MANY YEARS have passed since I last saw my old friend Dick Rattee.In the beginning Dick was very active in vanning and going so far as to promote a show of his own in his home town in CT. Scott Croft and spent the weekend with him and particpated in the show...The last event I saw him at was the natz in Lebanon PA....Even then he was reverting to his Indian roots and instead of van events he could be found at Pow-Wow's...Years later, as Lucy and I drove home along the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts I spotted his van parked on the grounds. We turned around and went back and had a long visit with him....He was telling me that he had purchased some land in Colorado and just might retire there....We never saw him again, but I always would wonder what happened to him whenever we drove past the Pow Wow area....

Many vanners in New England in those days knew Dick well and his van " FOX DEN " was a constant winner in van shows....I even got into the act and routed out a set of running boards with the van name in old English script.....

Now today, we got a phone call from our son Sean and his wife Peggy that they had discovered this old show van, wanted to buy it, and asked if I knew any history on the van....They live in Muskogee OK and found the van in Texas....A peek at some online pictures showed me that this indeed was Dick's van. They purchased it on the spot and intend to bring it back to it's former glory.....

As for Dick, I have no idea if he is dead or alive, or where he might be, but if anyone out there has a contact with him I'd sure like to know.......

I'm sure the last time I saw him was the 96 Nats in Pa

I remember Dick and his van very well. The last time I seen him he was telling me about the whole indian thing as well, dont know how to contact him now. I do remember him talking about a daughter, but thats all I know. He is one of those old vanners I think about from time to time and wonder what ever happened to them.

Interesting ..hope he's alive and well...would love to see pics of his van..

We absolutely fell in love with this van when we saw it. It does need a LOT of work - but we can do it. It just needs some TLC! We will post pics soon. Sean drove it the 4 hours home and had no problems - needs a few minor adjustments. He has been working on the hinges, sliding door, engine, fiberglass patching and I have already started working on the pretties (curtains, interior) Lookin forward to getting it on the road!!!

Nice ! A priceless artifact, and a vanner who returned to his routes...A double bonus !

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I was in Silver City Vans with Dick Rattee back then in the late 80s. We trucked to alot of runs together. He won alot of trophys with that van. I remember working on it with him alot. Don't know what happened to him. He has a daughter Michelle who is probably in her mid to late 30s now. Hope the resto comes out good. Would like to see it again...

I have some pix of that van way back if needed...

I found a Michelle L. Ratte (Age 39) in Southington, CT doing a people search. Could be Dick's daughter.

That is Dicks daughter. She is on facebook under Michelle Belanger. I am not on FB so tell her i said HI...