Richard W. "Rich" Mallett, 68, of Volga passed away on March 31, 2013, surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with cancer. Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Rude's Funeral Home in Brookings. Visitation will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at Rude's Funeral Home, with a 6:30 p.m. prayer service.
Rich was born on May 21, 1944, to Harold and Julianna (Schuring) Mallett in Bristol. He grew up in Andover and Chelsea.
He met Mary Ellen Stewart while in high school and they were united in marriage on Sept. 3, 1965. Through their married life they lived in Cresbard, Warner, Aberdeen, Mina Lake and finally in Volga. Rich attended one year of college in Aberdeen. Rich worked at the Farmers Union in Warner. He then worked at Control Data in Aberdeen for 17 years. Up until he became ill, he worked as an implementation team member for ISA and DXP.
Rich was instrumental in developing the first indoor hockey rink in Aberdeen. For 17 years, he volunteered countless hours to the success of the program. He was very proud of being on the committee for hosting the first National Invitational Hockey tournament in Aberdeen. While being proud of the program, he was most proud of his boys in all the years with countless hours of videotapes. His favorite pastimes were "putzin" in his garage, hunting with his boys, fishing with his daughter and sitting on the back patio with his loving wife, Mary, of 47 years, admiring his perfectly "manicured" yard.
Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Mary; children: Mike (Julie) Mallett, Mark and special friend, Lisa, Michelle (Jeff) Thue; four grandchildren: Alycia (John), Blake, Sidney and Jack; one great-granddaughter, Addisyn; and his beloved cat, BW.
The family he will be joining in heaven are his parents, Harold and Julianna; brother, Robert; and infant sister, Ione.