Obituary of Richard William RIEGERT

ALS is a devastating disease of unending losses. Imagine Richard’s each and every day for the past six years, slowly inch by inch losing his ability to walk, to use his arms and hands, to swallow, to breathe, to talk, to hug. Add on top, intolerable pain. Richard was a very proud man and ALS turned him virtually into a recluse. He wasn’t living with ALS – he was dying from ALS. Richard chose no intervention whatsoever. No assisted breathing. No feeding tube. He died on December 4, 2015 at 63 but he would have preferred to die earlier. We support Dying with Dignity. It’s your life. It should be your choice on how you die. Access to physician-assisted death should be our right. As a compassionate society, we need to allow assisted dying and respect an individual’s right to choose. Richard had a passion for oil and gas contract law and was well respected in the legal community. He was a private, nose-to-the-grindstone kinda guy and never wanted to be the centre of attention. He loved Porsches, heavy rock, reading, history, Chelsea soccer, travel, antiques, art, politics, stock market, world news and his family. Left to grieve are wife Patti, sons Steven (Rochelle Boivin) and Philip (Crissy), granddaughters Aria and Everleigh, siblings Kathleen Gullacher (Butch), Cynthia Anderson (Rob) and Mark Riegert (Jayne). Heartfelt thanks to Jane Rivest and the ALS Society for their emotional support and equipment pool (power chair, manual chair, commodes, hospital bed, recliner, Roho cushions, sheepskin pads and much more). At the end of his life, Richard spent three special love-filled days at Agape Hospice; the staff were absolutely amazing. AHS gets a hard rap so we commend AHS and Home Care for their support during Richard’s illness. Efe and Dadi were caregivers extraordinaire and the wonderful Dr. Linda Fong should be cloned. Through all this, we learned some life lessons: Don’t leave things too late – do them now. If you say you’re going to do something, do it – don’t give lip service. Keep your expectations low and you’ll always be surprised. And most importantly: Carefully balance work and play. No flowers please. In honour of Richard, please donate generously to the incredible ALS Society of AB www.alsab.ca or the amazing Agape Hospice www.agapehospice.ca. Through these organizations, we discovered that there are angels on earth. Finally, rest gently, my sweet.