Rick Gregg Sherwood

Rick Gregg Sherwood

January 03, 1969 – December 06, 2020

Rick Gregg Sherwood was born January 03, 1969, at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Carole (Myers) and Gregg Sherwood.  Rick’s father, Gregg, was not at his birth because he was serving in South Korea with the Air National Guard.  Gregg held Rick for the first time when Rick was three weeks old.  The Sherwood family lived in New Mexico for a while and then lived in Phoenix and Chandler, Arizona from 1971 to 1979.  Rick’s baby sister, Julie, was born in Glendale, Arizona in 1976.  The family returned to Albuquerque in 1979 where Rick resided for the (most) of the rest of his life.

Rick grew up in a family that played lots of outdoor games like croquet, board games and a plethora of card games.  He also loved pinball, arcade and video games.  He played a variety of sports, but bowling became his passion when he was a young teenager.  He was an avid bowler, practicing and competing in junior and adult leagues. He bowled for the UNM bowling team and competed in several bowling tournaments as an adult.  He won the Coca-Cola State Championship as a junior bowler and competed in nationals.  He bowled several, perfect 300 games and had two official 800+ series.  Rick worked at Fiesta Lanes bowling center (which still has its sign on San Pedro and Menaul) for several years.  He met his wife, Jennifer (Stomp) at Fiesta Lanes while she worked there too.  Rick and Jen began dating in 1988 and married in 1992.  Rick graduated with his BBA from UNM in 1992 and received his MBA in 2007. 

Rick and Jen have been happily married for 28 years.  They have three incredible children: Spencer Rick, 25 years old, Chad Andrew, 21 years old, Peyton Carol, 15 years old.  Being a husband and father really define Rick.  Jen and Rick were best friends. They enjoyed each other’s company, relaxing, playing games, taking walks, riding bikes, watching tv and being partners in life.  They are open, honest, silly and know each other inside and out.  Rick and Jen each took turns going back to school which left the other to be a single parent for many nights per week.  Rick became quite adept at cooking and Jen always encouraged him to be the full-time Sherwood chef. 

It's impossible to summarize Rick as a dad in a paragraph.  Rick was the perfect balance of playful, disciplinarian, teacher, friend and confidant.  He has supported all of his children’s activities and sports throughout the years.  Rick’s ability to teach his children math and other subjects is unmatched.  The Sherwood five are really a unit.  They have countless memories of wonderful family vacations, trips to the zoo and museums, movie nights, games, games and more games.  They even made up a “great escape” game that they loved to play in the house. 

Rick was employed for more than 18 years at Sandia National Labs and held multiple positions.  His current position was manager of the Nuclear Deterrence Program.  He worked at Holman’s, Honeywell and Eclipse Aviation prior to working at SNL.  Rick strived to constantly improve himself.  He was a certified expert in statistical process improvement and a Master Black Belt.  He facilitated around 100 improvement activities and trained nearly 1,000 belts at Sandia.  In 2019, he completed the Essential Topics for Nuclear Weapons Managers.  He was very excited that he was accepted into this program and learned a lot. Rick also volunteered with Sandia’s Guy’s Gives group, Habitat for Humanity, Roadrunner Food Bank and Ronald McDonald House.  One of Rick’s biggest accomplishments was his TED Talk about autonomy, mastery and purpose in 2017. Rick just began volunteering as a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico this year. He wanted to make a difference, because of the inequity he saw throughout America.

Rick was such a wonderful person.  He had lots of friends at work and outside of work.  He was a skilled manager, leader, teacher.  Rick was smart with a keen memory for little details.  He could remember jokes, movie lines, lyrics, book plots, etc.  He was super quick-witted and always looking for the funny. 

Rick had many interests that he explored over the years.  He currently was painting at home, enjoying a new massage chair, listening to audible books, working from home (at the same time helping his daughter, Peyton, with virtual learning), hanging with his three dogs, listening to music, participating in fantasy football, baseball and basketball leagues, watching his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers and Phoenix Suns play.  He recently started hiking more and playing golf with his son, Chad.  Rick also looked forward to frequent telephone or Facetime calls with his son Spencer and was excited for his debut album. Even with Spencer in Prague, the Sherwood five played family games regularly.

Rick is survived by his parents, Carole and Gregg, his sister, Julie (husband Brian), wife Jennifer, sons Spencer and Chad, daughter Peyton, Grandmother Lois Sherwood, multiple aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, mother-in-law, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.  He will be mourned and missed greatly by his family, friends and co-workers.

Private Services to be held.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

An online memorial site has been set up in memory of Rick. If you would like to share a story, memory, photo, video, or anything that reminds you of him, please see https://memories.net/  and search for Rick Sherwood

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial contribution to Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico