It is with profound sadness and with a great sense of loss that we announce the death of Richard E. Dyke, founder and CEO of Windham Weaponry. At the age of 89, he still lived a very active life and participated in the management and operations of the company on a daily basis.

Dick was larger than life and lived life to the fullest every day right to the end. He touched countless lives in his personal and business life and helped so many people with his caring generosity.

Dick loved and thrived in the challenges of growing a company and making it as successful as possible. During his lifetime, he owned nearly 70 companies. Bushmaster Firearms was a shining example of Dick’s efforts. He bought Bushmaster out of bankruptcy in the 1970’s, and year after year worked to develop it into a major player in the firearms industry. He sold it in 2006, and when the new owners closed the Windham plant in 2011 and laid off all the employees, he decided to start a new company, Windham Weaponry, to put his loyal long-time employees back to work. He received overwhelming support from his employees, vendors, and customers. Windham Weaponry is dedicated to continuing the vision and ideals that Dick lived by through the ongoing hard work of the Dyke Family and all of it’s loyal employees.

He will be missed dearly by his family and the countless friends and employees that he considered part of his extended family.