CAPE ELIZABETH – Dick Jordan happily stepped out of his comfort zone to embrace new experiences throughout his life, right to the end when, though in declining health, he enthusiastically celebrated his 91st birthday in Mexico.Richard Everett Jordan died Dec. 10, 2021, on that trip, where he contentedly reveled in the warmth of seaside sun and love of family members around him. It was a fitting final adventure for a man who was always willing to try something new.Dick was one of those talented souls who could figure out how to make virtually any project that popped into his brain work. Sometimes the pleasure was sheerly in the figuring out. In one case, he delightedly spent a year studying how to build a boat – a cement boat – that was never constructed.But most things Dick set his mind to did come to pass – from teaching himself to build an entire home addition to working as an airline mechanic to brewing beer to earning a criminology degree from the University of Maine in his 40s – partly because he never shied away from hard work. With parents who instilled an impeccable work ethic and true frugal Yankee independent character, he came by that naturally enough. Arthur Jordan was a longshoreman, and his wife Edith worked the night shift at B&M Baked Beans after all-day mom duties. Dick, born Nov. 16, 1930, was the fifth of their eight children.Part of Dick’s get-up-and-go spirit was deliberately cultivated. Having watched other boys get into trouble, he made himself too active to veer off a good path – throwing himself into sports, riding horses on Peaks Island and joining the Portland Boys Club. This also may have influenced his choice to work as a counselor at the Maine Youth Center in South Portland for most of his career. Strong and 6-foot-4, he excelled at everything he tried but shined most brightly in basketball. He played at Portland High School on a state-title winning team, in a semi-pro league in Boston, then for the Air Force while stationed in England during the Korean War. As a teen he also earned state swimming titles – a fact none of his children were aware of until his young granddaughter earned one of her own and he quietly showed her a stack of trophies tucked away in his basement.He also loved to watch sports – games his children and grandchildren were involved in and the pros. He was known to watch one baseball game on TV while listening to another on a transistor radio next to his ear.He was beloved ‘Gar’ to his grandkids; ‘Richie,’ ‘Dick’ or ‘Richard’ to various family members and friends; ‘Daddy Long Legs’ to the neighborhood moms he briskly strode past on long post-work walks. And he was ‘Dad’ to his four children, the kind of dad who played catch with his kids and good-humoredly but firmly made them earn a win at checkers, weed an elaborate annual vegetable garden that fed them all winter and go to Sunday Mass. He kept their idle time to a minimum, as he did with himself, and taught them what he’d been taught – to work hard but make room for relaxation and play. His children recall how their father routinely made time to help others, too – from fixing strangers’ flat tires to slipping a few dollars to someone he’d heard was struggling.Dick knew of such situations because he asked lots of questions and was an extrovert. This inquisitive leaning made him a voracious reader, a successful investor, an entertaining conversationalist, and someone thirsty to keep learning.He appreciated the variety of life’s offerings but was true to one woman – his wife of 53 years, Marilyn, who passed in 2008.Together they shared the duties of raising their children, first in Massachusetts, where he moved for a job in a leather-tanning factory, then Scarborough, where he worked for the police department part-time around his counselor job. When he retired from the Maine Youth Center, Dick worked as a fish buyer for his son’s seafood company in Portland.Dick and Marilyn moved to Higgins Beach once their children were grown and spent winters in Port Charlotte, Fla.He was predeceased by his wife; parents; brothers Arthur, Thomas, Frederick, Louis and George Jordan; and sister E. Marie Jordan.He is survived by his children Deborah Ferrucci (Michael) of North Branford, Conn.; Kimberly Jordan of Chelsea, Mass; Jeffrey Jordan (Tammy) of Newmarket, N.H.; and Lisa Rockwell (Scott) of Cape Elizabeth; sister M. Dorothy Odlin; grandchildren Matthew, Daniella, Allen, Deborah, Whitney, Jordan, Jaclyn, Richard, Courtney, Griffin, Abigail, Delaney and Christian; great-grandchildren Benjamin, Fiona, Felicity, Juliette, Everett, Mara, Charles, Oriza, Olive, Oscar and Elliott.Visiting hours celebrating Dick’s life will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2021 from 8:30-9:30 a.m., at the Conroy-Tully Walker South Portland Chapel, 1024 Broadway, South Portland, Maine. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., St. Maximilian Kolbe Church, where Dick was a longtime member. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery, Broadway, South Portland. To view Dick’s memorial page, or to share an online condolence, please visit http://www.ConroyTullyWalker.comIn lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Good Shepherd Food Bank,3121 Hotel Road,Auburn, ME 04210

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