Oh, I am so sorry to hear this news.  Rick was a great and loyal friend for many years.  I worked with at the Minnesota Association of Private College Students and the Minnesota Private College Council.   I think he always saw more in me than I saw in myself.   I am so sorry for your loss.  For our loss. 

I was very sorry to hear of Rick's passing, and I extend my sympathies to his children, stepchildren, family and friends. I would have liked to attend the memorial, but I was sick at the time. I am in the Normandale English dept., and I worked with Rick at Normandale, where I got to know him more when we served on a campus-wide committee together. We kept in touch intermittently via Facebook. As others have noted, I greatly appreciated his warmth, empathy, and positive outlook. He led from these strengths rather than being a bureaucrat or solely focused on outcomes in a role that demanded a lot of outcome-focus. He made everyone in the room feel that their input was valid and steered the group toward productive decisions. There's no easy comfort for such a loss. My own father was 61 when he died, many years ago. Just recently, one of my brothers found a condolence letter from one of his former students that was meaningful, and I hope that the shared memories and respect from people Rick touched are some comfort to you in this time.

Memorial Service Slideshow Video