PENDLETON — For Richard “Dick” Kaiser, a La Grande native and longtime Pendleton resident, dying is no big deal. If he has any worries, they’re centered on what he said was a lifetime of unfinished business he would be leaving behind.

“We’ve all got to die. It’s the circumstances around it that cause anxiety,” Kaiser said. “I want to die at home, so we’re trying to get me home. I’m feeling OK about death, it doesn’t bother me at all, it’s just leaving behind everything and everyone I’ve loved.”

Kaiser’s legacy is readily apparent across Pendleton, among former students who experienced his often-described as unusual English class, or at the Great Pacific, where he’s been a twice-a-day regular for 40 years and been an active member of the restaurant’s music scene.

“I’ve loved living and Pendleton and this community,” Kaiser said. “It has taken care of me in so many ways.”

Faith and love

After a series of unexpected medical diagnoses, Kaiser’s lungs failed to capture the necessary oxygen for his body, and he collapsed with his wife while visiting their doctor. Kaiser has needed machines to assist his breathing and has been waiting at CHI St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton, for either improvement or the go-ahead to return home to be with his family.

“I wouldn’t call it expected or unexpected, but now I’m here waiting,” Kaiser said. “I’m comfortable with what comes next due to my faith, my wife and those who have loved and supported me all my life.”

Kaiser’s wife, Renee Caubisens, said her husband is a member of the Baha’i Faith, which informs much of his perspectives on death, and what comes next. Caubisens, originally from Long Island, New York, and later a resident of Portland, met Kaiser almost 20 years ago, when she’d entered the Pendleton Baha’i Faith Center and Kaiser explained the story and history of the faith.

“At first I thought, who is this guy that’s telling me this story?” she said. “I was working at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. I was a single mom with my son in college. I was interested in spiritual things. Richard was there, he was so cool, and we were so different. It was a special way to meet.”

After dating, Caubisens and Kaiser wed, but Caubisens soon learned of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis and feared how it would affect her marriage.

“He’d been through it with his previous wife, losing someone and taking care of them. It worried me he wouldn’t want to do it again,” Caubisens said. “He stayed with me, though, and he was always amazing and supportive. When he learned he was dying, his first question was about his pension. He’s always had my best interest in mind. That man is all that I love.”

Though Caubisens said she is prepared for what’s coming, her hope is for Kaiser to return home so he may die surrounded by those he loves, and those who love him.

Pendleton’s music man

For the owners of The Great Pacific Wine & Coffee Co. on Main Street, Kaiser isn’t just a regular: He’s a founding customer, a twice-a-day visitor, a former teacher and the musical virtuoso behind so many of the musical gatherings hosted at the venue.

“He’s been coming here for 42 and a half years, and he was my teacher in high school,” Great Pacific owner Carol Hanks said. “He’s here every week, every day for coffee. He is just a funny, absolutely wonderful guy, always kind and loving, and really one of the greatest teachers I ever had.”

Hanks remembered Kaiser’s “casual” approach to teaching, which she credited with helping students in his English classes discuss narratives and strike at the essence of the stories they were reading.

“He was so unusual and casual about how he taught, but the man was just so intelligent and you could always tell he was a step ahead,” Hanks said.

Every Sunday at 3 p.m., Kaiser’s band, the Blue Grass Jam Band, gets together and plays a variety of bluegrass tunes, a tradition that continues.

“You know the thing about Dick was that when we were together, even if he wasn’t the best musician, he was the best entertainer, so we’d always just have the best time,” said Carl Scheeler, a member of the Blue Grass Jam Band. “We’re all going to miss him.”