Rich passed peacefully on September 4th, at 8:30 a.m.
Please use this space to leave your condolences, or share memories.
-Thank you
A Paypal account has been set up to provide financial
support to
Heather, Reese & Lily.
Heather, Reese & Lily.
So sorry to hear. The thoughts of many are with you.
Comment by Paula — September 4, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
We love u and miss u. Love, Sharon & Marc Zev
Comment by The Army Of Rich — September 4, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
I haven’t seen Rich for a few years…but I always thought of him fondly…one of those people that past through my life breifly but left a lasting impression. I will always remember how hard he made me laugh and everyone around him.
Comment by Wendy Smith-Gismondi — September 4, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
There are no words to express our deepest sympathy.
Comment by Ann & Jim Boles — September 4, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
I was so sorry to learn of Richie’s passing. I just wanted to say my thoughts and prays are with you all today.
Comment by Mike D'Elia — September 4, 2009 @ 6:55 pm
Rich, your strength and integrity is unmatched. May your spirit soar free of struggle. You are loved, and will be missed dearly. Brutha Swan.
Comment by Carl Swanson — September 5, 2009 @ 8:09 am
To Heather & Family,
Our thoughts are with you during this difficult time. We are here for you if you need anything.
Your RD friends at Newark Beth
Comment by Your RD Coworks — September 5, 2009 @ 11:31 am
sorry to hear about Rich…i have followed his fight on FB and prayed for him…with so many…my prayers go out to you and your little ones..have courage and strength…for your little angels here on earth and know you have a strong angel in the Heavens watching over you and your little ones…I knew Rich from HS and what I can remember very clear about him is that he was friendly with everyone…EVERYONE… no judging …always smiling…
Comment by Tatiana dos Santos- Esposito — September 5, 2009 @ 11:33 am
Prayers and sympathy. May peace and joyful memories comfort you.
Janet and family
Comment by Janet Christman Greene — September 5, 2009 @ 11:52 am
May you find God’s comfort and strength guide you to a world more peaceful. Love never dies. Eileen
Comment by Eileen McCarthy — September 5, 2009 @ 12:40 pm
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Laurie
Comment by Laurie Funk and Family — September 5, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Heather, I really have no words except that we are truly saddened for you and your girls. Hopefully God will give you the strength to go on with your daughters, and may you keep his memory alive forever.
Much love and hugs,
MizMary
Comment by Mary & Joe Miller — September 5, 2009 @ 5:59 pm
I was blessed to work briefly with Rich at GANE. He struck me as so strong and clear on self, his mission, and pushing others to stretch – I thank him for that example. His light continues to shine bright. My thoughts and prayers are with Rich and his family. So sorry to hear of your loss.
Comment by Milly Silva — September 5, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
Rich was an inspiration to all… I had the pleasure of meeting him in my sophomore year of high school when he transfered into our school in Matawan. We had spanish class together. I barely passed the class while he changed hundreds of lives with his labor movement with Spanish American immigrants.
Growing up together was a blast with him. Late night basketball games in his driveway, roadtrips down to Pt. Pleasant boardwalk, hanging out in New Brunswick in his college years, hanging out at 160 Hamilton… Rich was a blast to be around, his sense of humor -classic. I was certainly blessed to have known him.
Comment by Marc Zeveney — September 5, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
My heart is so sad… know your army will continue to stand strong.
Comment by Sharon Zeveney — September 5, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
It was with great sadness that I learned of Rich’s passing. I feel so honored and lucky to have had the opportunity to be his friend. My prayers and heart go out to his family especially Heather and his beautiful daughters.
Comment by Tricia Rumola — September 6, 2009 @ 7:50 pm
Hi Heather,
I’m so sorry to hear about Rich’s passing. My thoughts are with you and the girls during this difficult time.
Jill Kirsimagi…your Anthro friend from NBI.
