Richard Peter Terlingen Jr.

Richard came into this world on Wednesday the 15th day of June 1955 in Kingston New York to Richard and Marilyn Terlingen Sr.

Following a whirlwind courtship of only 3 months Richard married Jami Lynne Terlingen on the 3rd day of November 2000. They had one daughter Chloe and Richard was blessed with two additional children, step sons Derek and Tyler.

Richard grew up in Kingston New York where he attended John A Coleman Catholic High School. Richard’s sense of humor gave him the title of class clown, but he did however excel in basketball and became class president. During Richards senior year of high school Richard became a news director for a local radio station. This was the beginning of a long career in radio and television. After high school Richard attended Ulster County Community College where he studied media and journalism.

In his early career he worked at news stations in the Hudson Valley Area broadcasting and directing the news. Blessed with a radio voice and a few voice lessons his career took him to Chicago where he became “Richard Todd “ on the radio. Fun Fact…Richard appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show as one of the 3 most eligible bachelors in Chicago during this time. Following a ski trip to Colorado where he fell in love with the Rocky Mountains and the city of Denver, Richard relocated to Denver in 1990.

He was hired on by 9 News and enjoyed a career there that spanned 16 years. Richard then went on to work with Comcast in downtown Denver. He relished that job and would have retired there but for the fact he had an accident in 2016 that rendered him a quadriplegic unable to work. Throughout Richard’s career he earned many rewards, created new business strategies and was a champion and mentor to many colleagues. Several of Richard’s clients and colleagues became his life long friends.

Richard had a passion for golf and cars. He spent many sunny days with close friends on the golf course. He also thought of himself as a car aficionado. He was everyone’s ”go to guy” when buying a new car.

Richard loved his family. He referred to Derek and Tyler as his sons, never his step sons. He was always a presence in their daily lives and was eager to be there when they needed him. Chloe, was the apple of his eye. Coincidentally she was born on his birthday, and in that particular year it also happened to be Father’s Day. He spent hours and hours at Chloe’s dance shows and competitions. He was Chloe’s number one fan and honorary dance dad for the rest of the studio.

Most of us will remember Richard for his sense of humor, generosity and strength. He loved to make people laugh, he was a constant entertainer and life of the party. He was extremely generous and always ready and willing to pull out his check book when someone needed help. However, Richard’s strength will be his legacy. While dealing with adversity Richard persevered and kept striving to overcome life difficulties. His testament was his unbelievable strength after he became a Quadriplegic. Richard suffered through heartache, several surgeries, set backs and months of lying flat on his back. Many of those times were away from his family in rehabilitation facilities.

“Richard was the strongest person I knew. I used to tell him he was my energizer bunny. He took what life had given him and he kept on ticking, loving and giving to family and friends as long as he was allowed.” Jami.

Richard was preceded in death by his son Tyler, father Richard, mother Marilyn, his father- in- law Albert, mother- in- law Dorothy “Nannie” and his brother Dwight.

Richard, “G-Bubblegum” is survived by his wife Jami, son Derek, daughter Chloe, granddaughter Emerson, sister Maura, brother- in- law Ed, niece Elizabeth, nephew Brian and sister- in -law Donna.

In honor of Richard’s life and gratitude for all those individuals who so generously gave to Richard’s Go Fund Me after Richard was hurt, the family will be paying it forward by donating that same dollar amount of $46,000 to Craig Hospital in your names.

In lieu of flowers, the family would also have you donate to Craig Hospital in Richard’s memory. You can do so at the following link: https://secure3.convio.net/craig/site/Donation2?1400.donation=form1&df_id=1400&mfc_pref=T

Please join us via zoom at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85707496579?pwd=d2N1OWxzTHVyOEg3eFJNa1JrY3NTUT09.

**SAVE THE DATE JUNE 2021-RICHARD'S LIFE CELEBRATION AT THE TERLINGEN HOME**