Victor George Richer

Victor George Richer passed from this life to the next during the lunar eclipse on November 18, 2021, shortly after his 89th birthday. He was under hospice care in Great Falls, Montana. He was surrounded by the love of family and friends. Vic was born in East Haven, Connecticut in 1932. He graduated from Hamden Hall in 1949 with mathematics and science awards. Vic was awarded his BA in music by the University of Bridgeport in 1953. His extraordinary talent earned him admission to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, but he soon realized his calling to the ministry. Vic left Curtis to attend Philadelphia Divinity School, where he graduated with a Master of Divinity and was ordained in 1957. His final degree was a Doctor of Ministry from the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia in 1992, which he considered quite an accomplishment. Vic was devoted to pastoral ministry at parishes in New York, Connecticut, and Montana. He served as Canon to the Ordinary and Diocesan Administrator, and Archdeacon at the Episcopal Diocese of Montana. Vic was asked to serve as director of Lindisfarne Camp Marshall on Flathead Lake in 1963, which he happily did for an additional 18 summers. Vic was an extraordinary musician who gave piano and organ lessons, led church choirs, and organized and performed in countless concerts and recitals in Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, and Montana. He composed music, poems, and short stories, and played renaissance music with friends. Vic also enjoyed reading, trains, building clocks, keeping his mind sharp with puzzles and advanced calculus, and learning seven languages. Those who knew and loved Vic mourn the loss of a highly intelligent, complex, multi-talented and humorous man. Vic is survived by five children, Donna and husband Rich, Mark and bride Patricia, Kathryn, Michael, Steve and wife Stephanie; four grandsons, Jared and wife Amanda, Carl, Jordan, Ethan and wife MacKenzie and their daughter; and former wife, Brenda. Contributions in Vic’s honor can be made to St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN (https://www.stjude.org/), or Children International (www.children.org). The family will conduct a private burial.