Richard Anthony Scholz

Richard Anthony Scholz was born in Santa Rosa, California July 14, 1928. He was known as Dick, Coach Richard, and Pops by his brothers in the Carpet, Linoleum & Soft tile workers Local 12, the many athletes he coached, and his children and their friends, who all loved him for his gentle and caring nature. He passed on June 4, 2014 in Clovis, California. He was first and only son to Francis A Scholz, and Lena Marie Frati. Soon after his birth his family moved to Oakland, California where his only sister Delores was born. He was married to Alice M. Scholz in 1950. Richard and Alice moved to El Cerrito in 1957 and lived there and raised their three children. Richard moved to Clovis, California in 1989 and lived there until his passing. Richard "Dick" was a true craftsman in his trade of laying linoleum. He will always be remembered driving his panel truck to the next job. Dick could take the "lino knife" to an expensive roll, and you would never see a seam. His trade was hard work and very physical, but he was able to keep himself in shape, which allowed him to keep active into his later years. Coach Richard had a life long passion for coaching kids. From his early days of coaching with CYO at St. Leo's in Oakland and St. Jerome's in El Cerrito, to his involvement in Clovis with Clovis West High School he never tired in his efforts to promote hard work and fair play. In all his years of coaching his effort were always volunteer. The only payment he received was in the form of recognition, which meant the world to him. Coach had kept every award, letter of appreciation, and token of thanks he ever received. In his later years he became the world's oldest water boy, always having a towel, a drink and a word of encouragement for his players in victory and defeat. He will always be the "Honorary Coach". Richard had a love of old "corny" movies, and music. With his life long handicap of being hard of hearing he would "plug in" with his headphones or just blast everyone out of the room with the volume maxed out. Next to coaching his personal enjoyment came from dancing. In dance is where he meets Opal Harwell in San Jose, and his partner in life, living in Clovis. Richard was addicted to Dancing With The Stars, and would often send letters to the producers with his comments and suggestions. Pops, as a father was the screen version of a collared Spencer Tracy, and Bing Crosby, with a little Mickey Rooney thrown in. You might not of gotten the answer from him you wanted, but most always it was the one you needed. Although nearly deaf he was very good at listening and understanding emotion. He was always the Coach and conveyed how to appreciate success, and to move forward from defeat. Richard is preceded in passing by father and mother Frank and Lena Scholz, Delores Williams, Alice Scholz, and Opal Harwell. He is survived by Fred, and Kris Scholz of Truckee, Mike, and Jennifer Scholz of Tracy, Susan Keyton-Scholz of Clovis, Linda Bonaldi of Clovis, Matt Scholz of Philadelphia, Frankie Scholz of Truckee, Britt and Cindy Keyton of Long Beach, Michael Morgan of Clovis, Heather and Jet Barrett of Tracy, as well as the countless players, their families, and fellow coaches. No matter how you knew Richard his life will have impact on everyone that had the honor of doing so. There will be a mass for Richard at Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Catholic Church, on Thursday, June 19th, at 10:00 am. Richard will be laid to rest June 20, 2014 in the Calvary-Santa Rosa Cemetery 2930 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa, California 95405. There will be a chance to say good-bye at the cemetery chapel from 10:00 to 11:00am, with a graveside service following at 11:00am.