Richard Guy Tringale

Known by all who knew and loved him as "Richard", "Rich", "Tringy", "The Big Guy", Uncle Rich, and, affectionately, "Papa Rich" by his children and grandchildren, he will be missed beyond words by all the people whose lives he touched. Richard was a very special man and he will always live in our minds and hearts and will always be remembered. Richard loved each member of his family and was always there for them. He was a very caring man and unselfishly did what was in the best interests of his family always seeking to help where he could. He loved spending time with his children, grandchildren, family members, nieces and nephews and their children and his many friends and he often spoke of his own life's experiences with them in an effort to benefit each and every one of them. He was generous at heart - a giving father and grandfather. Richard was the "genuine article". He meant what he said and, he said what he meant. He always offered sincere and heartfelt words of advice that were in the very best interests of others and he never asked more of others than he was willing to take on for himself. 

He enjoyed telling stories just to make people laugh and those that heard his humor came to call his stories, "Richisums". Richard loved life. And he lived his life like a "kid in a candy shop" - just never able to get enough of it. If it was possible for someone to be in multiple places at the same time, Richard would have found the way! Born and raised in the Boston area, Richard never hesitated to jump on a jet to enjoy even a few days with his parents, brothers, nieces and nephews, and cousins who lived in the Boston area. He lived to be with his family and those dear to him. He loved Boston and had a special fondness for its "North End", enjoying good Italian food and vino. Like his father, "Guy", he cheered for the Red Sox and, at times - he booed the Red Sox. In the hearts of his two brothers, Ron and Joe (AKA by Richard as, "Ronny", "Joey", "Joe Joe Rabbit"), Richard will be remembered as the very best "big brother" any "little brother" could ever have hoped for - always giving them the "big brother" guidance they may not have realized that they needed at the time, didn't' always welcome, but always appreciated and came to value in the end. 

Always active and energetic, Richard loved to ride a bike and he would be heard to say that he loved the feeling of the wind in his face and the way that riding his bike made him feel. All through his life he would ride his bike in the sunshine, sleet or snow. In his childhood years, he was regularly seen zipping through the Somerville neighborhoods he grew up in and often seen riding with his youngest brother, "Ronald", riding atop the handlebars or the crossbar of his English Raleigh bike. (If only Ronald could have kept his little feet out of the front wheel spokes of the bike! You know what we're talking about, Ronald!) When he grew older, he loved riding his bike through the streets of Boston's North End - and when he finally made it to Italia - the streets of Rome. Fishing was also a great love of his life and he enjoyed his leisure hours trolling for fish on his boat that he named after the advice his Father would often offer him, "Don't Worry About It". And, those four words spoke to the philosophy with which Richard lived his life. He was an avid angler, spending many memorable hours on his favorite rivers, lakes, mountain streams, or the ocean always hoping to catch "the big one". 

After graduating Somerville High School with honors and notoriety as a star basketball athlete, Richard was the first in his family to graduate from university while working multiple jobs to pay his own way through college. He graduated UMass Lowell with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1973 where he was also a member of the basketball and rowing teams. Later in life he attended the University of Tennessee earning a Masters' degree in Environmental Science & Nuclear Engineering in 1994. Richard often said that he knew from the time he was 5 years old that he wanted to be an engineer and his mother would just as often relate how, from an early age, he loved to take things apart just to put them back together again. Engineering was in his blood. He was a well-known and respected member of the engineering community completing his highly-successful career as Senior Project Manager for one of the most prestigious engineering firms in the USA. During his 48 plus years in the profession he engineered the build of nine commercial nuclear power plants, five fossil fuel plants, two chemical processing facilities, and numerous federal government projects. Those whom Richard worked with knew him to be a great motivational leader and, notably, through his ability to spin a story. Each morning, when he would start a meeting with his work team, he always started the day off with a story and he would take a scene from a movie or share a story from his life experiences and then translate it into something that would help his work team with a solution to a problem. His team members came to look forward to those anecdotal stories and one of his co-workers once quipped that they were always asking themselves, "I can't wait to hear what Rich is going to tell us about today." In his professional "Bio" Richard described himself as a "relentless self-starter, providing innovative solutions to challenging projects with a high degree of enthusiasm and attention to details and a principle-based leader with a relentless drive toward the project mission and client satisfaction with an uncompromising commitment to quality, safety, and job satisfaction." That was an accurate summary of Richard's professional as well as his personal values! That was Richard Guy Tringale. 

Richard's family will always hold dear the memory of the man that he was and especially those occasions that brought him and others the most happiness and the most smiles. His family will always remember him spending his leisure time fishing on a pier, river, stream or beach, his rod and reel in hand, relentlessly casting a line on the waters, and then the thrill on his face when he caught "the big one". At the end of the day, with the sun setting behind him and while he relentlessly worked the water with cast after cast... his family would call to him, "Richard! Let's go! Time to go home!" ....And, Richard would be heard to call back..., "Just one more cast... One more cast...Just one more...One more....' That is how Richard lived his life. And...That was Richard Guy Tringale - a loving significant other that was so dear to the one he loved and was loved by, a father and grandfather in a way that only his children and grandchildren would truly know, the very best big brother to his younger brothers that should have known better but came to learn better and see clearer because of him, the most caring and empathetic uncle to his nieces and nephews, and the very best nephew and cousin to the aunts, uncles and cousins that will always remember fondly the little guy who always had a smile on his face and lit up the sky and brightened their day. Richard is survived by his beloved significant other, Jennifer Burch of Nashville TN; daughter Alisa Lee Tringale Jackson and her husband Matt Jackson, and their children Lyla and Jake of Paris Kentucky; daughter Sarah Marie Tringale and her son Jaden of Houston Texas; son Richard "Rick" Tringali of New Orleans LA; brother Joseph Tringale and his wife, Laureen, of Auburn NH and their children Jesse Tringale of Hooksett NH and Cassandra Fulford (Tringale) of Gloucester MA; brother Ronald Tringale and his wife, Amy, of Windham NH and his children Stephanie and Robert. 

He also leaves many loving aunts, uncles and cousins. He is predeceased by his mother and father, Grace and Guy formerly of Somerville, MA. Your love for others, zest for life and your courage to fight for it against the odds has inspired us, Richard! We love you. We will never forget you. And we will miss you dearly. Beyond all words, we will miss you! Richard's family plans a "Celebration of Life" in his memory in the early spring that will respect his wishes and love for Boston and New England. Thank you Uncle Joey for your beautiful obituary!

Nashville Cremation Center is honored to be entrusted with handling Mr. Tringale's arrangements. Please visit his guestbook to leave a thoughtful note for the family.