I can't call Rich a friend, but certainly an acquaintance. I was in some Judge Story plays with him, being a Roland city councilman and mayor, I had times to cross paths with him on his work with Story City economic development, and I would talk to him occasionally as he was voice of the Norsemen football over the PA, while I did my radio work on The Rocket.
So I can't quite comment like his friends could. But he is a guy that any town would be happy to have.
Reading his obituary, I saw that he had lived in Story City since he was 2. I was aware that he graduated from school here, ended up as a coach, and then ran his own small business.
Normally, somebody that has lived their whole life in a town, I worry about being a "townie". My definition of a townie is somebody that has lived their whole life in a town, hangs out at the bar, is not in any civic organizations, and bitches about all the problems in the town (and he probably likes the Hawkeyes and worships Hayden Fry)
Rich met the first criteria for being a townie. But the reason why he was not a townie and instead was great for Story City was his civic-mindedness. He volunteered his time for stuff that made Story City and Roland-Story better. And with his economic development work, he made the area better, by helping bring in jobs.
I didn't know Rich enough to know if he bitched about stuff. But even if he did, he was out there trying to solve the problems of the community.
Not every town is lucky enough to have a guy like that. So his death is a loss for his family, but it is also a loss for the community as well.
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