[MCRogers1974]

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Coroner...l?device=tablet


VALPARAISO, Ind. A 59-year-old man has died after completing a three-mile mud race in northwestern Indiana.

Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris says Rick Richards of Michigan City was pronounced dead Saturday at Porter Regional Hospital in Valparaiso.

The Times reports Richards had finished the Northwest Indiana Mudathlon when he went to a medical tent and complained he didn't feel well. He was taken to the hospital when his condition worsened.

Harris says there won't be an autopsy because Richards had a history of heart trouble.

Richards was a former editor and reporter for the Post-Tribune of Merrillville and Michigan City News-Dispatch.

The Mudathlon's website says it's a three-mile race through a muddy obstacle course. Similar races have been held in Kentucky and central Indiana and another is scheduled for Ohio.

[taxthedeer]

My father died of a heart attack 13 years two days after his 59th birthday on the 2nd hole of Robbinhurst Golf Course in Portage. Dad would have been 72 years old on August 3rd. Dad had quadruple bypass surgery 9 years prior in 1991 when he had his 1st heart attack on the 1st hole of Robbinhurst golf course.

Condolence to the family and friends of Rick Richards at this sad time.

[Southsider2k12]

Very sad to hear. Just reading facebook last night told me that he was a guy who touched a lot of lives.

[Southsider2k12]

http://lakeshorepublicmedia.org/memorial-s...-rick-richards/

Business and Economics
Rick Richards
Memorial Services Set for Rick Richards
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July 21, 2013 — Memorial Services for Rick Richards include:

Wake
4-8pm Thursday at Root Funeral Home, 312 East 7th Street, Michigan City

Funeral Mass
10am Friday at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Michigan City

Lakeshore Public Media joins the community in sending deepest sympathies to Rick’s family after his death Saturday in Porter County. Richards lived in Michigan City with his wife Mary Ann and daughters Erika (now an Evansville nurse) and Meredith. He was a colleague to journalists and media practitioners across Indiana, and he was the assignment editor for Lakeshore News until his death.

Rick was a career journalist as a long-time newspaper editor, news manager, reporter and writer, spending the past five years as sole proprietor of Your Writing Solutions freelance editing and writing, Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly Magazine editor, and most recently Lakeshore’s news assignment editor.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.nwindianalife.com/community/fam...ife-to-remember

rick-richardsThe stream of story lines run through your head as another piece of Rick you remember hits your view since he passed Saturday at the Mudathlon. His friendly face, peppy or peppered depending on the day, purposeful energy, cut to the chase communication style, his personal mannerisms that make you feel comfortable at once (and on your guard all the time), knowing that a good debate about the two sides of any conversation are about to get a good work out… This seems to be the common memory of Rick from those that worked with him at the Post-Tribune, Michigan City News-Dispatch, and LakeShore TV. And it all syncs up with what I sensed in just the couple of years I have known him.

I was so happy to see him and his daughter just prior to him starting, as he excitedly talked about this being his first Mudathlon. My wife and I saw him again as he flew down the mudslide into the black pool of mud at the bottom, and then climb up the hill to traipse through the trenches leading up to the finish.

Both times he was happy, embracing the challenge of doing this crazy, muddy, race with friends. I called out to him once he arose from the muck and he looked up through his goggles and smiled, waved, and carried on the last leg of the race.

"That's my friend Rick Richards,” I told my wife, Natalie. “He is a news writer for a number of different groups, one of the real good ones - a straight shooting guy that I like and respect."

When I heard he had passed later that day, my brain could not make sense of the news. We just saw him and said hi before the race when he stopped by our tent. I had seen him again flying down the slide, mud splashing on his goggles, and I thought what a fun day to end with that final stretch, and I was proud of and happy for Rick.

I had made lighthearted dark references throughout the day to make fun at myself and tell people why I was not racing with my kids and the large group of crazy people that made up the team, "I would have a grabber if I ran in this.”

For anyone that knows me well, humor is the manner that comes most naturally to lighten the mood or take attention from something that is not positive. My health, and specifically my lack of anything related to exercise types of activity, has not been a positive thing since I started this business as my focus has been on digital vs. physical, and taking the picture or telling the story of the runners more so than doing the activity itself.

Rick had gone after his health issues and had lost a considerable amount of weight. He was in my limited view, on his way back to good health, and watching him slide down that muddy hill was another reminder that I need to get more activity into my life than fingers a keyboard or hitting the button on a shutter or mouse. My big kids were all in town with me this past weekend for the Mudathlon which seemed to make it better and worse at the same time thinking about Rick being pulled from the world so suddenly. Having all six of us together is always what I long for, but having them front and center in my face while thinking about how Rick's wife and girls are dealing with the loss of their big guy put the focus sharp and harsh on what I need to do if I am to really support my family, and be a positive example of what Life is all about.

Rick, thank you for the opportunity of knowing you for a short time. I am glad that many were blessed by knowing you for a long time, though from what I am hearing across the board, nowhere near long enough.