Rich Dennis
Posted By Ballard Sunder Funeral Home On January 27, 2017 @ 9:35 am In 2017,Obituaries | 26 Comments
Rich Dennis, age 55 of Prior Lake, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family the afternoon of January 26, 2017. A gathering of family and friends will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM with a Celebration of Life Service led by Lindsey Ballard at 4:00 PM, and the celebration will continue into the night. Everything will be held on the ice behind Rich’s home on Spring Lake. Parking and shuttle services are available at Friendship Church (17741 Fairlawn Avenue; Prior Lake, MN). Memorials are preferred and will be distributed by Rich’s family in his honor.
On October 19, 1961, Doyle and Ada Dennis welcomed their son, Richard Arthur Dennis, into the world. From the moment he was born, Rich was free-spirited and didn’t conform to conventional norms. He loved growing up in Mankato with his siblings, Terry, Tammy and Paula. As a boy, Rich enjoyed spending summers working on his uncle Dean’s farm in South Dakota. Rich was a talented athlete; he played basketball, ran track and excelled in football.
After graduating from Mankato East High School in 1980, Rich attended Dakota County Vo-Tech and earned his degree in photography. He was also the star football player for Inver Hills Community College. During his time with the team he was approached by the MN Vikings to try out for the professionals, but Rich declined and pursued his passion for photography.
Rich was managing a photo lab when he met Tammy. They hit it off immediately and were married in 1987. They were blessed with two wonderful children, Samantha and Thomas. Rich settled with his family in Prior Lake and began working construction.
He worked several different construction jobs before finding his niche in demolition. After a few years, Rich decided to start his own business, Dennis Environmental. Rich was quickly the industry leader when it came to safe abatement of asbestos and other hazardous materials. He earned many high-profile jobs and was especially proud of the work his team completed at the Sears Building, Foshay Tower and the U of M. Rich eventually had 30 employees and was running one of the most successful business in the industry. He had a hard-working crew, and all his employees absolutely loved him!
After more than 15 years of marriage, Rich and Tammy went their separate ways but remained close through their children. Rich loved being a father, and loved his kids more than anything. He instilled a strong work ethic in his kids and taught them the importance of family. Rich treated everyone with kindness, and all were welcome at his house. This became even more true when Rich moved to Spring Lake and began working on his next big project, his home. Rich loved to salvage old pieces from demolitions and repurpose them at his house. His home is full of treasures he restored himself.
One evening, Rich saw a beautiful woman walking through the neighborhood. He quickly decided he better start walking the neighborhood in order increase his chances of running into her. Their paths eventually crossed, and Rich met the love of his life, Shelly. Their love grew deeper every day, and they quickly realized they were soulmates. Rich also embraced Shelly’s daughters, Lindsey and Amelia. After four years together, Rich and Shelly were married at Spring Lake on August 9, 2014.
Rich had many interests and passions in his life. He loved cooking, gardening and canning vegetables. Rich was an avid hunter and enjoyed annual trips to South Dakota and Alaska hunting with family and friends. He loved doing anything outside and especially enjoyed snowmobiling, boating, enjoying sunsets and star gazing. It didn’t matter what Rich was doing as long as he was doing it with the people he loved.
Rich was a strong man, but he had a soft-soul. He was completely selfless and always put others before himself. Rich was a mentor and friend to many. He will be deeply missed and remembered always by his wife and soul-mate, Shelly Dennis; children, Samantha Dennis and Tom (Hannah Mahowald) Dennis; Shelly’s daughters, Lindsey and Amelia Anderson; siblings, Terry (Deanna) Dennis, Tammy Dennis, and Paula Pasbrig; nieces and nephews; other loving relatives and many dear friends. Rich is preceded by his parents, Doyle and Ada Dennis.
Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation proudly serves the Dennis family.
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Rich did a wonderful job at our church. What a honest man. Nick and Marcy Ries. Corie s inlaws
Samantha and Tom,
We are so sorry to hear about the loss of your dad. Your family is in our prayers
Julie, Dave, Brent and Matty Kirchgasler
Rich was a true moral compass. Open and honest and treated everyone with compassion & care. We will miss him dearly and always be better for having him in our lives. Always think of the good times as that is what he would want. Prayers to his family for peace.
Rich put on an incredible fireworks display every year on Spring Lake. The biggest and brightest. I remember him walking his dog down Southshore in the past and snowmobiling a few times with me and the Nieghbors. He will be missed and thought of often.
Rich was a great neighbor, great father, great dog lover. It’s hard to beat those things. Shelly, Tom, Samantha, we feel your pain and pray you will have peace, comfort and healing. We hope the celebration on Tuesday will be meaningful and lift you up. We will be leaving town Tuesday AM and are sorry we can’t be with you.
