Posted by Barbara, Rick’s wife:
It was so difficult to read Rick’s last two posts at the time he wrote them. And it is even harder now to post this update, but he would have wanted me to.
All of your encouraging comments to his posts lifted his spirits but his situation did not improve. Without writing his medical journey, things went the wrong way in late June, and he was airlifted from our local hospital to one in Bend, Or and was in the ICU for almost a week. He passed away on June 30th, early in the morning. He had been transferred to their Hospice unit and passed peacefully and in no pain.
There will not be a memorial service or anything formal like that (Rick & I had our plans in place on all of this “stuff”). I am keeping all of his blog links; Rick would always point me to some of your posts, expanding my reading tastes. And it worked. You folks will continue to be my virtual friends and go-to team for new books/authors.
I will keep his blog site open for awhile but do not expect to post reviews, etc. I am not a writer, as you can see. I was so lucky to have been able to share 16+ years of my life with Rick. What a wonderful Bear he was, and will still be, in my heart!
Tip the Wink 
I am so sorry to hear this! My heart aches for you. I wish you comfort and peace as you face this. Please know that Rick had many friends in cyberspace, and we stand with you at this time. Thank you for sharing Rick with us.
I only knew Rick through his posts. I will miss him very much.
Barbara, Thanks so much for writing this and sharing this information.
Rick was a special blogging friend to me, kind and generous with his comments and thoughts. I appreciated the books he shared with me, especially The Cadfael Companion, which I am still using as I read through the Brother Cadfael series.
I miss him very much. He was very lucky to have you in his life.
And you seem like quite a good writer. Will miss Rick very much. I have been perusing his blog since I heard the sad news and will do so as long as its up. I will post some of his Friday Forgotten book reviews on my site if that is okay with you. I post ones from Bill, Ed, Ron and Randy from time to time. The list is growing too long…
Thanks, Barbara, for your kind words about us, and giving us a fuller story. Take care.
I’ve known Rick for many years going back to our days with DAPA-EM. He was a knowledgeable and witty writer. I know he loved you very much. We will all miss him.
I heard about Rick’s passing a few days ago and I’m glad to have a chance to tell you that I’m very sorry to hear of it. He was a good fellow and a bright mystery fan whose voice will be missed.
Beautiful words, Barbara. From Rick’s posts, I gather that he considered himself lucky to share his life with you.
I am so very sorry. It all is so very hard.
So sorry for your loss. I only knew Rick through this blog, he always had something interesting to say, and read some great books.
Thinking of you at this time