He was born in Clarksville, Texas on April 2, 1946, to M.E “Tump” and Mary Frances (Benton) Waldrep. Dick graduated from Clarksville High School and then entered the University of Texas- Austin where he received his pharmacy degree in 1969. On June 19, 1969, he married Diana Diener. The couple moved to Memphis, Tennessee to continue his education at the University of Tennessee- Memphis, earning a Doctor of Pharmacology degree in 1970.
After teaching pharmacology at the University of West Virginia, Morgantown, the couple returned to Texas in 1972, where Dick began his forty-three-year career as a pharmacist in New Boston. He was a partner at Acker’s, owner of McCoy’s, and finished his career at Eckerd and Brookshire’s.
The couple welcomed their son, Brent, in 1972 and their daughter, Lisa, in 1976. And many family pets.
The Waldrep’s were active members of the First Baptist Church in New Boston where Dick served in many capacities, including deacon, teacher and choir member for forty- seven years. First and foremost, Dick loved his church.
He and Diana also loved to travel with the children on many camping expeditions, then on their own as empty nesters, and later with their children and grandchildren.
He never outlived his joy for traveling. Dick and Diana enjoyed 56 years of marriage.
Dick loved every aspect of the outdoors, cultivated in a Northeast Texas childhood. He could never get enough fishing, camping, star gazing, gardening, rockhounding and hiking. He spent many relaxing hours fly fishing with friends on the rivers of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Next to his family, Dick loved his dogs and treated them as equal family members. He and his last dog volunteered with the Bowie County Sheriff’s office in search and rescue work and training for eight years. He was a Master Naturalist in Bowie County, and later in Grayson County. Dick was a member of the Master Naturalist program at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.
After their retirement in New Boston, the couple relocated to Sherman, Texas in 2019 to live closer to family. He made time for almost daily visits with family and frequent visits with daughter Lisa and her family when they moved to Prosper in 2020 and with son Brent and family who moved to Celina in 2022. Dick and Diana loved their time with their children and grandchildren. He and Diana were members of the First Baptist Church, Sherman.
Survivors include his wife, Diana, of Sherman; daughter, Lisa, and husband, John, and their children, Daniel and Mackenzie, of Prosper, Texas; son Brent, wife, Jennifer, and their son, David, of Celina, TX; sister and brother-inlaw, Joanne and Tom Fowler, of Sherman.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Reel Recovery: Online donations at http://www.reelrecovery. org/donate Bowie County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue: Mail check to PO Box 203, Nash TX 75569 A memorial service will be held at on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 1 pm at the First Baptist Church in New Boston, TX.
