Dick Urquhart, quiet dynamo

Businessman, veteran, hospital trustee and golf course developer dies at 89

RALEIGH -- Few things Richard "Dick" Urquhart did were for recognition, his family said Monday.

But he had a hand in making lots happen.

He was on the Board of Trustees at Rex Hospital as the hospital began its turnaround after being close to extinction, including its move to Blue Ridge Road from St. Mary's Street in 1980.

He was also instrumental in establishing the Raleigh chapter of United Cerebral Palsy of North Carolina.

"A lot of time, we would find things out after the fact, and rarely from him," his daughter Patricia Spain said Monday.

Urquhart, 89, died Sunday at his Raleigh home.

Born in 1918 in Woodville, in Bertie County, Urquhart graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and joined the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He began practicing as a certified public accountant in 1946. He was one of the original managing partners of Peat, Marwick and Mitchell's Raleigh office. When he retired in 1979, he and several others founded the Carolinas Golf Club, which developed several golf courses in the state, including the Oak Valley Golf Club.

Urquhart was honored for his work with the city's Man of the Year award. He was a Tar Heel of the Week in The News & Observer in January 1986.

Even with his heavy work schedule, compounded by his other involvements, he found time for his seven children. Richard Urquhart III fondly remembers baseball games at their home some afternoons.

"He always wanted a major leaguer [for] a child," he said, chuckling, "but none of us made it."

With retirement and all of his children grown up, Urquhart found more time to serve on boards and involve himself with charitable organizations.

And, his children said, he found more time for golf.

"He liked being around people and being around nature," Richard Urquhart III said. "Golf gave him a good way to be out with his friends in the open air."

An avid golfer, Urquhart spent about 57 years developing his game. He usually played twice a week with a group of guys around his age.

It was on the green, his children said, that you would finally see Urquhart take credit for his accomplishments. In November at the Carolina Country Club, after hitting his fifth hole-in-one, he joked with his group of hitting partners that they should start calling him "Ace."

His most recent round of golf was Tuesday. Richard Urquhart III said his father was supposed to head to a course Saturday, then get some time in practicing Sunday. He canceled both jaunts because of the heat, the younger Urquhart said.

Richard Urquhart Jr. is survived by his wife, Barbara S. Urquhart; sons Richard A. Urquhart III, Albert C. Urquhart, R. Fenner Urquhart, Thomas Urquhart and J. Andrew Urquhart; daughters Barbara Jordan and Patricia Spain; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.