By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Former St. Cloud mayor Richard G. Word died Wednesday morning from lung cancer at his Virginia Avenue home surrounded by family.

Word, 83, served as a St. Cloud councilman from 1982-1984 and served as the city’s mayor from 1988-1992.

“He always stayed active in politics,” Jane Word, his wife of six years, said.

Word’s son-in-law, Mario Mirles, took him to a local diner every Tuesday for lunch to visit with his friends and discuss St. Cloud issues.

“He’s one of those guys who you automatically had the upmost respect for,” Mirles said.

Last week, Mirles took Word to visit his grave, the plot next to his first wife, Betty Word, who also died of lung cancer in 2002. Word placed a cactus on her grave. He also wrote his own obituary and planned his own funeral in the last two weeks.

“He was sharp until the end,” Jane Word said. “He had a mind for dates.”

Richard Word was born May 1, 1928, in Anniston, Ala., but was raised in Ohio. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served 43 years, including two years in the American Theater Pacific in World War II.

After his time in the war, Word returned to Cleveland and married Betty Somer Dec. 8, 1950. They had two daughters, Rebecca and Linda. Word was a civil engineer for Highland View Hospital in Warrensville Township, Ohio, and also served as a police officer for the town.

After his retirement, Richard, affectionately known as Dick, and Betty moved to St. Cloud in 1978. There, he delved into politics and community activism, becoming a lifetime member of the local VFW and Disabled American Veterans. He also belonged to the American Legion, the Fleet Reserve and the Masons.

“His first love was the military,” Jane Word said.

Former St. Cloud councilman Charlie Davidson, who served with Word, went through military training with him in 1945, although they were unaware of it then.

“I can truthfully say he was my best friend,” Davidson said from his home in Crystal River. “We’re going to miss him very much.”

In 1992, he was diagnosed with lung cancer; Jane Word said it was caused by exposure to asbestos. He had three-quarters of his right lung removed and was placed in remission. He was diagnosed again with cancer in both lungs just two weeks ago.

“He had the greatest sense of humor, even as sick as he was,” Jane Word said.

Richard and Jane married in 2004.

Known as a flirt, Richard Word enjoyed weekly trips to the St. Cloud pool for the aquatic aerobics class, where he teased the ladies, and played pinochle.

“He was a very popular guy. Everybody loved him,” Jane Word said. “He had that personality.”

Hoping to get closer to his mother, who died in her 40s, Word purchased a house in Elkton, Ky., where she was from, and he and Jane spent last summer there visiting his “kin” and connecting with his roots.

“It really was his dream to go back where is mother was from,” Jane Word said. “He wanted to be well enough to go back at least one week this year.”

Aside from his wife and daughters, Word is survived by a grandson; two great-granddaughters; three stepchildren; two stepgranddaughters and five stepgreat-grandchildren.

Funeral Mass will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 700 Brown Chapel Road, St. Cloud. The family will receive visitors Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Osceola Memory Gardens, 2000 13th St., St. Cloud.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to Hospice of the Comforter in Altamonte Springs.