Richard Lee Dermer, 59, of Scottsbluff, passed away Monday, July 15, 2013, at Regional West Medical Center.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Chapel with Pastor Ed Hunzeker officiating. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery.
Friends may call at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Chapel on Wednesday, July 17, from 1 to 8 p.m.
Memorials can be made in Richard’s name to Regional West Foundation. Tributes of sympathy may be left at www.dugankramer.com.
Richard was born Oct. 3, 1953, at West Nebraska Methodist Hospital in Scottsbluff to Richard and Esther (Becker) Dermer. He received his education at Longfellow Elementary and graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1971. Richard received a B.A. from Concordia Sr. College and received a BSN from University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1991.
He made his home in Scottsbluff after moving from St. Louis, Mo. where he was a certified psychiatric nurse for 25 years.
Richard was a member of High School Honor Society, St. Agnes Catholic Church, 3rd Degree Knights of Columbus, past president of Germans from Russia, Sigma Theta Tau, Who’s Who in High School, Who’s Who in Nursing, and a Volunteer of Friends of the Midwest Theater.
Richard loved gardening flowers, genealogy, and was an avid collector of many antique collectibles.
Survivors include his sisters, Sharon (Larry) Zitterkoph, and Teresa (Ron) Swank; brother, David (Diane) Dermer; aunts and uncles; nieces and nephews, Crystal (William Burr) Zitterkoph, Matthew Zitterkoph and fiancé Heather Lenoir, Justin Dermer, Garrett Dermer, Lori Jackson, Trevor Schulte and fiancé Jennifer, Andrea (Tony) Tritt and Chuck (Lauren) Swank; great-nieces, Alyssa Burr and fiancé Dustin DeWald; close friends, Billy (Saeko) Jones; numerous friends and former patients whose lives he touched.
Preceding Richard in death are his parents, paternal and maternal grandparents and numerous cousins.
Published in the Star-Herald newspaper on Wednesday, July 17, 2013.
Editor’s note: Although we were not specifically mentioned as an organization to receive memorial donations we did receive a few in honor of Rich. We were also fortunate enough to receive Rich’s complete Germans from Russia research collection which is listed with our Databases, Projects & Collections section of this site. We greatly appreciate any and all donations we receive in honor of Rich and encourage continued support of his collection.
Rich is a cousin, not first cousin, and we met once in about 2007. He was a fantastic researcher of genealogy and helped me several times with questions I had. His genealogy information was amazing. I still miss him and his dry sense of humor and his quiet ways and his knowledge of our past.