Richard F. Atkinson, who claimed the “F” was for fabulous, and was nicknamed “Chip” in childhood because he climbed trees like a chipmunk, entered into eternal rest on Sept. 3, 2025 with his two children, Rich Atkinson and Lisa Davis, by his side when he took his final breath at Gulfside Hospice in New Port Richey, Florida. He was 84, his hair still red, and his piercing blue eyes bright. He lived in New Port Richey for less than a year and previously lived in Land O’ Lakes and Tarpon Springs, Florida. Prior to that, he spent 13 years in Bedford, Mass. and grew up in Arlington, Mass. He lived in several other areas during his single days. Chip made an impression wherever he went, and made plenty of friends along the way. He loved his family deeply.

 

Known for storytelling, a trait he passed on to his daughter who made a career out of it, and his humor, which he passed on to both his children, Chip told jokes and stories until he couldn’t anymore in recent days. During his final weeks at HCA Florida Trinity Hospital, he regaled his family with stories about his life and made them and hospital staff laugh. With his voice often weak in the hospital, at times he would stop what he was saying and look at his family members and ask, “Did I tell you everything?” At times, he would say, “This is important; write this down!” When his family entered his hospital room and asked him, “How do you feel?” his answer was often the same: “With my hands!”

 

When a hospice chaplain gave him last rites over the phone, late one night a few days before he slipped away from his life on Earth, Chip, always a fighter, wasn’t having it. He had not spoken, nor opened his eyes, in a couple of days, but once the chaplain began, he expressed his objections. “Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” Chip protested much to the surprise of his children and his wife as they sat with him. Still, the chaplain continued without skipping a beat.

 

Chip had many loves in his life, his wife of 55 years, Joan (Leslie); his son, Richard Atkinson, and daughter-in-law, Ria Atkinson, who lived two houses down from them; his daughter, Lisa Davis, and son-in-law, David Davis, and granddaughter, Olivia Davis, who called him “Poppy,” all of Salem, Mass. His other loves included motorcycles, particularly Harley Davidsons, and he remained heartbroken that his Sportster was stolen right after he paid it off in the 1970s. After that, he bought a Triumph, followed by his Kawasaki GPZ1100, which he rode until he retired from driving two-wheel vehicles. He was known for giving neighborhood kids rides on his motorcycle, with their parents’ permission, of course. Because of that, he was dubbed the coolest Dad in the neighborhood. Throughout the years, Chip attended bike rallies and motorcycle shows and taught his children how to identify motorcycle types solely by the sound of their engines. Some of his other loves included a good prime rib, Roquefort dressing, Toll House chocolate chip cookies, chocolate frappes, Dunkin Donuts, daytime rides around town with his wife, watching the History Channel (With his recall of dates and events, he should have been a history teacher), holidays with family, and spending his weekdays at 3 p.m.with Judge Judy.

 

He was most proud of serving his country as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C. He memorialized his time in the service with a tattoo of an eagle with a parachute on his left arm. He was also a proud Teamster. Because of his love of people, he enjoyed working as a deliveryman for Lechmere, and before that as a mover. Throughout his younger life, Chip worked as a family photographer, a helper at a casket company (where he sometimes took phone calls while sitting in one of the coffins), and did stints working in the Redwood Forest in California, and at a candy making company in Boston.

 

No matter where Chip went in New England and beyond, he ran into someone he knew. He also enjoyed talking to strangers, and once when wearing a Harvard sweatshirt while dining at the old Hilltop Steakhouse in Saugus, Mass., a gentleman approached him and shook his hand. The man was “also” a Harvard grad and was happy to meet a” fellow alumni.” Chip, who dropped out of school in his senior year at Arlington High, did not correct him. He liked the idea.

 

Through the years, Chip had many interests. At one time he was a talented artist, using paints or charcoal to create imagery of his baby daughter, other children, an old fisherman and more. He was also an avid gardner who had beautiful and bountiful backyard gardens in Bedford with different varieties of corn and tomatoes, squashes, peppers, asparagus and more. An avid newspaper and magazine reader, he enjoyed taking his young children on outings to Out of Town News in Harvard Square, something they all enjoyed. He also delighted in family vacations to Little Sebago Lake and York Beach, Maine, Hampton Beach and North Conway, New Hampshire. Later in life, he loved Caribbean cruises with the family.

 

Chip’s life came with several challenges to which he gave a valiant fight. A serious car accident, a 99% blockage of his heart’s main artery, and an inaccurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease  — which brought him a prognosis of two months to live in 2022 (he even entered hospice then, but graduated), and bladder and skin cancer. Many said he was like a cat with nine lives, which seemingly was true. In the end, however, it was a UTI, coupled with a newer dementia diagnosis, that ended his story. Chip no longer wished to partake in his favorite pastime, eating, in his final weeks and was so very tired of struggling during the past few years, so it was time for him to submit to his fate and enter the pearly gates of Heaven.

 

He was preceded in death by his parents Marion and Edward Atkinson, his eldest brother Thomas Atkinson, and his younger sister, Nancy Griffin. In addition to his wife and children and their families, he leaves behind his older brother, Edward “Ned” Atkinson, and his wife, Carole, of Medford, Mass.; his brother-in-law, John “Jack” Griffin, of Palm Harbor, Florida; his brother-in-law, Paul Leslie and his wife, Wanda, of Townsend, Mass, and several nieces and nephews. When 2025 began, three Richard Atkinsons were in the family, but sadly Chip’s first namesake, his nephew, Richard Michael Atkinson, passed away in May, and now there is only one who remains, his son Richard Edward.

 

No formal services will be held for Chip but his family will hold private remembrances. Family and friends are invited and encouraged to share with them stories about Chip. His wife and children would like to thank the staff at Gulfside Hospice in New Port Richey for their warm, caring hands and treating Chip and his family with dignity. The family is also grateful to Dobies Funeral Home In New Port Richey for handling him with care. For now, Chip’s ashes will remain with his wife, with eventual burial in Shawsheen Cemetery in Bedford, Mass. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Gulfside Healthcare Services in Pasco County at https://www.gulfside.org/make-a-gift.html.

 

Chip was much loved and will be missed by all. A verse in his favorite song, “My Heart Will Go On,” by Celine Dion, sums up his loved one’s feelings:

 

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more, you open the door

And you’re here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on