Richard Walter Buholz

Our family patriarch, Richard Walter “Dick” Buholz, passed away on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 8:48 am at The Northwoods Lodge rehabilitation facility in Silverdale, WA. He died peacefully in his sleep, after a nearly three-month battle with a failing body.

He was born May 26, 1941, in Minneapolis, MN to Violet and Neal Buholz. He had a sister, Margorie, who died in childhood, and an older brother, Neal. Dick graduated from Shattuck-St Mary’s military school in Faribault, MN. He then received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Montana, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Dick served in the Navy during the Vietnam war. He was a yeoman stationed at the Naval air station in Pensacola, FL. On June 12,1963 Dick married the love of his life, Vicky Dale Fontenelle, and the two of them would go on to have a picture-perfect marriage, spanning nearly 61 years.

Dick was employed in many broadcast jobs, starting his career in Missoula, MT as a television news anchor, then working his way up to Bureau Chief for the Associated Press. He received many awards, including being nationally recognized for News Summary Writing. Dick lived all over the country including Minnesota, Florida, Montana, Michigan, West Virginia and Colorado. His job kept him moving with every promotion. When Dick retired from the Associated Press at 53, he and Vicky took on the challenge of running the family ranch in Dubois, WY. Years later they decided it was time to hang up their ranch gear and truly retire, so they moved to Arizona where Dick could golf every day. They finally moved to Washington state to be closer to family in 2017.

Dick loved life, and everything in it…with an emphasis on his married life. He also had a lifelong passion for golf, was a near professional level fisherman, and had a deep connection to friends, his church and the University of Montana Grizzlies! Dick was a very generous and empathetic man. He gave to many charities and would always go out of his way to help others. He gave most of his donations anonymously with a free and compassionate heart. He had a bond with a few specific charities, including Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Doctors Without Borders, and almost any charity to do with children in need.

His positivity was inspiring! He beat stage four Melanoma cancer three different times. At age 51 when he was first diagnosed, he was given only a 20% chance of survival. In true form, he immediately went out and bought all new suits for work. This was just his mindset. Always positive that everything will be OK. And it was!!! The cancer came back in 2015 and he beat it again. Then it returned in 2020 and the cancer was deemed “in remission” by 2023. He had a love for life that was an inspiration to everyone he encountered, including the amazing nurses who cared for him in his final hours. Ironically, cancer was not the cause of his death, but it was instead his beautiful heart that failed.

Dick is survived by the love of his life, Vicky Buholz, in Silverdale, WA, his daughter, Lisa Pappalardo of Orange County, CA, his son, Michael Buholz of Bremerton, WA and his brother Neal of Havre, MT. Dick also had four loving grandchildren: Jonathan Richard, and Emily Buholz of Silverdale, WA, and Amanda and Natalie Pappalardo, of Orange County, CA who all thought the world of their extraordinary grandfather.

Dick’s final wishes were to be buried at the family gravesite in Dubois, WY without a service. He will be interned on Thursday, June 20, 2024. In lieu of flowers, please remember his favorite charities: St. Jude’s Hospital for Children and Doctors Without Borders.

A very special thank you to the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center of Seattle, the Intensive Care Team at St. Michael’s Hospital in Silverdale and the entire staff of the Northwoods Rehabilitation Center.

For all the reasons above and many, many more, he was dearly loved by his friends, fans and most especially his loving family.