Comment by Jill Kirsimagi — September 6, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
He was definitely one of God’s angels in everything he did. We will all miss him dearly but his light will shine on and on. Wanda
Comment by Wanda Radowski — September 7, 2009 @ 3:48 am
My deepest sympathies go out to Heather and the girls in this tough time.
Comment by Freedom Tripodi — September 7, 2009 @ 5:09 pm
I am so sorry to hear about the loss of this extraordinary human being. I only met Rich once and had no idea about his amazing passion for helping the less fortunate. I only knew him as a dear friend of my niece, Hilary Porstman. Having just read the obituary I am astounded to learn about all he did and all he stood for. May he rest in peace and may his great work be continued in his loving memory.
Comment by G Morgan Timmis — September 8, 2009 @ 7:00 am
Dearest Heather,
You will survive for your yourself, your children and for Rich. He lives on in those beautiful little girls. God be with you and them.
Love Sandra
Comment by Sandra Seddon — September 8, 2009 @ 7:19 am
There aren’t really words that can accurately express how saddened we feel or how sorry we are for your loss. You’re in our thoughts.
Comment by Jana & Matt O'Brien — September 8, 2009 @ 10:15 am
I first met Rich in the summer of 1993 through a mutual friend and though I never knew him very well, he definitely made an impression on me as he seemed to on everyone he met. I knew him as intensely smart, passionate and extremely funny person and though I hadn’t seen him in 4-5 years and found out about his illness through other mutual friends, I prayed for him to get better. I’ll always remember him goading me into singing Agnostic Front songs on the streets of New Brunswick when we were in college (at the time I was a bit embarrassed but now it’s funny), hanging out on Hamilton St, seeing him at tons of shows and his zines of the time like the little-remembered Dairy Reich as well as Happy Days.
I guess what I really wanna say is that he was way too young to go. I still can’t believe that he’s gone. His spirit most definitely lives on.
Comment by Matt Berlyant — September 8, 2009 @ 10:33 am
I am beyond words at hearing this news. Rich was such a warm and caring and funny guy, I just can’t believe it.
I haven’t seen Rich in some time but I’d always run into him at shows here and there and we’d chat a bit and catch up. He always brought up the fact and/or introduced me to whoever he was with as the “first person to talk to him” when he transferred to Matawan Regional High School our sophomore year. I thought it was odd that a guy who is involved in so much would still recall something so seemingly trivial, but that was Rich and I was so flattered that he still remembered.
Even though I haven’t seen him in some time and had no idea he was ill, I am deeply hurt by this and I will miss him terribly. With apologies for the cliche, but I am a better person for having known him. My sincerest condolences are with Heather, his beautiful girls and the rest of his family.
With love,
Sean Bergin
Comment by Sean Bergin — September 8, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Heather&family
We are so sorry to hear of the passing of your husband,our deepest sympathy goes out to you and your family
We will continue to hold you in our prayers, please let us know if we can be of any assistance.
Sincerely
Joy and the team
Comment by Joy Thompson — September 8, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
I met Rich and Heather years ago through Tracy Thompkins. They were a unit! Both smart, motivated, funny, and destined for success in pretty much any area. I’d just moved to New York where everyone is an “expert” in everything, but what was so crazy about Rich is that he really did know so much about so many subjects. Not in an arrogant way, he was just a wealth of information. It was awesome. He was awesome. He is awesome.
Love, Karen
Comment by karen mickley — September 8, 2009 @ 2:22 pm
I first met Rich while covering the immigration beat for The Star-Ledger of Newark. It could be a disheartening issue to cover, with so much misunderstanding on all sides. There was, of course, the daily doses of demagoguery from the anti-immigrant right wing. And often, I felt, a blindness to realities on the part of many pro-immigrant charities who saw handouts, rather than empowerment, as a solution improving the lives of workers. Enter Rich. He broke the mold, creating a model that empowered the workers themselves, holding to the old “teach a man to fish” adage. The vibe inside the New Labor offices, the sense of dignity and excitement among the members, was nothing like any social service agency or charity I had set foot in before. In time, Rich became a person I relied on for a sense of perspective and information when writing my stories. His perspective, as well as his approach, was unique, refreshing and idealistic without being blindly so. In nine years on the immigration beat, in 15 years of reporting, in 38 years of my life, I’m not sure I’ve met anyone like Rich.
