Richard Dean Dethlefs' Obituary
Richard Dean Dethlefs, 73, a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, passed peacefully from this life surrounded by his family on Sunday, September 29, 2024. Rich was born July 12, 1951 to August Carl and Thelma Marie (Van Arsdale) Dethlefs in Lincoln, Nebraska. He graduated from Lincoln East High School in 1969, and went on to receive both bachelors and masters degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Nebraska. While a student, Rich attended the national convention of the American Speech and Hearing Association in San Francisco, where he met another speech pathology student who would become the love of his life. Richard and Kathleen "Kathy" Audree Schloessman married on May 17, 1974, in St. Louis, Missouri, and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. They spent the first years of their marriage working as school speech pathologists in rural Nebraska and then in the Kansas City metropolitan area. After the birth of their second child, Rich was presented an opportunity to work as a claims representative for State Farm Insurance. Through State Farm, the family moved from Overland Park to Hutchinson, Kansas, and then on to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Rich retired from the company after 27 years.
Rich lived a life of love, compassion and service. Upon moving to the Kansas City area, he and Kathy became active members of Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, and served as adult youth group sponsors, as well as serving on various committees. Their service continued at Trinity UMC in Hutchinson, and finally at Faith UMC in Tulsa. At Faith, Rich served on the Building Committee, which helped design and oversee the construction of the new sanctuary, administration building, and adult wing. He was active with the Stand in the Gap ministry, and also continued his love of working with youth, helping teach confirmation and Sunday School classes. If nothing else, Rich was a loving family man. His happiest times were spent doing things with the kids, from making animal-shaped pancakes and reading stories to helping with homework, attending school sports, teaching them to drive, and supporting them in their adult life. He used his enjoyment of woodworking to make built-in shelves, a deck, tree houses and forts. In 2002, Rich attended a Walk to Emmaus Retreat, which he credited as being life-changing. This strengthened faith and outlook on life supported him in his later years, when seemingly unrelated health issues led to the diagnosis of Huntington's Disease, a degenerative disorder which eventually took his life.
Rich will be dearly missed by his loving wife: Kathy Dethlefs; children: Eirinn Sutphen, and Brian Dethlefs and wife Briseida; grandchildren: Alexsander, Jazmine, Nera, Brannon, and Rory; brother: Dennis Dethlefs and wife Janice; and several nieces and nephews.
Richard is preceded in death by his parents: August and Thelma Dethlefs; brother: Duane Dethlefs and wife Gerrie; and sister: Joyce Connell.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Faith United Methodist Church in Tulsa on October 19th at 11:00am. The service will be live streamed at www.faithtulsa.org/live.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Huntington's Disease Society of America, at www.hdsa.org.
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