Richard Jerome Schoeneck was born on June 8, 1966 in Morris, Minnesota the son of Marlo and Margaret (Peterson) Schoeneck. Richard has three sisters, Tamra, Carole and Kim. Richard attended grade school in Garfield, and high school in Alexandria, and graduated from Alexandria High School in 1984. He attended the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, Richard worked most of his career at Douglas Machine. Later, he was a part of founding Douglas Scientific. Richard was a principal engineer in research and development at Douglas Scientific and also worked as an optical engineer for the facility. Through his research and development he founded multiple items that are now under patent. He also collaborated with many people on the making of machines that did DNA testing. Through his career, he traveled all over the world to learn how other countries were working on the same type of work. Despite all that he learned and got to see, his favorite place was at home in Alexandria. Richard was a humble, gentle, intelligent, kind, loving individual that befriended others and always put others first. Through his own illness, Richard did research not only on how to treat and fight cancer, but also strived to help others learn to stay healthy. Richard and his Dad spent time just talking and trying to figure things out or how to make things work. Richard spent many hours fishing with his Dad.
Rich had a special 'revelatory' gift of tying the Lord's Prayer to the Ten Commandments, bringing out truth concerning God's plan for transitioning the church into the time of 'the one new man,' mentioned in the book of Acts. He encouraged others to “love thy neighbor as thyself”. Richard stood up for righteousness and his presence will be deeply missed.
Richard went to be with his Lord and Savior on Monday, June 22, 2015, in his own home after a courageous battle with cancer.
Richard is preceded in death by his nephew, Kaleb Lukes and a brother-in-law, Leonard Lukes. He is survived by his parents, Marlo and Margaret Schoeneck of rural Garfield; sisters, Tamra (Del) Harpestad of Rochester, MN, Carole (Steven) Rickman of Ponte Vedra, Florida, Kim (Dave) Dionne of Jacksonville, Florida; nieces, Kendra (Jeremy) Burget, Ashley Rickman, Alexis Rickman, Eden (Daniel) Charles; nephews, Kolten Lukes and Kaden Lukes; Great nephew, Vincent Rocco Burget; great-nieces, Ellaina Charles and Raven Charles; and many aunts and uncles.
* The funeral service will be recorded and available on the website at a later time:
andersonfuneral.net