Rich particularly loved a story I did in which I illustrated how he and a leading national restrictionist basically agreed on the core concept that an easily exploitable immigrant workforce was contributing to worsening working conditions. He loved it because the story illustrated common ground that seemed impossible to find in the larger immigration debate. Both he and the other guy saw the same problem. The other guy’s solution was to restrict immigration. Rich’s was to empower the immigrants. Put that way, it seemed so much more simple.
Imagine what could be done if more people tried to find common ground with their opponents like that. In a way, it reminds me much of Ted Kennedy.
As time went on, my conversations with Rich grew longer our long chats came to be focused mostly on our shared loves of punk rock and fatherhood. We laughed a lot. I could feel a great friendship budding. I am saddened to no end by his passing. but determined more than ever to keep his memory alive through my own deeds. Let’s all do that..Please, let’s all do that.
Comment by Brian Donohue — September 10, 2009 @ 9:25 am
9/10/09
Dear Heather,
I was so saddened to hear of Rich’s passing.
I met Rich in 2005 when the bank I work for, Magyar Bank, was donating furniture from our old
headquarters to non-profit organizations in the New Brunswick area. New Labor was one of the
organizations that had requested some of the furniture. I had never heard of New Labor before, but
after speaking and then meeting Rich several times, I was overwhelmed with his passion for what
he was doing and we had some wonderful conversations.
Several times since then, I have seen his name (and the organization) in the local papers, and was
so pleased to see that his work was continuing.
I did not know of his illness; I am so sorry for your loss but I know that the work he
started will continue. I was honored to have met him.
Comment by Judy Braverman — September 10, 2009 @ 9:36 am
Our deepest Sympathy
Comment by Brian & Jennifer Legovich — September 10, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
Thinking of you… and your family….
Comment by Sharon Zeveney — September 12, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
I knew Rich from my time as a graduate student at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers (1997-2002). He was such a positive force and had the ability to make you smile. His presence in the school made the place so much more pleasant. I have immense admiration for all that he accomplished as a labor activist and human being. To his family I send my warmest thoughts.
Comment by Monica Bielski Boris — September 14, 2009 @ 1:46 pm
Heather
Was sadden to hear of your loss, just want you know my prayers are with you.
Michelle T (Sodexo NBIMC)
Comment by Michelle Tinnirella — September 14, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
I met and became friends with Rich through the punk rock scene in New Jersey, and later on during our years at Rutgers. He was one of the nicest guys I knew, and he was always so positive and passionate about everything that was important in his life, whether it was music, his record label, or the fight for workers’ rights. There’s no doubt that he made a positive contribution in all of these areas of his life.
I will always remember the big smile he always had when you would run into him on campus or around New Brunswick. He was a great friend.
My deepest condolences to Rich’s family and to Heather, Reese, and Lily.
Comment by George Olivar — September 15, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
I continue to be amazed by the number of people’s lives you have touched.
I miss you. xo
Comment by Aunt Reenie — September 17, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
So Sorry For Your Loss Heather.
May Rich Rest In Peace and Harmony and Love with the Angels there is a New Angel In Heaven Looking down On US!!!!
Hugs,
Jane & Enrique
Comment by Jane and Enrique — September 17, 2009 @ 11:25 pm
Saw your beautiful family tonight…. you picked a great woman to be their mom. Your girls are amazing and look so much like you! Such cuties!!!
Comment by Sharon Zeveney — October 4, 2009 @ 8:12 pm