Rick Sutherland

1956 - 2022

Rick Sutherland
September 15, 1956 - March 22, 2022
Resident of Los Gatos
Dad passed away on March 22, 2022, at his home in Los Gatos, California of an unexpected heart attack. Dad was a 24-hour of LeMans winning race car driver, entrepreneur, mountain biker, dirty martini lover, loving husband, father, brother, CEO, and friend. Dubbed "Wrong Way" by the Mountain Bike & Martini Club, Dad always found a "different" route to take so it should be no surprise that he did it one last time.
Dad grew up in Springfield, Virginia where he and his sister, Carol Langford, were raised by their single mother, Martine Langley (deceased) who worked as a full-time high school teacher. At an early age Dad exhibited an affinity for entrepreneurship. When he was only 8 years old he began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts door to door. He loved to share his story of learning to not eat all of his inventory. He continued working many different childhood jobs, collecting bottles for recycling, shoveling snow, mowing lawns, and managing three newspaper routes. In addition to being a young businessman, Dad was also quite the athlete, playing baseball, basketball, and football.
In 1973 when Dad was just 16, he started a job mounting tires. He worked on commission and quickly began to earn more than his high school teachers. Dad was pretty financially motivated and prioritized working over school most days, much to his mothers dismay. This inevitably led to his withdrawal from high school. As you can imagine this upset his mother, one of those high school teachers, and she kicked him out of the house. Dad then moved in with a friend and continued to work. After eight weeks of summer school, he received his high school diploma in the school hallway outside of the men's restroom. There was no cap or gown or formal graduation, only the high school janitor was there to witness.
Dad continued to work in that tire shop until he and his friend, Mike Hexner, decided to launch their own tire installation business in partnership with a tire provider, and Wheel Works was born. After a very successful start with one shop, their partner, Universal Tire, asked them to open up shops in their eight other locations. With no additional equipment or staff, at only age 19, Dad signed a loan for $100,000 and he and Mike went on to grow the business and eventually sell the company to Universal Tire. Shortly thereafter, he and Mike moved across the country to start up Wheel Works again in Northern California. In 1980, they opened their first location in Santa Clara. By 1999, Wheel Works grew to 25 locations in the Bay Area and was ultimately bought by Bridgestone Tire. I mean, Dad, could you have set the bar any higher?
Inevitably working in the car and tire industry, Dad became obsessed with fast cars. When he first moved to California, he bought a 246GT Dino Ferrari. After one too many speeding tickets, Dad decided to try his hand at racing and bought his first race car in 1982. He spent the next 22 years racing a total of 31 different race cars, built an entire team, received sponsorships, won two championships, and won the infamous 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2004 (you know that all day and night race in the movie Ford v. Ferrari).
After the sale of Wheel Works, Dad spent a short stint in retirement when Mom not so subtly recommended he go back to work. So, Dad founded ClickAway, a technology services business in 2001. Over the last 21 years, he fearlessly led ClickAway, mentored countless associates in their careers, and helped over 800,000 customers. Dad had a rare vision and genius for customer service. We can only hope to share his level of care, integrity and ethics.
Shortly after moving to California, Dad met Mom, Lani Sutherland, a gorgeous 20-year old college student in 1981 on something called a blind date. Dad would often refer to that day as the second best day of his life. He proposed to Mom while they were on vacation in Paris. In 1987 Dad married the love of his life in San Francisco on what he called, "the very best day of his life." Mom and Dad were to celebrate their 35th anniversary this June.
Growing up with a father like him, you couldn't help but be proud of having a cool Dad. The Dad who picked you up from school in a Ferrari. The Dad who we would watch race cars on ESPN. The Dad who everyone, and I mean everyone, could hear cheering from the stands. We can still hear his voice shouting "Let's go defense!" We also were the recipients of his incredible generosity. Dad was known for his elaborate surprise birthday parties and trips. For Mom's 40th he planned a huge surprise birthday party of 300 people at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. For her 50th he surprised her again with a two-week trip to Italy where she showed up to the airport with nothing but a suitcase we had packed for her. Dad was also very sentimental. He performed marriage services for three different couples and cried more than they did during the ceremony. Any speech or birthday card for that matter, Dad would tear up. That was just him.
For those who knew Dad, a Celebration of Life will be held on May 3rd at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga at 11am. Please RSVP here http://evite.me/VP44w8ejGv if you plan to attend.


View the online memorial for Rick Sutherland