Richard Vincent McCool

Through the years, he was known as Dickie, Dick, Dad, RV, Richard, Pappy, and, of course, Rick. By whatever name you knew him, he was an amazing man. He was a devoted son and brother, a loving husband, a wonderful father, stepfather, grandfather, and a loyal friend.

Rick was born Oct. 19, 1940 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a heavily-industrialized area and large railroad center outside Pittsburgh where coal dust was inhaled with each breath. He was the son of Richard Lionel and Eleanor Kissinger McCool. In 1949, his father, an experienced theater manager, moved the family East to Hanover, his “Little Town in the Hidden Valley” to build a drive-in theater. Throughout his school years, Rick worked at the drive-in, doing everything from picking up the trash to splicing film. After school he was usually in the basement with his best friend, Kenny. The two of them kept busy carving original marionettes and ships from balsawood, creating a darkroom to develop film from their “Brownie” cameras, and making crystal radios. Rick also had a fascination with model trains, and frequently worked with his father building sets. With each year they became more elaborate. An explosion or two came from that basement as well, with his parents taking it all in stride. During the winters when the drive-in was closed, the family spent their time in Florida. By ninth grade, the schools were not very accommodating about the months spent in Florida, so Rick spent the winter months with Kenny’s family.

By High School, Rick was into building & creating projects independently. The one he was most proud of was a machine that could copy 35 mm movies onto 8 mm film. He was using the drive-in’s films, and his father was afraid the distributors’ films might get damaged or there would be legal issues regarding the royalties. So, he turned his filmmaking passion towards creating his own animated movies using the train set. He carefully moved the figurines one step with each click of the camera to create the animation. Rick and his father worked together building Hi Fi amplifiers and experimenting with the new technology, “Stereo”. The McCools had the first Stereo in Hanover. His favorite activities outside the house were going to Buddy Dean record hops and driving to Baltimore to be on the televised Buddy Dean show where he danced with the “Committee Girls” on TV.

For a graduation gift, his Dad set up a trip out west on a train, including tours to the movie studios, which was a courtesy of his film distributor. Unlike now, studios were typically closed to the public. This was the beginning of Rick’s “Wanderlust”. In the fall of 1959, Rick entered Millersville State College to major in Industrial Arts (more his Dad’s plan than his). He made friends easily, he enjoyed his classes, and stayed busy working three jobs to finance his first trip to Europe. Two years later during the summer of 1961 his dream of going to Europe became a reality.

While most college students were working to get a degree, Rick was working towards a trip to Europe each summer, and most particularly to Paris, his favorite city. On his second trip, during the summer of 1962, he enrolled in classes at the University of Paris. During the first semester of his senior year in 1963, he took a special project class in which he made a sea battle film, for which he received a ton of publicity and kudos: “Richard V. McCool is a man to be reckoned with on the motion picture horizon,” wrote Russell Martz for the local paper. Rick built the models, the tank, the sets, wrote the script, shot the scenes….all on a $60 budget. The second semester was a bit of a comedown which involved student teaching, but he was graduating and off to his first job.

Rick took an Industrial Arts position at Suitland High School in Maryland. The pressure of the draft was off, due to the shortage of teachers in his field. He moved into a new apartment and started to decorate. With little extra cash, he made things in his shop to hang on the walls. Wood was replaced by canvas and oil paint. This was the start of his “Art Period”. Within a year, he would be selling paintings all over the DC area.

In 1967 Rick married Anne Monnette and worked in adult education while still teaching Industrial Arts. He ultimately found his "career" job with Educo, a company focused on the development and administration of private schools. Glenn Thompson and Bill Cohen were his mentors. He started as VP of operations and ended as the President.

The greatest blessings during these years were the births of his two children: Ryan Christopher, born October 11, 1971, and Melissa Anne, born April 20, 1978. He learned the joy of fatherhood and gave his all to his children.

His most famous work of art, "The Incredible Decade" was also created during this time. Being the ever active creator and designer, he also invented things like a Recording Juke Box, a Travel Pillow, an Electric Bar Guide, a Film Projector version of the Bar Guide, a Birth Control Pill Reminder, a technology similar to what we now call Pay for View and Video Streaming, an Art Form Clock , and of course the infamous Bandito Beer Belt & The Bandito Beerspender.

