Richard “Rich” Duane Riedinger passed away at his home in Benton City, Washington, on Feb. 7, 2016, after a two-year battle with cancer.

He was born on June 11, 1945, in Boise, Idaho, to Arthur L. Riedinger and Jane M. Harshbarger Riedinger, the fifth of six children.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Rich leaves behind his wife and partner, the love of his life, Ardith Fredenberg Riedinger, of Benton City. The two of them spent 48 years together and were married on March 26,1976.

He is also survived by two sons, Dion Riedinger of Ashland City, Tennessee, and John Riedinger and daughter, Jody Orth, both of Benton City. He is also survived by grandsons, Tarren Hillborn of Benton City, Patrick Middleton and Christopher Middleton of Winchester, Virginia, and granddaughter, Shavonna Middleton of Richmond, Virginia.

Rich is survived by sisters Pat (Ted) Swanberg of West Glacier, JoAnn (Melvin) Oftedahl, Bonnie Riedinger and brothers, Mike (Melanie) Riedinger, all of Kalispell, and Art (Mary) Riedinger of Prosser, Washington. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews (who adored Rich) and other in-laws and outlaws!

He attended schools at Elrod and in Evergreen and Flathead County High.

Rich was a truck driver until he and Ardy retired in 2007 due to illness. He was a lifelong mechanic and a car enthusiast. He built and raced several stock cars in his younger days, always putting the number “55” on his cars. He did lots of mechanic work for friends and family. Rich was also a member of the Army National Guard for a brief time in the ‘60s. He had a talented and creative mind, always keeping his family on their toes with some of his crazy antics. He was always coming up with creative ideas on how to build and fix things and ways to have fun.

Rich could play, by ear, any musical instrument that caught his attention. He was partial to the guitar, accordion, piano and a dobro (that he made himself). He loved country music and dancing. He wrote songs that he loved to play for his family and he wrote stories and songs for his kids when they were younger. He was a wonderful artist, winning blue ribbons in the county fair.

Rich was a perfectionist at everything he did. He was a favorite uncle to many of his nieces and nephews because he was always full of ways to have fun. Rich was a lot of things to a lot of people. More than anything he was a family man. He did whatever it took to provide for his family and he always made sure his kids knew they were loved and that he was very proud of them. And, he had a profound love for his sweet wife and earthly companion who took such good care of him during his illness. Rich will be greatly missed.

“My mind still talks to you, my heart still looks for you, my soul knows that you are finally at peace.” — Unknown

Rich expressed that he did not want a funeral. The family will hold a celebration of his life at 2 p.m. on his birthday, Saturday, June 11, at Smith Valley Grange. Friends and family are invited to come and share their memories of Rich and enjoy a light lunch.