On Saturday night 8/16/2008, we lost a great husband, father, Papa, and friend to pancreatic cancer.

Since the diagnosis in early March of this year, the cancer and related treatments battered his body but never broke his spirit.  Dick showed the same determination, passion, and selfless character in his fight against this horrible disease that he showed in the rest of his life.  Despite the limited available treatments and his indomitable spirit, we lost an otherwise healthy, vibrant and young man in less than six months. 

Once diagnosed, the odds facing a person with pancreatic cancer are perilous.  Like so many others, Dick's only symptoms were mild lethargy and weight loss.  By the time he was diagnosed, his options were limited, and in some cases, largely experimental. 

Dick had compassionate and highly skilled care throughout his ordeal, but the answers to pancreatic cancer are elusive and unclear.  We hope that through further research, others will benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of the disease and how best to combat it.  We believe that Dick would find it highly rewarding to know that in some way, his loss benefitted others.  This would be consistent with how this wonderful man placed his students, athletes, family and friends' welfare before his own, and how he took joy in the accomplishments of those close to him. He was a fiercely compassionate, empathetic, joyful and selfless person.

Again, we believe that a donation to research for pancreatic cancer would highly honor this man who viewed education and hard work as the path to an enlightened life. 

This method of donation was chosen by the Olenchek family as a way to direct the greatest amount of funds directly to pancreatic cancer research, and all donations received at the funeral and via this site will go directly to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and secure. Many thanks for your support - and feel welcome to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate.