RIP Rick

[EK Hunter]

I too did not know him. But it's clear that he touched the lives of many forum members. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Alex

[Mac 66]

R.I.P Rick

[MauserKar98k]

Rick was a gentleman and a scholar. I only had an opportunity to collaborate with him on a couple occasions, but he was a class act and absolutely brilliant at Imperial research. He will be missed.

[Jon Fish]

RIP Rick, you were always willing to help and offer knowledge. A true gent and a scholar in his field.

[Richard]

Oh my God. I just found this thread and am devastated. Rick helped me on many occasions with questions on Imperial awards. He was a guiding light for information and could provide every thing but blood type (and I'm not so sure he couldn't provide that) for any ribbon bar or name you were researching. He was an incredible researcher dedicated to German military history and will be sorely missed. Scholars such as he come along only very rarely. I'll never forget all the help he provided me with many of my questions, both Imperial and Third Reich. He selflessly gave due to a true love of history. RIP old friend.
Richard V

[vellocino]

My condolences to his friends at the forum and his family at home.
A prayer for him and his family!

[Chris Boonzaier]

It is a terrible loss on many levels.

Rick was not only a great friend but his knowledge was priceless and he was always willing to share it.

By sharing it, many of us found we suddenly had a medal bar or document that was soooo more interesting and valuable than we thought it was.

Rick leaves behind an Aged mother. A fund has been started to help raise some funds to help her through this period. You can contact Don D or me to ask for details.

One option is to put something in your trade box on the e-stand, proceeds going to the fund.

Its a nice gesture.

Best
Chris

[wessel]

Rick was very helpful to me with Imperial sword-blade dedications and his research skills were clearly immense. A great loss and a stupid waste of a life.

[Jody]

R.I.P. Rick

Hello,
This is terrible news, I also used to e-mail Rick on many occasions. For us old timers Rick was a wealth of knowledge. I have a write up on a Spange document and Rick helped research the information for me.

R.I.P. Rick.

Regards,
Jody

[McCulloh]

You know Jody, I am writing up a brief obit. Of Rick for Chris' Kaisercross Project. In a way you were the key catalyst for allowing Rick to share his knowledge with the rest of the world. Had you not started your board, then.......

http://www.trenchfighter.homepage.t-...01/481643.html

[Brian R]

You know Jody, I am writing up a brief obit. Of Rick for Chris' Kaisercross Project. In a way you were the key catalyst for allowing Rick to share his knowledge with the rest of the world. Had you not started your board, then.......

Great point. It was Jody's website that I first found on the web, and then Seba's shortly after (or did they bleed into one?). It reminds me of the days when the WAF was just one forum.

I have been reminded of so many things in my collection, in recent days, that were enhanced due to background information supplied by Rick.

It also reminds me of the wealth of knowledge that is on this forum and others, and how we need to make sure we record that knowledge as much as possible.

[Jody]

RIP Rick

Hi Guys,
Thanks, and I was actually a little before WAF and then Seba placed a link to my site on the WAF site. That was around 1995 or 1996 when I started my site. Yes, WAF then was one long forum with just a handful of guys on it.

Rick was actually one of the 1st to contact me when my site went up. If you remember I was the main instigator (with the urging of Rick) in getting an Imperial forum on WAF and I was the 1st moderator of it. Rick wrote a nice little write-up for me when that forum began. Rick also helped me moderate it for a while.

Rick was a great guy, a class act, and will always be the king of ribbon bars. It is so sad that he met such a tragic end. Rick could take a simple document or a simple medal bar and make it come to life with the details he would supply. I will never be able to look at a ribbon or medal bar again and not be able to ask myself what would Rick have to say about it.

Regards,
Jody

[McCulloh]

Hmmmm...as I recall you site was up from 1996-99/2000. I first found you after the AOL chat room imploded.
I first found your site via Bill Shea. he and I had spoken at Lowell about the old AOL forum and how I had discovered the source of the fake 666 EKs ( and confirmed with Gordon Williamson in a long phone call on afternoon in Salt Lake City no less) . I remember saying to him" the Internet will give you a much bigger customer base overnight " and him laughing at me.
I actually met Rick a week after he had discovered the site and was still on AOL dial up. my first conversation with him was about how friendly, collegial and helpful everyone was on your board, while standing in front of Regina Greens' table at Lowell. So I guess you were responsible indirectly for me meeting my friend.
I thought Seba bought your site, or you closed it because it got to be too much?
I remember switching over to the new site in December 2000 and then losing the link on Firefox and then having to re register 6 months later.
those were good days and I miss them.
I am going to miss Rick a lot. Before him, few people understood how German medal and ribbon bars told a historical story. after him, well.....
compare Reverand Hayden's ribbon bar book, which was the height of research in 1997 with what we have today. It's like comparing a Spitfire with an F-111. Rick was responsible in part for most of that.

[DonC]

Any chance we could have a "Rick Lundstrom Ribbon and Medal Bar" forum? I think his contributions to the hobby warrant that.

Don

[Luis22]

Life is a gift with no written expiration date..this gentleman certainly enjoyed his hobby with passion and dedication...my condolences to his family.