Richard G Rincoe

Richard George Rincoe, 75, of Ephrata, WA passed away on February 3, 2020. Richard was born on November 26th, 1944 in Brooklyn, NY. Shortly after graduating High School he enlisted in the Navy. He had always been interested in boats and travelling, but his Naval career was cut short when he was discharged due to a health issue months later. Still interested in travelling, he decided to take off on his own and see the country. He headed south eventually ending up in Mexico where he worked for a short time as a cowboy. He then headed north into Texas where he worked for a while as a roughneck on an oil rig. He then travelled to the Grand Canyon where he realized that what he really wanted to do in life was to share these beautiful sights and experiences with a companion. Upon realizing this he decided to head back home. A short time after arriving back in New York he went to a YMCA dance where he met Irene and literally swept her off her feet. After dancing they went outside and rather than have her walk through a puddle, he lifted her up and carried her across it. He won over her heart right then and there and they were engaged a week later. Interested in bettering himself, and not feeling fulfilled by any of the jobs he had tried, Richard enrolled in a class to learn how to program computers. It was the mid 1960’s and computers were just starting to make their way onto the scene. He struggled through the difficult material and successfully completed the class. He then went on to do computer programming, consulting with Control Data Corporation, and continued programming computers for the rest of his career. His analytical mind was well suited for this profession and he excelled in it. He and Irene also enjoyed the travel that accompanied the consulting work since he always brought his wife and family with him on his business trips. Their trips took them all over the Eastern and Southern United States as well as into California. During this time his two children, Dawn Elizabeth and David Scott, were born and they always accompanied their Mom and Dad on their travelling adventures. Richard believed in mixing business with pleasure and the family visited all of the best restaurants and amusement parks within close proximity to the locations where he did his computer consulting. The family next relocated to Gaithersburg, Maryland. They enjoyed exploring the new area spending time hiking on Catoctin mountain, camping at Assateague Island and visiting the many museums and historical sites in and around Washington D.C. They made many friends in the area that Richard and Irene stayed in touch with throughout their lives. However, they eventually left Maryland to move to Colorado after they came to the realization that their children, who were often sick with asthma, would fare better in Denver where they would have access to the Doctors and treatments available at the National Jewish Asthma Center. Richard enjoyed living in Colorado to the fullest. He hiked, backpacked, camped, went gold panning and explored the mountains with his family at every possible chance. His interest in backpacking and being in the mountains lead him to join the Alpine Rescue Team where he volunteered for many years working to rescue individuals who got lost in the mountains. Richard also enjoyed other outdoor activities including fishing, cross-country skiing and downhill skiing. Richard was out almost every weekend with his family enjoying the beauty that Colorado had to offer. Also during this time, Richard and Irene started to go on Caribbean cruises where they enjoyed touring and, most importantly, dancing the night away. Dancing was an important part of the couple’s entire marriage and as such they often could also be found at the Mt. Vernon Country Club’s dances when they weren’t on a cruise. It was during his years in Colorado that Richard developed and patented many devices to help amputees. These devices included a prosthetic ankle, knee, arm and hand along with a socket fitting system designed to help prosthetists accurately determine where the pressure points were on a patient’s stump so that the prosthetic could be modified to remove these sources of pain. Richard travelled to trade shows all over the United States working to make these cutting-edge devices available for those in need. Unfortunately, there were many hurdles that were almost impossible to overcome to bring the products to market and Richard’s devices only became available to a few individuals. In his later years, Richard was given solace knowing that his ideas were available to the public via the documentation in his patents hoping that someday someone might be able to make them more widely available to those who needed them. Richard and Irene next relocated to Ephrata, Washington to be closer to their daughter. This is where they eventually retired. They enjoyed their motorhome travelling all over the United States and across Canada up into Alaska. They also enjoyed spending time with their granddaughter Jessica, and then later their great granddaughter Kira. Richard is survived by his daughter Dawn, his granddaughter Jessica and his great-granddaughter Kira. He was preceded in death by his parents Anna and Frank Rincoe, his wife Irene Elizabeth Rincoe, and his son David Scott Rincoe.

Tributes

Richard G Rincoe

November 26, 1944 - February 3, 2020