Marty and Liz Coddington
When you had a friend like Rich you had a friend for life. Honest , Fun, and Sharing person. Raised a wonderful family.
I am unable to express the loss I feel. My condolences & deepest sympathy to his family. He was a passionate & stubborn man. I am blessed to have worked at his side for many years. I will cherish the liquid lunches & the nicknames we secretly assigned everyone (along w/ Denise of course). Rich will be missed tremendously by many.
So sorry for your loss. Rich was a great person. I remember him always being at his mom n dads when I was there with Paula. He will be missed..
Tammy, Paula, and all of Rich”s family, we are so so sorry for your loss, keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Prayers and Hugs to all
We are shocked and so saddened to hear this news. We connected to Rich through the love of our dogs, and running into to each other on those neighborhood walks. Always greeted by a big warm smile and kind words. To Shelly, Sam, and the other family members we haven’t met, please know the Dueber’s hearts and prayers are with you…
Tom and Samantha,
I am so sorry for your loss and I will pray for you both and for your dad. Your dad was such a kind and caring man. You meant the world to him, he was so proud of you both.
Your dad will be greatly missed.
Rich and I shared a passion for kicking butt on the football field at Mankato East high School. We grew up together in school from our youngest days. A friendly smile, passion, loyalty, and strong determination are all traits that remind me of Rich. To all of his family and close friends-I am sorry for your loss. God Bless.
Sincerely, Tom
I am so very sorry for your loss. I knew Rich only through business – but that does not mean that I did not know the size of his heart. He often helped me to budget non-profit volunteer work that I was involved in knowing in advance that the chance of it becoming real work was slim to none. He once traveled to Frontenac (Lake City), MN on two separate occasions to help me budget work for a retreat center I volunteered with and was trying to salvage ~ he insisted that he would “enjoy the scenic drive” and stop along the way to visit the center. He was a man of his word, dependable, honest, giving of his time and his talents and ran his business with integrity. He will be sorely missed in our industry. May you be comforted in your precious and cherished memories of time spent with a very good man. Know that he is without pain and resting in his father’s house. I have prior commitments tomorrow and will not be able to attend your family celebration – know that my heart is with you and the very good man that loved you and was blessed with your love. Again, my sincere condolences to your entire family. Bob Timperley
I have known Rich for many years working abatement, he was a great individual and a man of integrity and honesty – not afraid of letting you know where he stood on many topics. We all die – the goal isn’t to live forever, but to create something that will. Rich certainly did that. He was a great friend and will be greatly missed.
I am so sorry to hear about Rich’s passing. He and I worked together many years ago at Proex. I admired his gentle, calm, ‘cool’ personality — he was a true friend and always easy to talk to.
Tom, we are so sorry to hear of your fathers passing. Know we will keep you and your family in our thoughts and prayers.
Don and Suzanne Butters
From all of us at MP Johnson Construction our deepest sympathies to all the family…
Rich was a Damm Good Man and he will be missed!
Rich was a great man and always wore a smile at the shop. He provided a great place to work for so many people. The team(both past and present) at Dennis Environmental will miss him dearly!
Keep smiling Rich!
Hannah & Tom ,
My heart and prayers are with you and your family. He’s flying with Mollie and all the ANGELS!!!!!
Tammy Anderson
May this dear family find comfort in knowing that you have all been invited by our Creator, Jehovah God, to “throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 83:18) “Jehovah is close to the broken-hearted; he saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) I hope you all take care and please accept my sincerest condolences.
We, at Sullivan/Day Construction offer our most heartfelt condolences for your loss. We very much enjoyed working with Rich and his company.
We were blessed to have the chance to get to know Rich through his annual trips to South Dakota. He will be missed in the hunting party. We treasure the memories we made with him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all his family at this time of loss.
We know Rich because he volunteered his time to help the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District and DNR by reading the level of Spring Lake. Often we would come to his house to do work on the lake level equipment and it was always a pleasant surprise when he was home. It quickly became apparent he had a huge heart and was willing to help with anything he could. He even loaded up buckets of apples for us to take! 🙂 We enjoyed our time getting to know him and will deeply miss our conversations by the lake.
I went to Dakota County Tech with Rich back in the 80’s. We were in the Photo tech class together. I also played football with Rich at InverHills College. I remember a couple of Canoe trips as well. But after school we moved on and that was that. I played Center and Rich was left Guard. We had many laughs and great times. I just thought of one of the times. I had a pickup truck at school and those were prized to help your buddies move. Well we loaded him up in the truck from Mpls. and headed to Burnsville I believe. Well Rich flicked a smoke out the side window. Not thinking anything about it until smoke was rolling out of the mattress. Needless to say the mattress did not make the move. I miss that time and his friendship.
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Tom
We are so sorry for your loss…Prayers and hugs for you to find comfort and peace!