Earle 'Rick' Gilbert Wolfrom Jr., 43

Earle “Rick” Gilbert Wolfrom Jr., passed away June 3, 2023, in Hayden Lake, Idaho, after a tragic motorcycle accident. Rick had a brilliant mind, and he was a kind-hearted, caring and gentle soul with an incredible sense of humor.

Rick was born in Newport Beach, Calif., on Oct. 29, 1979, to parents Earle Gilbert Wolfrom Sr. and Susan Lee Wolfrom. From a young age, Rick had an insatiable curiosity for understanding how things worked, and he was eager to recreate science experiments at home. He was a loving and protective brother of his younger sister, Melinda “Mindy” Katherine Wolfrom, and he loved his three older brothers, Michael Staub, Craig Staub and Craig Wolfrom.

Rick and his family moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 2000, and he later graduated from Evergreen State College with a degree in chemistry. He went on to study Nuclear Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Idaho State University in Idaho Falls. After completing his Master’s degree, he realized a new passion in life: connecting with people. This meant leaving the solitude of working as a lab chemist and jumping into several customer service roles that gave him constant contact with people. His fellow workers and customers described him as friendly and positive. He always had a way of making people feel valued and heard — like they were the most important person in the room.

Rick had a passion for the outdoors and a love of history. From scuba diving and exploring volcanoes in Hawaii to sailing on Lake Pend Oreille or riding dirt motorbikes or hiking, Rick often took breaks from his scientific passions to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors. He studied extensively European history and his own ancestry, and he also discovered a new life as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

No portrait of Rick’s life is complete without an attempt to describe his incredible sense of humor. Rick engaged in performative-style humor that broke societal conventions. Even his close relatives had a difficult time knowing whether Rick was being serious, or he was laying the foundation for a joke that only he would understand.

His family all agree that the weeks before Rick’s accident were some of the best times of his life. He had been the best man in his sister’s wedding one week earlier, and he was enthusiastically studying the Idaho trails to get back into dirt motorbiking. He was excited about the prospect of moving to Taiwan with his sister and her husband, Stan Tsai, to start a new adventure in a foreign country.

Rick was preceded in death by his parents, Earle Gilbert Wolfrom Sr. and Susan Lee Wolfrom. He is survived by his sister, Melinda “Mindy” Katherine Wolfrom and her husband, Stan Tsai of Toronto, Canada; and his brothers, Michael Staub and his wife, Susan, of Kalispell, Mont., Craig Staub of Valencia, Calif., and Craig Wolfrom and his wife, Maritt, of Hailey, Idaho.

At the age of 43, Rick’s death was a tragic accident, and his family will miss him dearly. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes remembrances and condolences on his English Funeral Chapel obituary page.