Richard Dugally; Legislative Aide, Veteran Ford Lobbyist

Richard L. Dugally, a veteran lobbyist who was Ford Motor Co.’s director of government affairs for seven Western states, has died at 56.

Dugally died Thursday at a Sacramento hospital from complications of lung cancer.

A Los Angeles native, Dugally graduated from Garfield High School and Cal State Los Angeles and received his law degree from Southwestern University before going on to a career as a legislative staff member and lobbyist.

He joined the staff of the state Legislature in 1957 and served as a committee counsel and consultant until 1961, when he left the Capitol to serve as Southern California manager of former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Sr.’s reelection campaign.

After the campaign, Dugally worked as a planner in the state disaster office before returning to the legislative staff in 1967. His legislative assignments included service as chief assistant to the Assembly majority leaders and counsel for three Assembly committees: Finance and Insurance, Criminal Justice and Judiciary.

He had been Ford’s chief lobbyist in the West since 1972.

After learning that he had terminal cancer in 1988, Dugally founded a Sacramento support group for cancer victims and those with other life-threatening diseases--the first of its kind in the city.

He is survived by his wife, Martha, of Sacramento; a daughter, Denise, of Los Angeles; a son, Thomas, of Sacramento; his father, Taft Dugally, of Whittier, and three brothers and three sisters.

The family has asked that memorial contributions be sent to University of California Regents, Richard Dugally Cancer Research Fund, care of Dr. Fred Meyers, UC Davis Medical Center, 4301 X Street, FOLB2B, Sacramento 95817.