Richard John Frederick “Dick” Wallingham (1927 – 2006)
Dick Wallingham was born in Whitemouth, Manitoba. His family moved to the Hammond - Maple Ridge, British Columbia area in 1930 and he grew up there. Dick moved to Dawson in 1947 and worked for Yukon Consolidated Gold Corp (YCGC) on the monitors. He later moved to Whitehorse and became a partner with Andy Hooper driving a 6×6 right-hand-drive truck. He also worked for Harry Johannes, Roxy Carrier, and Clyde Wann over the next few years until he moved to MacKeno, in the Mayo mining district, in 1950 to drive truck and start a taxi business. Dick helped to build the road to Bell Keno with his old army truck. In 1953, he decided to sell his equipment and move out of the Yukon to British Columbia. On his way through Mayo he talked to Alex Wark who needed someone to help Roxy Carrier run the Chateau Mayo Hotel while Alex went to Vancouver for ten days. In the next few weeks, as he waited for the ice bridge to freeze over the Stewart River, he met Margaret Wood and never did leave the Yukon.1)
Roxy and Dick leased the Chateau Mayo Hotel in early 1954 and in August Dick married Margaret Wood. In 1967, Dick and Maggie bought the hotel and had it until 1987 when Dick retired. Dick partnered with Geordie Dobson in the Keno City Hotel in the 1970s. Dick and Maggie retired to Whitehorse in 1988. Dick is remembered by his friends and family for his quick wit and his kind-hearted ways.2)