Published On: March 25th, 2014

Rick MitchellRick Mitchell, President of the Western District in 1985, passed away of a sudden heart attack on Sunday, March 16 while on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina.

Rick was born in Winnsboro, Texas and grew up in Tyler, Texas.  He earned BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin.  He and Sandy were married in 1962 and immediately moved to Berkeley where Rick earned an MS in Transportation Engineering.  He worked as a Traffic Engineer in Richmond, California before he and Sandy moved to San Antonio, Texas where he worked for the City of San Antonio.  In 1966 he became Concord, California’s first Traffic Engineer.  Rick worked at the City of Concord for 15 years and then as Principal at the consulting firm of TJKM for another 15 years.  Rick then went on to start his own Traffic Engineering Consulting firm called Rick Mitchell Transportation Consulting Associates.  During that time, he earned a PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and he later earned a Masters of Divinity at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley.

Rick was editor of WesternITE, the Western District (formerly District 6) newsletter, from 1976 to 1978.  He also served as a Western District (formerly District 6) officer for three years from 1982-83 to 1984-85 and was President in 1985 when the District held its Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He is survived by his wife, Sandy; son, Kent, and his wife, Sharon, of Berkeley; daughter, Melissa, and her husband, John, of Ashland, OR, and; grandchildren, Nick, Jack, Devin and Eliza.

A celebration of Rick’s life will be held on Saturday, March 29, 3:30 pm, at Shell Ridge Community Church, 200 La Casa Via, Walnut Creek, CA.

Because of Rick’s interest in Parkinson’s after Sandy’s diagnosis in 2008, the family requests that donations may be made in his name to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (or a charity of your choice… you’re bound to hit one of his!)

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