NORTH ADAMS, Mass. —  Richard Leo Senecal, 87 of North Adams, Massachusetts died on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at Holmes Medical Center in Melbourne, Florida while he was spending the winter in Sebastian, Florida with his daughter and son-in-law.

Richard was born in North Adams, Massachusetts on February 23, 1938, the youngest son of the late Wilfred and Clara (Perchtolt) Senecal. He attended local schools and graduated from Drury High School with the class of 1957. He was a member of the North Adams American Legion and VFW as well as recently joining the Fraternal Order of Orioles Patrick Henry Nest #272 in Micco, Florida.

Known by his family and friends as “Ritchie,” he was an active youth, going fishing and delivering newspapers in the early morning hours before walking to and from school, then delivering newspapers again in the afternoon, working in his parents’ large garden, and caring for their ducks and rabbits.

When he was seventeen, Elaine Ringie walked by his house with a friend on her way home from school. Ritchie was a very shy young man, but when his eyes met hers, it was love at first site. He asked for her phone number and didn’t have a piece of paper, so he wrote it on the side of his house. They began dating and were married three years later on April 7, 1958.

Richard enlisted in the U.S Navy in January of 1958 and served aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard CVA31 aircraft carrier as an airplane mechanic. He was stationed in Hawaii where Elaine joined him on base after they were married. Their daughter Mary-Kay was born in Hawaii in 1959, and Elaine flew back home to Massachusetts with her in 1960 while Richard completed his service overseas. During his service, he also spent time in Japan and the Philippines. He was honorably discharged in January of 1962.

After returning home from his military service, Richard worked at Sprague Electric Company in North Adams for a brief time before taking a job at New England Telephone and Telegraph as a switch room technician, traveling around Berkshire County to various telephone offices that reported troubled lines. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, he played for the company softball team and was a member of the IBEW bowling team that played at Mt. Greylock Bowl in North Adams. His coworkers gave him the nickname: “Dickie Sen” that carried through his entire lifetime. While he was employed, the company name changed to Verizon, and he worked for thirty-two years until his retirement in 1996.

Richard was an avid sportsman his entire life. He was a hunter of local white tail deer, bear, pheasant, quail, and turkeys, which was his favorite. In the 1990’s, he went on trips with his friends to Kansas to hunt caribou. He was skilled with a shot gun, rifle, and bow and arrow. He also enjoyed freshwater trout fishing and deep-sea fishing trips. In 2021, at the age of eighty-three, he went on his first wild boar hunt in Florida and was successful with his black powder gun. He only brought three bullets; so fortunately, he was a good shot!

For many years, Richard was the Treasurer of the Mount Greylock Archers Adult League. When the league merged with the Cheshire Rod and Gun Club, he founded the Youth Archery League and served as Treasurer for both the adult and youth leagues. He organized local shoots and very much enjoyed teaching archery to the children. Richard was presented with the Berkshire County League of Sportsman Lifetime Achievement Award for 2010 for his outstanding contributions. He remained active with both archery leagues until he finally stepped aside in his early eighties due to health issues.

At the urging of his wife, Richard became a member of the Berkshire Chorale in the 1970’s and participated in local performances around Berkshire County. Music and singing were always a part of the household, and he enjoyed singing three-part harmony with his wife and daughter. There was always an abundance of laughter as Richard was also very skilled at making puns and loved fun competitions with his family. His quick wit made him a winner on numerous occasions!

Richard was very handy and would take on any remodeling project his wife Elaine dreamed up! From tearing down walls, putting up sheetrock, wallpapering, painting, staining, and flooring, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t try. Plastic sheets hanging between rooms was a common site in the Senecal household. He would return home from work, have supper, and immediately start his project, working until the early morning hours. His most frequent quote during these endeavors was “It’ll be alright; no one will see it!”

Richard had an easy going, friendly personality and a great sense of humor. With his sweet smile, he easily made friends wherever he went and was able to strike up a conversation on a wide variety of subjects. He was well versed in US and world history, current events, hunting, fishing, baseball (lifetime Red Sox fan), football, golf, basketball and just about anything else. He was a fan of YouTube instructional videos and learned about a wide range of things he tried out from how to make wine to how to tie fishing flies. He enjoyed all sorts of gadgets, so embracing modern technology was interesting to him (but certainly not without his daughter’s and grandson’s tech support!)

Richard had a close relationship with his grandsons while they were growing up. There were frequent sleepovers with blanket tents and Nerf basketball games on the agenda. He took them fishing and brought them on trips to the Catskill Game Farm as well as going on yearly summer vacations in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. When each grandson was assigned to the traditional junior high school plant project, he drove them throughout Berkshire County to find all the plants on the list to complete their collections. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his grandchildren.

For over fifteen years, Richard and Elaine were weekly patrons of the Freight Yard Pub in North Adams where they were considered family by restaurant owners Sean and Colleen Taylor. Every Wednesday, they reserved Table number Ten in the corner by the fireplace for dinner where their laughter and singing became well known by the staff and regulars. Many people often stopped at their table to join in on the fun!

Richard cared for his wife Elaine for several years through her failing health. They celebrated their Sixty-fourth Wedding Anniversary before she passed away in December of 2022. Through good times and bad, especially during the profound loss of their five-year-old son Don, their close connection and deep love for one another could never be broken.

Shortly after his wife’s passing, he joined his daughter and son-in-law during the winter months in Sebastian, Florida, then rented a seasonal home in the Barefoot Bay community. Over the last three years, he enjoyed warm sunshine, riding around in his new golf cart, having breakfast at the Barefoot Bay Golf course 19th Hole and RJ’s Restaurant, fishing off the Barefoot Bay pier, going on boar hunts and fishing off the pontoon boat with his buddy Bill, visiting Captain Hiram’s Sandbar by the water surrounded by friends and music, watching the dolphins at Mulligan’s, and dancing with his daughter whenever Pushin’ Time was playing at a local venue. Richard spent the last days of his life in the place where he was the happiest.

Survivors include his daughter, Mary-Kay O’Brien and her husband Lawrence of North Adams, Massachusetts and Sebastian, Florida as well as his grandchildren, Kristopher Jangrow and his wife Heather of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Erik Jangrow of North Adams, Massachusetts, and several nieces and nephews. He also leaves his step grandchildren who enriched the last years of his life, Tami (O’Brien) Hilman and her partner Jack Hicks of Lyman, Maine, Carrie (O’Brien) Brassard and her husband Michael of West Melbourne, Florida, Amy (O’Brien) Cariddi and her husband Nathan of Clarksburg, Massachusetts, along with several step great grandchildren and step great-great grandchildren. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his wife Elaine in 2022, his son Don Richard Senecal in 1972 and older brother Wilfred Senecal in 1993.

FUNERAL NOTICE: A service to celebrate the life of Richard Senecal will be held on Friday, May 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM at the Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home – WEST CHAPEL 521 West Main St. North Adams, MA. Burial with military honors will follow in Bellevue Cemetery in Adams, MA. Calling hours at the funeral home will be from 9:30-11:00 AM. Donations in Richard’s memory may be made to the Cheshire Rod and Gun Youth Archery League through the funeral home. To add to the Book of Memories, please visit flynndagnolifuneralhomes.com.