Mr. Richard Allen Splenda's Obituary
Richard Splenda
August 23, 1940 – August 3, 2015
Berkeley, CA
Richard Allen Splenda passed away at his home on the 3 rd of August doing something he truly enjoyed, laying in bed listening to the Giants game. He lived a long fruitful life making it to a few weeks shy of his 75th birthday. He is survived by his two sons, Jot the elder son and his wife Nicole and their three children Caden, Ty and Noelle, his younger son Trigg and his wife Thalita, as well as the mother of his children, Marianne. He is also survived by his sister Babbette Guballa and her husband Butch and their daughters Tiffany, her son Tyler, and Nicole and her husband Tony plus his brother James and his wife Cindy and their daughter Taryn. Rich was born in Clairton, Pennsylvania on August 23rd, 1940 to parents James Mario Splenda and Margaret Churilla. He graduated from Penn State University and received a Master’s degree from Michigan where upon graduation he moved to San Francisco to practice Landscape Architecture in 1967. Shortly after relocating to the Bay Area, he opened his own business and designed parks, child development centers and play spaces of all types throughout the region that are enjoyed by
thousands of people each year. He loved his family and instilled many traditions such as ice cream after little league games, smoked turkey bbq parties, enjoying good beaches (or a good pool), Sunday morning football, following the local teams, kids, their friends, and grandkids in season, and a dark beer with his burrito. He often spent endless hours volunteering his time teaching the fundamentals of baseball to any age, discussing the finer points of how to improve yourself or your business interests, or working on house projects all over the country.
Rich was an original, one of a kind guy. He was a loud, crass, blunt, influential, opinionated individual who was controversial at times but always full of hospitality. His memory will endure in the parks he designed and the many memories he created that will live on in the hearts of his friends and family. He will truly be missed. A short informal service followed by a celebration of his life will take place at Codornices Park in Berkeley on August 29 from 9am-12pm.
In lieu of flowers plant a tree.
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