Richard Alyn Wildau

Richard Alyn Wildau
Feb. 21, 1946 – Jan. 5, 2025
Rich Wildau's amazing life ended on January 5, 2025, at his home in Boulder, Colorado, surrounded by loving family. He died of heart failure resulting from a torn aortic aneurysm suffered a week earlier, on December 29. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on February 21, 1946 – the son of German-Jewish refugees. He graduated from Shaker High School and headed west to attend the University of Colorado, where he earned BS and MS degrees in psychology. He had hoped to make the CU ski team, but found he was competing with several Olympians whom a kid from Ohio couldn't beat out. That didn't stop him from training with the ski team and becoming an amazing telemark skier.
Rich had an infectious curiosity and was an extreme extrovert. For him, there were no strangers and he was eager to learn about every individual he encountered as well as every new culture he experienced. This took him to Latin America with his first wife Susan (Tousley) Wildau as Peace Corps volunteers (Panama and Ecuador) in the late sixties. (Rich and Susan divorced in 1979.) In the mid-1990's, he again served Peace Corps as the Director of Pre-service Training in the Republic of Moldova. Later, he developed a special affection and admiration for the lost boys and girls of Sudan and helped many who came to Colorado adjust to life in the U.S. He made multiple trips to China as an instructor/administrator for UC Denver's International College of Beijing and loved teaching his Chinese students.
Rich followed a diverse, unconventional and very rewarding career path – rejecting advice that too many job changes would concern future employers. That was never an issue! Rich had opportunities to learn and contribute in many different fields. After the Peace Corps, he worked in youth services and alternative education. He was an early employee at Celestial Seasonings Tea Company, working in several different roles, the last of which was training and orientation of new employees. That led to 14 years of Human Resources roles in manufacturing, high tech, outplacement counseling and the energy sector. After four years with Amoco Production Company, Rich and his wife, Sharon, moved to Chile to do volunteer work and expose daughter Ari (then 4) to living abroad. On the way they visited daughter Jennika, who was already living abroad as a Rotary Exchange student in Brazil.
That adventure helped focus Rich on cross-cultural training and eventual work with immigrant integration and refugee mental health at the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. His last position there was as Project Director for the state-wide SIRFI program (Supporting Immigrant & Refugee Families Initiative) of the Colorado Trust.
Throughout his life, Rich found ways to contribute to his community – both formally and informally. He served on the boards of the Chautauqua Association and Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFFA) and volunteered for multiple non-profit organizations including Intercambio, where he taught English to English language learners. Not long after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2011, Rich became involved with, and then a leader within, the local Parkinson's community. He loved being a volunteer Ambassador for the Davis Phinney Foundation, helping those newly diagnosed with PD learn to "live well today". In 2024 Rich was a recipient of the Boulder Rotary Club's "Service Above Self" Award.
Rich valued his long-term friendships and participated in several men's groups, the last of which he enjoyed for over 20 years. He loved exercise in any form and excelled at skiing, swimming, tennis, running and biking. Over time, Parkinson's made some of these sports impossible, but Rich did what he could. Running became walking and biking became "triking". He never let Parkinson's totally "take over".
But most important to Rich was his family and the wonderful adventures they shared together. He was a risk-taker and imbued his daughters with his sense of "coloring outside the lines". Together they lived abroad and traveled the world. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Sharon McClew, daughter Jennika Wildau (Mark McKenzie), daughter Arielle Wildau, grandson Alex McKenzie, brother Robert Wildau (Karen Wildau) of Philadelphia and sister Jacqueline Wildau of New York City, as well as multiple nieces, nephews, cousins and all those friends from around the globe! Rich was preceded in death by his parents, Hans Wildau and Susan (Landman) Wildau.
A Celebration of Rich's life will be held on Saturday, February 22 at 2:00 pm in the Canyon Center at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community, 350 Ponca Place, Boulder, CO 80303. A live zoom presentation will be available for those not able to attend in person. (If you are not already on the email list, please contact a family member to receive the zoom link.) In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Davis Phinney Foundation, Emergency Family Assistance Association, Intercambio–Uniting Communities, or a charity of your choice.