Rick Rickman

Franklin D. "Rick" Rickman, Jr., 54, ICU Nurse With a Taste for the Grateful Dead, Dies

Franklin D. "Rick" Rickman, Jr., whose life married the clinical precision of a trauma nurse to the free-form improvisations of a Grateful Dead jam, died on Aug. 14 in Gresham, Ore. He was 54.

Born July 28, 1971, in Boston, Mr. Rickman was the son of Kathleen A. Jones Rickman and Franklin D. Rickman. His route to nursing was circuitous but exacting: a bachelor's degree in biology, with a minor in Spanish, from Vanderbilt University, followed by a second bachelor's, in nursing, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. In Portland, he became a Trauma ICU nurse at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where colleagues valued his clinical intelligence, humor, and dexterity under pressure.

At home, the vital signs were measured differently. For the past decade, with his wife, Karessa, he made a household that included his daughter, Amani Jubilee Rickman, and his stepson, Rhythm Townsend. Blending families, as he knew, was no sterile procedure, yet it became the sturdy center of his life.

Rickman's off-duty uniform leaned more toward tie-dye than scrubs. A devotee of the Dead, he roamed music festivals, forests, and mountain trails with Karessa at his side, dispensing food, gear, and jokes in equal measure. He skied, he hiked, he camped, and - trained in both wilderness and emergency medicine - he stood ready if revelry turned suddenly real.

His humor, quick and sardonic, was as much a part of his kit as any stethoscope. Friends recall his loyalty, his irreverence, and the costumes that made campfires memorable.

He is survived by his wife; his daughter; his stepson; his parents; his siblings Richard, David, Stephanie Rickman Mitchell, and Greg; and a wide circle of extended family, colleagues, and friends.

A celebration of his life will be announced. His family suggests the most fitting tribute: music played loud, laughter shared freely, and time spent under open skies.