Richie Duane Kudlock

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Richie Duane Kudlock, age 60, a loving husband, dad, and grandpa, went home to heaven on January 25, 2024. Rich was born December 16, 1963, the first son of Duane and Tina Kudlock, in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Richie grew up in Rapid City, with a short stint in Billings, playing sports, riding motorcycles, and hunting on the family ranch up in Belle Fourche. He played baseball, football, basketball and boxed, but his favorite was always baseball – an avid Baltimore Orioles fan, particularly of Brooks Robinson. He collected sports cards of his favorite players and loved listening to music and collecting records, mostly country and rock. His absolute favorites were George Strait and Merle Haggard. He also spent a lot of time hunting with his dad and brother, and this would become his main hobby outside of time with family. He was always proud of and loved where he grew up, particularly the surrounding beauty of the Black Hills. He had fond memories of hiking Harney’s Peak, spending time at Sheridan Lake and eventually taking his family up to the area over the years to see Mount Rushmore.

Rich met his wife, Wanda, at the local steakhouse they both worked at in 1982. They dated the four and half years he attended South Dakota Mines to earn his electrical engineering degree while simultaneously battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma twice. They married in 1986 then moved to Pueblo West, Colorado, where he started his career as an engineer for Unisys, working on defense weapons like the Stealth Bomber. Rich and Wanda had their two sons, Jason and Allan, and would raise them in the rarified air until life took them to Chandler, Arizona in 1995 for new opportunities. He missed The Centennial State for its natural beauty and the fact that his other favorite teams were the Denver Broncos and Nuggets, but they would find their forever home in The Valley of the Sun.

Rich and Wanda had their daughter, Rachel, in 1997 and spent the next 15 years attending baseball games and ballet recitals. They would come to love their desert home, and the fact shoveling snow was no longer a responsibility. Rich would spend his 28 years in Chandler, working as an electrical engineer for Medtronic, where he became friends with many of his wonderful colleagues, and eventually worked on the same device that saved his life, which he always thought was a cool story. He continued to hunt, root for his favorite teams, and travel along the way, including to his mother’s hometown of Herzogenaurach, Germany, which he always wanted to see. He loved history, especially the unique lineage of his own blood line and was always proud of who he was and where he came from. He would eventually be rewarded with his two grandchildren, Luka and Delilah, whom he doted on and developed the most special bond with.

Rich will forever be loved and remembered by his loving wife, Wanda; their children, Jason (Cristina), Allan, and Rachel (Mitch); grandchildren Luka and Delilah; brother Scott; mother-in-law Norma Jean Hill; sister-in-law Jinny Elmore (Packer). His departure leaves a void that will never be filled, but our memories with him will always be with us and provide us comfort.

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