Richard A. Strutz

Richard Strutz Obituary

Richard A. Strutz October 17, 1958 - May 25, 2005

Rich or "Strutzy" to his teammates, passed away suddenly at age 46, shortly after playing a game of ice hockey, his life's passion from an early age. Richard was born to Walter and Mary Strutz in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, younger brother to Virginia (Weiss). He moved to California at age 15 with his parents and attended Saratoga HS and graduated from San Jose State Univ. with a BA in Bus Admin.

Over the past 20 years, he worked in the Silicon Valley high tech industry, most recently as a senior buyer for Xilinx. Throughout his life, Rich was an accomplished athlete, playing ice hockey, golf and downhill skiing.

Richard is remembered by his many friends and acquaintances as someone who always had a smile on his face and enjoyed life. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by them as well as his family, including nephews Eric and Ryan, Aunt Mary and Uncle Don Rowland, cousin Jane, Aunt Daphne and Uncle Keith Clements, cousins Danna and Sharon, Aunt Helen and Uncle David Hrynyk, cousin Alyson, and Uncle Peter Strutz, cousins Judy and Pete.

To honor Richard and in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity in his name or donate to the American Heart Assoc. at 1710 Gilbreth Rd., Burlingame, Calif. 94010. Please make a note on your check , "In memory of Richard Strutz". Or donations may be made via website: www.americanheart.org.

Friends are invited to a celebration of his life at 1055 Atkinson Lane, Menlo Park, Calif. on June 11, 2005 from 2-5 p.m.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Jose Mercury News on Jun. 4, 2005.

Memories and Condolences
for Richard Strutz

8 Entries

Mark

July 1, 2023

RIP Rich my condolences to everyone that knew Mr Rich.

Joe Barretta

June 10, 2005

My memories of my very close friend…..

I was introduced to Rich by a mutual friend Larry Rautio, they played Hockey together, Rich needed a room mate, I need a place to live, 1986 I think. I knew we would be good friends when after moving in both our TV’s had only 3 channels programmed, ESPN, ESPN2, and Sportschannel. Rich’s passion was Hockey, this was never more obvious when everyday when I got home he had the video tape of a past Stanley Cup Finals game on the TV….Edmonton Oilers of course…..and I mean EVERYDAY, with the exception being he was playing or a live game was on. Growing up in SJ I wasn’t a huge Hockey Fan since we didn’t have a pro team here (I didn’t consider the “Seals” Pro Hockey) so Baseball was my #1 passion, Rich would always tell me “Baseball is for wimps”, I’d always tell him, “yeah well Scott Hamilton can jump 3 ft high and 10 ft down the Ice and when he falls I don’t see him in body armor and a helmet”. So along came the Sharks, Hockey in SJ, Rich Strutz ecstasy. We shared season tix and when they moved to the Tank Rich scored us some great seats through his connections, it was my first introduction to the Canadian east coast / west coast rivalry as the guy that sat directly behind Rich was a huge Montreal fan, “Just my luck I got a frig’n Hab behind me” Rich would say. Every game when a Canadian team was playing this guy would scream out in the worst voice ever the Canadian anthem in French Canadian, Rich would just shake his head and later gave him the appropriate name of “Jaba The Hut” (you figure out the reason). Classic! Although it came close, Rich showed great control and never decked the guy once. Where me and Rich spent most our time whenever possible was on a Golf Course since it was a close 2nd to our passions. We would later adopt Spanish Bay as our home course racing down there at every opportunity, now you know where he disappeared too those afternoons, me too, see with me and Rich if one of us could escape the office you had to go as well because if you didn’t then you got the phone call from the 1st tee at Spanish while your stuck at work. We played a lot, golf packages to Hawaii, Cabo, Oregon, no matter where or when it was never a dull moment, Rich would slap one down the fairway and I’d say “Nice shot Gretzky”, I’d pop one up and he’d say “ya gotta gear down Barretta, your swinging for the fence…” I could go on forever with stories. In almost 20 yrs me and Rich had some great times, we spent some holidays together, we took vacations together, we laughed at one another, we hassled one another, we fought one another, and even though I’ve been 200 miles away for over 5 yrs in that whole time I don’t remember me and Rich going more than a couple weeks without talking. In my book when you know someone that well over that length of time it’s not just a friendship, that’s family. We all share in a big loss because it didn’t matter how long you knew Rich, if you knew him you laughed and he never tried to act like anyone he wasn’t, he was just Rich. I had just spoke to him a few days before this tragedy and although my emotions are mixed, I’m glad I got that chance….we were doing what we do, where and when are we gonna golf! Well I’ll never Tee it up again without thinking of Rich as well as so many other things daily that make me laugh when I think of him, but if there’s one thing I know Rich would want it’s what I’m going to do, and that is “It’s time to Ramble On” but I’ll keep looking Rich for “where is that confounded bridge”. You left too soon buddy as we had more to do, but I’ll see you again.

Joe Barretta

Ken Lum

June 8, 2005

I have known Rich for the past 15 years and we stayed in touch mostly by phone usually talking about the stock market at least a few times a month, I will miss talking to Rich on what we thought the market would do, so we could play the QQQQ's and be "laughing", a word that Rich used often. I will miss ya buddy and I am sure you are in a better place.

Steve Sorg

June 8, 2005

Rich and I met and became friends at West Vally college and graduated SJSU together with the same degree. We've remained friends and found a way to get together every couple of months for the last few years. We always had a great time together with a lot of laughs and I am missing him already. Rich - when the band takes the stage at #1 Broadway in a couple of weeks, we will sing Stray Cat Strut in your honor. Rest well, my friend.

Connie Knighton

June 8, 2005

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum...

Words don't do justice. Rich, we all miss you!

Connie

BOB RUSSELL

June 7, 2005

RICH WAS A GREAT LITTLE HOCKEY PLAYER.YOU COULD TELL HE REALLY ENJOYED PLAYING THE GAME AND BEING AROUND HIS GREAT NUMBER OF FRIENDS.

RICH USE TO PLAY PICK-UP HOCKEY WITH MY GROUP ON SUNDAYS, I'M VERY SORRY THAT I HAD NOT SEEN HIM IN THE

PAST COUPLE OF YEARS. HE WAS TRULY

A GREAT CHARACTER. HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED BY ALL HIS FRIENDS.

BOB RUSSELL

Rich Arnest

June 6, 2005

My condolences and sympathy to Rich's family and friends. He left us much too soon.

I'll always remember our hockey trip to Chicago with a smile on my face. Rich was kind enough to secure great seats for our group at the old stadium. We had a blast.

I share in your grief and send my love.

Cyndy Limon

June 6, 2005

I worked with Rich at Sun Microsystems and most recently Xilinx. I knew Rich for over 10 years. I'm so happy I got to know him. He would always put a smile on my face and make me laugh. He touched so many people in his life and I will miss him. Before he passed, we had a conversation about our days at Sun in Milpitas, remembering all of our friends and how much fun we all had. We were all like one big family. Through all this he has brought a lot of us back together again. We cry, we laugh in remembrance of Rich, a great friend who will never be forgotten.

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