Richard Dayne Piper was born to Dayne and Elizabeth Piper on Sept. 4, 1954, in Paducah, Texas.
He passed away on Jan. 11, 2026, at the age of 71.
He is preceded in death by his parents, his grandparents Tom and Dovie Eliis and B annd Sadie Piper Creech and John W. Piper; one brother, Terry Piper Hill; and a nephew, Bubba Hill.
He is survived by his daughter, Callie Piper, and grandson Layton Kosechata of Happy, Texas; his sister, Sadie Piper Spitzer of Abilene, Texas; his sister Linda Piper Votaw of Paducah, Texas; and his nieces Stacy Acevedo of Abilene, Texas, and Terralyn Miles of Wheeler, Texas.
Richard grew up on ranches in King and Cottle counties: the Pitchforks, GC Curruthers and Triangles on Moon Camp. He started school in Guthrie and graduated from Paducah High School in 1973.
He was in ranching and farming most of his life until his lifelong friend, Steve Burns, got him into the pipe making business in Wyoming until the company sold. Then he moved back to Texas and bought his own place and went into the cattle/farming business for 20-plus years. This is when “Charlie Dunn” became a Piper! He was a two-year-old lineback Dunn. He sold him once but couldn’t stand it and bought him back. He is now 23 years old and turned out to pasture. Of course, every ranch needs a dog, so he had ol’ “Buddy.”
Some of his favorite things were playing dominoes for hours on end, golfing and dancing. Western Swing favorites included Ray Price, Faron Young, Johnny Bush and Jake Hooker, to name a few. Dancing is what he missed most after the amputation, but most Sunday nights you would find him sitting in his pickup playing the radio station that played the old country songs. He loved when his daughter Callie and grandson Layton came to visit; they spent most summer afternoons at the pool or Layton would be chauffeuring Papa in the golf cart up and down the dirt roads around the home place.
The comments heard most by the family this week were: “He was a character”, “He was one of a kind” or “There will never be another Richard!” In the past, we have responded with, “Thank goodness, we couldn’t have put up with two of him!” but we love him very much and will certainly miss him.