Richard Edwin VanCooten

1942 - 2020

Richard Edwin VanCooten, born March 15, 1942 in Salida, Colorado to Bill and Lenore VanCooten, went home to be with Father God on Good Friday, April 10, 2020. Rich was preceded in death by his father; and mother; and his best childhood friend, Gary Keough. Rich is survived by his life-long friend and wife, Kathy; their beloved son, Jim (wife Genevieve); grandsons Basile and Arsene, all living in Paris, France; his sister, Kathleen of Arvada, Colorado; and his best friend, Marv Kastning of Darrington, Washington. Rich accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior on March 4, 2018 as he was struggling to deal with Parkinson's and dementia. Rich was raised in Alma, Colorado and he graduated from Fairplay High School. Rich served in the army three years where he was trained as an engineer and a loader operator. In the service, Rich was honored for his marksmanship and good conduct. Rich had a masters degree in education. He graduated from Colorado State University with highest honors. At graduation, he wore a gold gown for all to see as the others wore black. Rich went on to receive his masters degree from Western Washington University. Rich became a shop teacher in Olds, Alberta, Canada and later in Darrington. Rich was honored by the State of Washington as being an outstanding shop teacher which put him in position to mentor several student teachers. During his teaching years, Rich looked forward to graduation when he could present the "Golden Hammer" to a graduate who had demonstrated excellence in craftsmanship. The last few years of teaching, Rich and some of his students studied manufacturing. They formed a company and learned the whole process. Many projects were designed and marketed. Little did I know that Rich was going to quit teaching and start his own company called "Tinkerdam" where he designed and built a variety of unbelievable, one-of-a-kind items, not only out of special wood, which was his love, but he also created with metals, glass, plastic, woven material and concrete. He built staircases, all kinds of furniture, doors, windows, enormous crosses, saunas; whatever people wanted, for example he turned an old bus into a luxurious motor home. Rich was gifted with unusual intelligence and graced with God's excellence in the ability to design and create one-of-a-kind, unbelievable projects. Whatever he put his hands to became a precious treasure! Rich was an avid reader and learner and this caused him to be well informed. Thus, Rich was known for his "how to" knowledge of construction, care, and repair of things. If something was broken Rich could fix it or make something better. Rich enjoyed having the guys stop by for information, to repair something, or just to take a break and play cribbage. Rich delighted in telling stories or jokes and sharing his knowledge. As a hobby from boyhood, Rich liked working on and restoring old cars. A few years ago, Rich restored a 1929 Ford coupe to authentic perfection, plus he made it a beautiful wooden steering wheel of shimmering mahogany. Rich named his work of art "Baby." When Baby was completed, we fulfilled Rich's dream, by driving Baby back to Alma, over 10,000 feet high in the rugged Rocky Mountains for our grade school reunion. That evening, to celebrate this great feat, we danced all night. Needless to say, when it was time to go home, we put Baby on a trailer and towed her home: no more of that 10-20 mile per hour for days and days and days. Rich loved the great outdoors - hiking, tent camping, and fly fishing. Rich built a boat called Winnie to paddle the rivers and he built a smoke-house to cure his precious catch to perfection. For holidays, Rich became a gourmet chef with prime rib and turkey. He also became an expert in "building" pies which had to be done on a marble slab. What a guy! I think greatness is not measured by wealth or material gain, but true greatness must be measured by the good feeling one creates in others. Rich was one of the greatest. A heartfelt thanks goes out to Marv Kastning who stopped by once a week no matter which hospital or care place we were at the last few years. Thanks to Bill and Gladys Shanahan for stopping by regularly to visit Rich and cut his hair. And most of all, thanks to our son, Jim, for being able to share time with us in the valley of the shadow of death. A memorial celebration time for Rich's life has not been determined.