Robert Rickels

Robert (“Bob”) E. Rickels died at home in January, 2022, just a few months shy of the grand age of 99, constantly surrounded by devoted family. His daughter, Kris, was deeply honored to care for him at home--with the unflagging support and partnership of her husband, Scott—in his final years. Teacher, artist, musician, traveler, outdoorsman, devout Lutheran, unequalled father, husband, and friend, Bob Rickels was a very special, inspiring man. He will be remembered lovingly for his unending kindness, consideration, gentle wisdom and patience, along with his playful sense of fun, great sense of humor, and reputation for witty and unexpected quips. Bob also lived his faith, truly embodying the charity and compassion of Jesus Christ and always finding the good in people. Bob was born in May, 1923, son of the Rev. Gerdjanssen and Augusta Rickels in a rural parish in Iowa, “in the middle of the east central Iowa cornfields.” The family included two older sisters, both now deceased. Bob attended elementary and high school in Atkins. Bob's higher education included attending Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato Minnesota; Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois; the School of the Art Institute in Chicago; and two summers at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana with friends Rudy Autio and Pete Voulkos. He earned his Master of Fine Arts from UM (Missoula) in art and sculpture. It was during UM's summer session, 1959, that Bob met Thelma (Tomi) Gerstman, from Regina, Saskatchewan, who was at that time a professor of health and recreation in St. John's, Newfoundland. They were married in Oak Park, Illinois, in April, 1965, and honeymooned in the modest cabin Bob had recently built in the heart of the Beartooth Mountains. Bob's passion for Montana was lifelong, inspired first by family that settled here in the early 1900s, and visits to them as a young man. Bob's teaching career included a stint in a one-room school in rural Minnesota; over a decade at a Lutheran elementary school in Melrose Park, Illinois; a year at Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska; and 30 years at Concordia College in St. Paul, Minnesota where he introduced art courses and supervised the development of an art department and major. After retiring in 1992, he taught as an Emeritus Professor at Concordia, substituted at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, and taught several children's clay workshops in St. Paul. Bob and Tomi loved to travel. They enjoyed sabbatical leaves and leading study tours in mainland Europe and the UK. After retirement, they enjoyed Elderhostel and Road Scholar tours in Canada, Europe, the US, Mexico, Central America, Turkey, and the Greek Isles. In 1998, the Rickels permanently returned to the Montana they both loved to be close to their children and the family cabin at East Rosebud Lake. They settled in Billings, sharing a home with their daughter and son-in-law, who converted it to an “open air duplex” in preparation for Bob and Tomi's golden years. In Billings, Bob was well-known for his volunteer service and cheerful, good-humored, and kindly presence as a docent of the Yellowstone Art Museum. He conducted gallery tours and presented “suitcase” programs in Billings elementary schools. In 2008, Bob was honored by the museum as Docent of the Year. He was recognized again in 2018 for “many years of outstanding service.” Throughout his life, Bob engaged in studio activity involving ceramics, drawing, silver, wood cut, collage, and mosaic. He participated in exhibits and art fairs and installed a number of commissioned works in churches in the upper Midwest. Bob's sterling silver jewelry work has been displayed and sold at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings; in the Carbon County Arts Guild Depot Gallery in Red Lodge; and at the Windy Flats Gallery in Nye. He also displayed his ceramics at the Apple Gallery in downtown Billings in 2013. Bob was also a talented musician. He played in and later taught band and music, played stirring improvisational piano, and sung in choirs through the years. He and Tomi found their Billings church home at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, where they enjoyed the music program and sang in the senior choir. The church was a very special part of their life in Billings. LCGS Pastor and St. John's Hospice Chaplin Elizabeth Ligget provided a great deal of comfort to Bob and his family in his final months, particularly with her tender and loving presence on the night of Bob's passing. Bob was shaped by his love of the beauty and majesty of the natural world, which deepened his faith and informed his art. He particularly loved the Beartooth Mountains, especially East Rosebud Lake and the high country surrounding it. He wrote, “rugged mountain peaks against intensely blue sky; rushing white water streams frothing at their feet; serene lakes reflecting forest flowers--these are my sources of inspiration and motivation for sculpture and jewelry.” Bob loved outdoor recreation, especially hiking, but also backpacking, fishing in earlier days, canoeing, cross-country skiing, and later snowshoeing. He also enjoyed photography and drawing the forms, colors, and patterns he found in nature. He took his last backpack trip from Cooke City to East Rosebud with his kids at age 71, but many day hikes followed, and he and Tomi snowshoed and skied into his late 80s. Until the summer of 2021, Bob was still taking a long daily neighborhood walk. Bob's connection to wild places spurred his conservation concerns, which he shared with his family and which were reflected in the family home and cabin. In 2018, Bob narrated “Wild Resurrection,” a film about the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness designation. In the early 2000s, he appeared regularly in a monthly conservation public radio program. He also indulged his silly, theatrical side as “Green Grandpa” in two episodes of the television PSA, “Green Smarts with the Green Man.” Bob lived a rich, full, and meaningful life, for which he often expressed his gratitude. Bob is survived by his wife, Tomi; son, Rob (Julie) of Colorado; daughter, Kris (Scott) Prinzing of Billings; Grandpup, Ren; niece, Margo (Vic) DePaulis; great niece, Carolina DePaulis (Carlos Gomez), and their tiny tots, Mia and Marco, in Madrid, Spain; as well as his nephews and their children in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Services will be held in May at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Memorials can be sent to the Yellowstone Art Museum Education Program, Northern Plains Resource Council, the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation, or the East Rosebud Lake Ecology Committee.