Friends and KAMR members, I am sorry to report that our long time friend and comrade, Rick Heller, has passed away Monday afternoon from complications in his treatment for cancer. He has been with his family (father, sister and brothers) in Cleveland since mid November and had been admitted to a hospital there for his on-going condition. He was able to spend his last days in his family’s care at his father’s home.

For those of you who are recent members of the KAMR, Rick was a charter member of the club and a long time President during our early years at Erin Presbyterian Church in west Knoxville. Rick was the self assumed “transportation officer” and had rebuilt his old ex-U-Haul truck into a box van to haul club modules to the many shows that we attended over the years. (As distant as Columbus, Ohio; Mobile, Alabama; and Richmond, Virginia and many places in between. Without Rick we would have rarely gotten out of town and certainly would not have been recognized as one of the finest modular clubs in the southeast.)

He was instrumental in establishing KAMR’s relationship with the Children’s Museum and for the establishment of the Lloyd Layout. Rick rarely missed a work session during the remodeling of our club’s current space at the museum and was an energetic promoter of the hobby and our relationship with the museum.

Although Rick claimed to be an N Scaler, he truly was an eclectic modeler who was interested and collected all things that involved model trains. In the mid 1980s Rick and I were buying Atlas N scale rolling stock almost weekly, I would buy northeastern roads and a few of the more colorful cars and think I was doing something -- Rick on the other hand had a standing order from one of the mail order houses to ship three of everything Atlas would produce. One car would become a “runner” and the remaining two would be added to his permanent collection. He scoured shows with his inventory lists looking for older cars that he had missed prior to his entry into the hobby and rarely did his red backpack come home without many treasures.

From what I understand Rick’s funeral and burial services will be held in Cleveland and a memorial service will be held here later. I will try to keep you all posted on this information as it becomes available.


Regards

Jim Schall

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Sorry to learn of Rick's passing. Years ago he was 1 of 2 guys who inspired me to join KAMR. I first met him at the large scale tables at train shows - didn't know he was an avid N Scaler. His kind demeanor will be missed.

Rick was a friend to many of us, and you would be hard pressed to find a kinder, more generous person. His contributions to the KAMR and CMOR are huge.

I went through years of digital photos to see if I had any good shots of Rick, and I noticed something... whenever the doors were open he was somewhere in the photos. That includes a lot of thankless work sessions, and many of the open houses at the mall.

Here is a photo of Rick enjoying himself at the museum. He will be greatly missed.

-Phil Brooks

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Model Railroading means..."A Money-Pit filled with Trains"

Rick was always there. His kind words and friendship will be missed by everone he touched. His passion for model railroading I had never seen before I met him at the Oak Ridge Mall looking for folks to help me with my Dad's American Flyers. He made everone feel welcome and his quite ways were mine, like many others, one of the reasons I join the club.

We will all miss him but he will alway be with us in spirit during our operating sessions, working on our layouts, going to shows and even fixing cars on the side of the road getting there.

THANKS Rick, for everything,

Brad