Richard Tomlinson's Obituary
Richard Lee Tomlinson, Jr. was born 6/17/53 in Tacoma Washington to Effie Gifford and and Richard Lee Tomlinson, Sr. He had a younger sister, Twila, and shared a mother with his older half-siblings Larry (deceased) and Linda.
He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Collette Tomlinson (Torgersen) and his children: Richard A. Tomlinson (Jaimy), Diana Samson (John), Paul Tomlinson (Rachelle), Catherine Lichfield, and Kimberly Clark, and his step children: Taber Loveless, Tobias Loveless (Sasia), Tawna Searle, and Trevor Loveless. His step daughter Tamra Loveless passed away in 2012.
He was a devoted grandfather to 24 children.
Richard passed away on Sunday, July 22nd, 2018 as he and his sweetheart, Collette, were enjoying riding their side-by-side UTV through a trail near Tibble Fork Reservoir. Though he was an avid and experienced off-roader, trail conditions became unsafe and Richard received fatal injuries while attempting to exit the sliding vehicle. You may read the news of the accident as reported by KSL News here: https://www.ksl.com/article/46364916/south-jordan-man-dies-after-getting-pinned-under-utv.
His funeral will be held Monday, July 30th, 2018 at the LDS church building at 10860 S. 3200 W., in South Jordan, Utah. Visitation will be from 4:45 - 6:00 pm with funeral services following at 6:30 pm. Richard will be buried at the Vermillion Cemetery in Sigurd, Utah, at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, July 31st, 2018. Family and friends are invited to a dinner service at 3:00 pm at the LDS ward building located at 30 S. 100 W. in Sigurd, Utah 84657.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to support Richard’s widow.
A memorial fund has been established in Rich and Collette Tomlinsons’ names at Mountain America Credit Union, Account #11242620. The family has also created a Go Fund Me page to gather financial support, at: https://www.gofundme.com/rich-tomlinson-funeral-and-fin-supp.
Richard lived in Tacoma, Washington during childhood and attended Midland Elementary school until his 6th grade year when he moved to Perkins, Oklahoma to live with an uncle. He attended middle school in Olympia, Washington from 7-8th grade while he lived on a dairy farm before beginning high school in Portland, Washington. His sophomore year, he lived in Wala Wala with his sisters Twila and Linda. Junior year, Richard attended Benson Boys Polytechnical School in Portland, Oregon where he participated in ROTC and played drums in the school’s all-state Drum and Bugle Corps. He attended Portland, Oregon’s Grant High School for his senior year.
After high school, Richard served a two-year mission for the LDS church in Montana. He then lived in Portland, Washington for a period before entering Brigham Young University (BYU), in Provo, Utah. He enrolled initially as a music major prior to discovering his aptitude for accounting. While at the university, Richard met his first wife, Roxanne Layton (Wheeler) and in November of 1975 they were married. In Provo, Richard and Roxanne had two children, Richard (Rick) and Diana. He graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in June, 1979.
Richard moved to Tacoma, Washington with his family, then came back to Utah and lived in Salt Lake’s historic Avenues district and went to work for the Board of Regents. While living in the Avenues, Richard and his wife had two more children, Paul and Catherine. The family moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1984, then a year later to Edmonds, Washington, where he delivered his youngest child Kimberly in the family van on the side of the highway. He and Roxanne lived in Edmonds until they divorced in 1991 and Richard moved back to the Salt Lake City area.
Richard met and quickly fell in love with Collette Torgerson (Loveless) and the two were married on October 10th, 1992 and sealed in the Jordan River LDS Temple. The couple lived together in South Jordan Utah with Collette’s five children and Richard’s sons.
Together, he and Collette owned and operated Desert Graphics sign company for nearly twenty years, briefly moving with the business to Malad, Idaho before returning to their marital home is South Jordan, Utah. Richard then opened his namesake accounting firm, Richard Tomlinson, CPA, where he worked until his passing.
Richard was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, holding many callings throughout his life and where he most recently worked as a Temple Ordinance Worker.
Richard and Collette enjoyed hiking, camping, and off-roading, taking full advantage of Utah’s wilderness. The couple began riding motorcycles together and were quickly followed by a number of family members eager to take up the sport and long, winding, canyon rides became a favorite family past-time.
He loved aviation and aeronautics, obscure British sitcoms, singing barbershop music, playing the piano, and spending time with family, especially outdoors. He will be remembered for his wry wit, keen intelligence, empathy, kindness, listening ear, and love of strawberry shortcake and anything a-la-mode.
He is loved dearly and will be missed deeply by the many whose lives he touched for good.
What’s your fondest memory of Richard ?
What’s a lesson you learned from Richard ?
Share a story where Richard 's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Richard you’ll never forget.
How did Richard make you smile?