Richard Ira Deringer

Richard (Rick) Ira Deringer was born on November 11, 1946 in Philadelphia, PA and passed away, peacefully at home, on July 4, 2019 after a courageous battle with cancer.

He graduated from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 19 where he attained the rank of Sergeant.  He served during the Vietnam War and was stationed in the Philippine’s where he was an Intelligence Specialist. After receiving his Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he attended San Jose State University where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Accounting.

Rick’s career began as an accountant with Arthur Anderson and later he started his own firm with a partner in San Francisco.  Many of his clients were Real Estate Developers and that’s where Rick found his passion for Real Estate Development.  He started the Deringer Development Group in San Francisco and spent over 40 years developing projects all over California, most recently in Sonoma County where he and his wife, Rhonda, ran Odyssey Development Company. His commercial and residential projects, some of which received awards, totaled over 4 million square feet. 

While his career and business interests had him flying high, his other passion was landscape design and gardening.  He spent many hours in the gardens taking care of all the trees and flowers and found the time he spent gardening to be rewarding and peaceful.  He had a special fondness of Olive trees and all types of Fruit trees and his rose garden.  Rick also had a deep appreciation for the Fine Arts, as a collector himself, and dreamed of opening a Gallery one day.  He was always an Artist, Visionary and a Dreamer in his career and through his hobbies and interests in life. 

Rick is survived by his loving wife of 22 years (married on July 4th), Rhonda; his daughter Ashley, sons Matthew and David, brothers Raymond and Chuck, grandson Raymond, and niece and nephews.

Rick was blessed to have many great friends and will be missed by all who knew him.  He loved to meet new people, to laugh and joke, to tell stories, and to help others achieve their dreams.

To my loving husband….

I would like to thank everyone who attended the Celebration of Life of my husband Rick.

It is going to be difficult to put into words how much he meant to me and how much I will miss him.

Rick was an incredible husband, friend, partner and much more.  Rick was the love of my life.

He was my rock, my support, my best friend; and life will not be the same without him.

Rick was a man with a tender heart and cared so much about me, his children and all who knew him. 

Rick was full of energy and loved to make people happy.  While Rick was a fun loving and social person, in many ways, he was also a very private man.

We met on St. Patrick’s Day in 1997 and were inseparable after that in our professional as well as personal lives.  We fell in love and got married 4 months later July 4th, 1997.  I am so grateful to have had Rick in my life for 22 years and for all that we shared together.  I’m so thankful that we met as my life was totally transformed by him.   We were meant to be together.

Rick was my protector and he always made me feel safe, he was so strong physically and mentally.

He was always there when I needed him, and I knew I could always count on him and he could always count on me. He was a very generous and kind-hearted man which I knew by the sweetness in the way he would look and listen to me.  We were each other’s biggest support systems.

Rick was a very hard worker as a real estate developer. His career was very important to him and he enjoyed what he did immensely.  In our working together I learned so much from him over the years.

It was so nice that he found a career that he was so passionate about and even though he spent many hours working, he made sure he was always there for me when I needed him.  He loved telling me about his ideas, thoughts and how to make something work.  I was always happy to listen because his eyes would light up, as he enjoyed including me in his passion. 

We also loved to work/play in the gardens together; he planted the fruit trees and I picked the fruit; he planted the rose trees and I pruned the roses.  Rick loved to create beautiful gardens and to create a home sanctuary for us to enjoy, to relax and adore.

At the start of the day Rick would always greet me with a coffee, a kiss and lunch to go.  At the end of the day Rick always greeted me with a smile, a kiss, and sometimes a gift and a foot rub too.

I will never forget all the wonderful times that Rick and I spent together.

Rick was the most supportive and loving husband and I will miss him so much.  His memory will live on in my heart for as long as I live.

I would like to thank Rick for sharing his life with me and showing me how good life can be.

Rick, you were the best husband I could have asked for, as I often told you, and I love you so much!

Love always, Rhonda

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