Mitchell Allen “Mitch” Rick, 66, of Waterloo, passed died unexpectedly in his home on Oct. 22, 2025. Mitch was born March 11, 1959, In Belleville to Lester and GeorgieAnn (nee Malawy) Rick.

Mitchell was a member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tipton.

He grew up in Villa Hills, Belleville, where he attended Immaculate Conception School in Centerville. At the age of 9, his family moved to Coulterville, where he graduated from Johannesburg School, in Venedy.

Mitch enjoyed his childhood spending time with his cousins, and playing in the woods behind his house. During the summers, he would help his grandpa on his 90 acre farm baling hay and other farm work.

In 1977, he graduated from Okawville High School, and moved on to the next phase of his life. From 1977-1978 he attended school at the University of Illinois.

In late 1978 he began his four years of employment with the Illinois Power Company as a surveyor. It was at this time that Mitch just so happened to be between girlfriends and saw his future wife, Pat, at the Pizza Hut in Mascoutah. It took him 5 months to go back and ask for her name from her manager.

They finally met on Oct. 27, 1979, at the St. Libory Legion Hall through mutual friends. After dating for three years, they decided to tie the knot and planned to marry Oct. 30, 1982, at Holy Childhood Catholic Church in Mascoutah.

A month prior to the wedding, Mitch was laid off from the Illinois Power Company, and the two decided to move so he could earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale.

After graduating from college he started his engineering career at McDonald Douglas (Boeing) where he worked there from May 1985 until he decided to retire early in July of 2017 to take care of Pat who was battling breast cancer.

Mitch was a loving father, and always stressed to his children the importance of family and faith. The breast cancer battle fought by his wife was hard on both, but he faithfully supported Pat throughout the entire ordeal right to her devastating passing on Dec. 17, 2017.

He echoed the vow “through sickness and health” as he supported his ailing wife, in the role of a loving and devoted husband. Even through the hard times they still laughed and hoped for better, knowing that together they would endure. All the while showing his children an excellent example of what a marriage should be.

One year after the passing of his wife, Mitch transitioned from being just a father to the role of grandfather. He was so excited to welcome his first grandson, and not long after four more followed. He loved to see his grandchildren, and would always have something for them to do on his 25 acres out in the country. He was always playing with them, and enjoyed every second they spent together.

Mitch held many hobbies and interests. He immensely enjoyed genealogy. He would spend many late night hours researching the family tree and learning their history. He also would take great joy in telling his children all that he had found.

From this a great appreciation of his Polish roots sprang. He studied for many hours learning the polish language, saving recipes, and cooking the traditional polish foods.

One of the things he looked forward to every year was attending the Du Bois Polish Fest, a chance to meet up with cousins from his childhood and celebrate his Polish heritage. He was even able to travel with his mom to Poland and enjoyed the culture so much that he was determined to return more fluent in the language, and to take his family with him.

Another passion he held was gardening. He maintained a large garden for many years growing a wide variety of things from blackberries, strawberries, corn, green beans, pumpkins and watermelon, just to name a few. He never had an issue with his crop, and also seemed to excel in whatever he planted.

Even more, he loved to share with his family and friends, and was also generous with his harvest. Over the years his variety of things grew, and from that other hobbies, such as wine making, much to his daughter’s delight, sprouted. He was never afraid to try to grow new things, or “stick some seeds in the ground just to see what they do”.

Mitch also was a skilled woodworker, and had quite the wood shop. He would make a wide variety of things for his family, such as shelves, toy boxes, club houses, dollhouses and a geodesic dome. He enjoyed sketching out a design for something on a scrap piece of paper and figuring out the math to go along with it.

He was well learned and always wanted to fix things. If he didn’t know the answer he was going to figure it out.

Mitch was a kind and generous person. He was always willing to help those in need with his time, treasure or service. Mitch was a loving son, husband, father, grandfather and friend to all that knew him, and will be missed dearly by all.

He is survived by his daughter Victoria (Sean) Barbour, daughter Katherine (Sean) Burke and son James (Brianna) Rick; grandchildren Carson Barbour, Patricia Barbour, Liam Burke, Gwen Burke and Waylon Rick; mother GeorgieAnn Rick, (nee Malawy); siblings Donald (Jennifer) Rick, Tom (Holly) Rick and Mary (Brian) Heckert; uncles Gary (Diane) Malawy and Richard (Deanna) Malawy; nieces, nephews and cousins.

He is preceded in death by his wife Patricia Ann Rick and his father Lester Rick.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Oct. 29 and 8-9:15 a.m. Oct. 30 at Quernheim Funeral Home in Waterloo.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m.Oct. 30, 2025 at St. Patrick Catholic Church – Tipton with Father John Kizhakedan officiating.

Interment will follow at St. Patrick Cemetery – Tipton.

As an expression of sympathy, the family prefers memorial contributions to donor’s choice.