Richard K Frederick

Hi, I’m here to talk about my dad Richard or Dick as some of you knew him by, he was 80 years young. To give everyone a brief history of his life I will need to go back to the beginning. He was born Aug 15th, 1933 in Linwood Kansas to Margaret and Alfred Frederick. He had no siblings but did have three cousins Donnie, Nancy Lee and Buddy; he was as close to them as if they were his brothers and sister. His love of baseball started at a relatively young age, he was able to play ball for many years and was told by many he was the best catcher they had ever seen. He tried out for major league baseball and was invited to come back the next summer because of his amazing catching skills. He traveled back to Wyoming and met and fell in love with his first wife Mary Kay Besso. They had four beautiful children Mary Margaret, Katherine Ann, Michael Richard, and Jean Marie.

His occupation was an over the road truck driver. Just to name a few of the companies he worked for over his life IML, Post Office, and Knight Transportation. The line of work enabled him to travel the United States meeting people and introducing him to a variety of different lifestyles. The differences he encountered helped strengthen his eternal optimism for life. “Live today to its fullest, you may never know what tomorrow will bring.

Let me tell you little bit about his children. Mary Margaret, the oldest who resides in Lockwood NY is a commodities buyer and works for Raymond Hadley – She was married to Skip (George) Jansky, he passed away several years ago. Mary and Skip gave him his first grandson Zachary. Currently, Zach is completing his studies at the Las Vegas Cordon Bleu. His second child Katherine Ann resides in Denver CO and works for the Postal Service, she is married to David Young and they have two wonderful sons, Joey and Cody. Joey is a Graphic Designer and living his life to the fullest in SLC. Cody is currently back in college obtaining his Mechanical Engineering Degree and living in Denver. Dad’s third child and only son Michael Richard resides in Phoenix, AZ he is a Civil Designer working for URS an engineering company. Michael has never been married and has no children; Dad was introduced to a variety of Michael’s friends. I now come to his youngest (me) Jean Marie who resides in Las Vegas, NV. I work for Majestic Realty as a District Property Manager, I’m married to Dean La Placa and we have two wonderful children Alysia and Braden (by the way Alysia has always been Dads “favorite only Granddaughter”) she is currently going back to college to obtain her degree in accounting. Braden is in middle school, and has a tremendous love of hockey; Dad never really enjoyed the game until he was able to see Braden play. Alysia blessed him with his only and “favorite” Great Granddaughter Annabelle. He loved each and every one of his kids, son-in laws, grandchildren and great granddaughter for all their differences and the joys they have brought to his life.

Now, we move onto the second phase of his life. He found his second and current love Jeannine Cook; they met at “Parents without Partners”. Dad and Jeannine were married on December 10, 1994 in Las Vegas. They have been married for 20 years. Jeannine brought her son Kevin into his life. Jeannine and Dad enjoyed traveling and went on a variety of vacations – Hawaii, a 2 1/2 month cruise and Florida, just to name a few. As retirement set in Dad became Santa and Jeannine became Mrs. Clause. They did this for about a decade bringing joy to their lives, and all the children. It truly broke his heart when the doctors told him he would not be able to continue due to his health. Over the past few years, Jeannine has been his care giver. We thank you.

He wanted to let everyone know, he loved each and every one of us for who we are. He loved each of us for our strengths and faults. He also wanted everyone to know he is okay, he was not afraid to die because he lived his life to the fullest. Below is a saying he would want everyone to remember.

I don’t own tomorrow or yesterday, today is all I’ve got and if I don’t make today good, then I’m really going to be ticked off tomorrow…..