Richard Warren Shurtleff

In silence you can watch the shadows thinking. You can see the wind, but not its shadow. Even though we can no longer see your shadow or hear you voice. We know you are here, watching the wind dance through the trees in the light and the darkness like a ballet. Listening to nature's sound, the symphony.
On November 1st 2024 our Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Uncle and friend left his physical body to dance with his Gods, amongst the trees, while cascading euphorically down and along the banks of his favorite waterfalls. If Dad ever took you to the woods, he must have really loved you. That was his peace, his church.
Richard Warren Shurtleff was born on September 4th, 1943 to Leda June and Warren Nelson Shurtleff in Ogden, Utah. He was the oldest of 7 siblings, Carolynn, Jeanie, Darla, Celestia, Chuck and Tim. All of whom he loved with his whole heart. Dad was never interested in the traditional path that society laid out for him. He lived on his own terms and did things in his own way. He had joined the Army at just 17 years of age. He served as a military police officer in the Army. He had attended Patrol supervisor school where the FBI trained. While in the military he found a love of reading. The human mind fascinated him. He read every book about Psychiatry he could get his hands on from the University in Kansas City, even though he did not actually attend. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1967. He traveled and lived in many places after the Army. The place that captured his soul was Mt. Shasta, California. His passion for reading and music never wavered. When he read, he could feel everything the author was conveying between the lines. With music he could hear the tones and different instruments that anyone else would ignore. Every walk, every conversation, every meal was, felt, heard, understood with complete intent.
In 1969 he met and fell in love with a beauty Shauna Harris, even though she wasn't a redhead. Together they had 4 children, Nichole, Oriana, Phaedra and Ryan. He would say his children were his greatest accomplishments.
Life was an art to him, a giant canvas. He thrived on giving you the opportunity to use your imagination. He had a passion for photography. The idea that there are many dimensions and shades of life. A lens with different focus gives us a different view. We all have our own lens that has us see things and ideas differently. He could look through a camera lens and search each angle, choose different depths. Make everything in view as sharp or as blurry, as wide or as narrow. He chose his frame methodically. He could make an ordinary scene abstract. He drew inspiration from silence, yet his words were profound. He didn't believe in things in excess except creativity and knowledge. He wanted to make the ordinary extraordinary. He welcomed every solstice and would remind us all to celebrate. He had a rare and distinctive sense of humor. As he would say, "When the Bears hear and see me and Big Foot running naked through the woods, they know that hibernating is over. And of course they have mixed feelings about that, but they do get a good laugh out of the deal."
There really was no one like our Dad. He was one of a kind. He is going to be greatly missed by many in this realm. But we will see him again, for he is the wind in the trees, the butterfly emerging from its cocoon, the stone in the creek, the owl screeching overhead, the ground upon which we walk. Bobberdoos we will see you down the road.
Richard's unique, untethered, vibrant shadow, although no longer visible through our lens, continues to dance alongside his kids Nichole (Greg), Oriana (Jack), Pheadra, Ryan (Cassie), Kellie, Liz and Gina, 16 Grandchildren whom he had remarkable and meaningful relationships with, 3 Great-Grandchildren, 5 siblings, many Nieces and Nephews who he shared special relationships with and many other beloved family and friends. And we can't forget Big Foot.
A special thanks to his friends and community in Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta for creating a place he truly loved and belonged.
He is preceded in death by his Mother and Father, his Brother Tim and Grandson Boady and granddaughter Martina Shauna.
A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, November 9th at 1:00 pm at the Kroening residence 5481 E. Buckhorn Drive in Eden, Utah.