Rick was born in Bremerton, WA to Beryl and Ann Sherwood.  As a child, he developed his love of sports; first baseball and fishing, then in high school he added basketball.  Midway through his sophomore year, his dad received an opportunity to work at Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines, and Rick left Bremerton (and his long-time friends at Central Kitsap High School) to begin a 5-year adventure in the Far East with new friends at George Dewey High School and later Santo Tomas University in Manila.

With war in the Far East, he returned to the US and enlisted in the Army as a medic.  He was selected for advanced training at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Colorado, then it was off to Vietnam.  Surviving his year in Vietnam and returning to WA, he enrolled in a new medical program for returning corpsmen with advanced training at the University of Washington: the MEDEX program (now Physician Assistant).  It was a career that he thoroughly enjoyed at Group Health Coop and later Kaiser Permanente, retiring after 34 years.

In 1971 while looking across a dance floor, he spotted the woman whom he would spend the rest of his life with, Jan.  Together in the summers they traveled to national parks, backpacked WA trails, and fished rivers and lakes.  In winters, they skied and went dog sledding.  Rick’s sports changed from baseball to softball and added tennis and golf.  After retiring, Rick and Jan began traveling overseas:  Central & South America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and Africa.  Each country held more adventures, interesting people to meet, and wonders to see.

Opting for year-round summer, in 2011 Rick and Jan built a winter home at PebbleCreek in Goodyear, AZ.  Winters now were golfing and watching spring training baseball, summers golfing and salmon fishing back in Redmond, WA.

Rick lived life to the fullest, finding joy in each day.  He was preceded in death by his parents Beryl and Ann, and his oldest brother James.  He will be missed by his devoted wife Jan, nephews James Sherwood (NV), Kevin and Mark Gallagher (WA), Melissa Weir (CO), and Amanda Redding (TX), and cousins Ken and Don French and Debbie Blucher (WA), WA Double Eagle & AZ Bunker Boys golfers, plus many life-long friends.