Patrick Russell Richter passed away on June 24, 2016 at the age of 48. Patrick was born in Enumclaw, Washington on October 2, 1967 and graduated from Auburn Senior High School. In 1990 he married his high school sweetheart Denise Bunch.

After high school he went to work for Fred Meyer grocery. He was forced to retire after 20 years due to two different debilitating diseases.

Patrick served as pitcher for the Auburn Trojans baseball team in high school and then played Parks and Recreation Softball for several years, where he made great friends and memories. However, fishing was his passion and his favorite activity. He spent hours and hours on the banks of numerous rivers and he was an amazing fisherman. If there was a steelhead in the river, you can bet he would catch it. One time he said “there is a fish right there in that hole.” He cast and BOOM, he caught a 12lb Coho salmon. He also loved watching NASCAR, the Sounders, the Seahawks and the Mariners.

Patrick had a huge heart, a wonderful smile and a silly sense of humor. He had an uncanny ability to connect with the older folks and would spend hours visiting with his elderly neighbors.

Words could never express how much Patrick will be missed by those who knew and loved him. He is survived by his wife Denise, his mother, Shirley Parsons, brother, Michael Richter, nephew Kyler Richter, niece Macy Richter, in-laws, numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins, all who loved him very much.


For years, the riverbank was where
Your soul felt most at peace
Your heart was most content when there
With the fish and the geese
But then, your spirit came to rest
Where angels chose to roam
And once equipped with ten pound test
You made yourself at home.

The sky became your deep blue sea
The clouds became your shore
And there, for all eternity
You sat with friends galore
Each angel was a fisherman
Who had traded his pole
For golden wings and a game plan
At Heaven’s Fishing Hole.

The tales you told about each catch
Its stature and its girth
Will live in memories unmatched
As days pass here on earth
Until we meet again, one day
Upon God’s golden sand
We’ll picture you, no other way
Than with a pole in hand.

© 2006 – Jill Eisnaugle’s Poetry Collection

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