville, Calif.; a brother, Jack and his wife, Carol "Tink" Pecaut of Phoenix, Ariz.; two sons, David Pecaut and his wife, Helen Burstyn of Toronto, Canada, and Dan Pecaut and his wife, Kay of Sioux City; two daughters, Stacey Gerhart of Sioux City, and Mary Pecaut and her husband, Youssouf Abdel-Jelil living in Morocco; 13 grandchildren, Lauren and Amy Burstyn, Sarah and Becca Pecaut, John, Charlie and Danielle Pecaut, Christopher Dye, Alexis and Elise Gerhart and Anissa, Sarah and Amina Abdel-Jelil; and a great-grandchild, Alexander Dye.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, the Rev. Dorothy Kent Pecaut.

Pallbearers will be Dick's grandchildren.

Memorials in his name may be directed to St. Luke's Health Foundation and Goodwill Industries.

The family wishes to thank the staff on 4A at St. Luke's and Hospice of Siouxland for their outstanding and compassionate care.