From 1982 to 1991, Rick balanced bachelorhood with working and fatherhood. He perfected skills like cooking, cleaning, and everything else involved in keeping up with the kids. He logged frequent flyer miles by booking overly full flights to get free bump tickets and reward miles in order to travel abroad. Ryan and Melissa still remember their big grocery shops and weekly dinners. Each night had a featured meal including meatloaf Tuesdays, Sunday turkey dinner, and cookin’ bags which even included a side of iceberg lettuce on special occasions. They both treasure the memories of summer trips to Myrtle Beach where Rick built Myrtle the Turtle in the sand.

In July 1987, Rick had his first date with Jo Wood (whom we all now know as Katie) at The Ice House Café in Herndon, VA. Their second date was a corn on the cob dinner at Rick’s house. One thing led to another, and on February 14, 1991 Rick proposed with a bouquet of roses and an assortment of plastic rings. She said yes, and they married on September 28, 1991. Jo always liked the name Katie, so from that day forward she became known as Katie McCool.

Katie had three children: Brooks, who passed away in 1990 and two wonderful girls, Amanda Jo and Kara Joy. From the very beginning, Rick and Katie had two dreams. First, to merge the two families into a happy, blended family, and second to build a beautiful house in the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado where they could ski and enjoy year-round outdoor activities.

Rick prepared for the move to Breckenridge by setting up a sale of Educo that would benefit the shareholders and give him enough money to retire in his early 50’s. He designed the Breckenridge house with an architect and served as the General Contractor. He and Katie also did much of the finishing work. Rick’s biggest project in the house was a dedicated home theater with a cinemascope screen and seating for eight. After ten glorious years in Breckenridge, Rick realized he could no longer live at that altitude. His doctors advised a move to below 8000 ft, so they sold the house and moved on. About a year later they decided they could enjoy all their Breckenridge friends by living in a city close to the Denver area. They purchased a home in Castle Rock, a small community south of the city nestled at 6300 ft. This was a perfect altitude for Rick compared to 9800 ft in Breckenridge.

Keeping the Breckenridge friends and making many new friends in Castle Pines Village from 2007 to 2018 was a good move. Their home was able to accommodate all the kids and grandkids. They often had reunions where the entire group of 19 slept and partied in their house for a week. Rick built his dream theater, which was recognized in Home Theater Magazine. It had the latest technology with a curved Cinemascope screen, 7.5 Surround Sound, a Paris themed marquis, and electric reclining theater seats.

Rick's father once said, “Don’t worry about things, at the end it’s all about relationships and accomplishments." Rick was the Grand Master of “Relationships”. If he was your friend, he was your friend for life. When business took him back East, he visited “the Suitland gang” or the “Reston crowd.” He had more friends in Virginia, Maryland, and Colorado than most people have in a lifetime. He was a good conversationalist and he not only loved to talk, he loved to listen. As a brother, he also excelled. He and his sister Kaye McCool Krebs were as close as any brother and sister could be. They adored each other, and spent hours talking and sharing memories and travel. Kaye says, "He took me to the USSR for my 40th birthday. He was my confidant, counselor and my hero."

His love for Katie and their strong relationship is well-known by everyone who knew them as was his influence as “Rick, the Father” of Ryan and Melissa and step-father to Amanda and Kara. Throughout their marriage, Rick and Katie strived to keep the kids close, to treat them all equally, and to love them all dearly. They enjoyed witnessing the marriages of all 4 kids, and embraced their relationships with Tamara, Josh, Brian, and Shawn. The kids returned this love by blessing them with nine grandchildren: Dylan, Austin, Kyra, Trinity, Nathan, McKenna, Brandon, Gabriel, and Foster.

Rick was an active man who loved to bike, walk, hike, ski, play tennis, drink beer, and travel. He always had a project in the works, one of which was his memoir titled “Looking through my eyes” which he wrote and distributed as a hard cover book to the family. Rick was always ready to build or help the kids with home projects. He valued “alone time” with each adult “kid” while also cherishing his time with the grandkids. He was always light on criticism and long on praise. Rick held those he loved close to his heart, and those who were touched by his life are blessed beyond words.

In lieu of flowers, we ask for your continued prayers for our family.