nRick graduated from San Jose State in 1968 where he majored in Police Science, was a member of Chi Pi Sigma fraternity, and was immediately hired by Milpitas PD.
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After spending a year there, he lateraled to SJPD where he worked patrol, traffic radar, motors, bomb squad, homicide crime scene investigation, burglary investigation, and Airport division. He promoted to the rank of sergeant where he returned to Patrol division, supervising a team of officers. He assumed the duties of supervising other officers in the bomb squad and had a hand in designing and setting up in the design and completion of SJPD’s bomb disposal site.
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Rick attended many “E.O.D.” schools and conferences, many of which that he taught at or was a speaker. He had been invited to and assisted at such noteworthy historical disaster events such as the first N.Y. World Trade Center bombing, the second Trade Center disaster, the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, as well as traveling to “Ted Kazinsky’s” (Unabomber),remote cabin.
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After his career with the PD, Rick worked for T.S.A. as a bomb threat assessment and identification specialist at San Jose International Airport. He held that post for 5 years. He also worked as a Special Deputy U.S. Marshal for 3 years at the San Jose Federal Courthouse.
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Rick also was part of an F.B.I. select team of instructors that traveled worldwide for the U.S. Department of State , instructing “Post Blast Crime Scene Investigation” in such countries as Jordan, South Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, as well as too many others to list. He also pioneered a hard cased metal briefcase sized explosives training aid for post blast investigation, that is being used worldwide by scores of countries around the world for teaching bomb technicians crime scene collection and identification of collected evidence at a blast scene. He would produce as many as 12 units per year out of his shop in Auburn, CA.
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Rick fought heroically over the last year fighting a cancer that was quickly spreading throughout his body. Unfortunately, this was too great a battle for him to overcome.
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His immediate family is planning a celebration of his life in the area where he called his new home, the Northern California areas surrounding Placer, El Dorado and Nevada Counties where as many as 40 plus former SJPD ex-patriots moved to after their careers in San Jose. Rick attended monthly “breakfast meetings” with his friends regularly to tell the “war stories” from days gone by that we’ve all experienced.
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Rick will always be remembered as a kind “giving” man, who was always charitable and loved to “joke around”. He is survived by his first wife Betty, of Broomfield Colorado, who was with him along with their daughter Christina and husband Marty and adult grandchildren Emily and Nate, of Goleta (Santa Barbara County), who have been at Rick’s side for weeks along with his 2 sisters, Sandy and Terry, from Russellville, Arkansas who were with him in his home to support him during his illness.
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Rick is preceded in death by his second wife Nadine, who passed in 1990.
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The time and location of Rick’s celebration of life will be announced in the coming weeks.
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(The above information was furnished by Rick’s friend of 53 years, Bill Silva who has been in liaison with his immediate family).
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nBOMB SQUAD