Tributes

Richard Edward Fernandes was born on March 21, 1937, in Modesto. Richie spent his early years at the Ornelas ranch in Tracy, where he overcame whooping cough with an unconventional treatment involving horse milk. Those were the days that the doctors came to the house. His family later moved to Baker Road in Modesto. Richie attended Shiloh school for three years, fondly recalling the walks to school and listening to yodeling of the nearby Mrs. Ott. In his youth, Richie shared language lessons with Emil Ott, attempting to teach each other Portuguese and Swiss and after a time, they only learned the cuss words. At the age of 12, his family moved to Waterford when his dad, Joe, and his two uncles, Manuel and Cesar, formed a dairy partnership. Richie graduated as the first eighth-grade class from Waterford grammar school. He then spent 1.5 years at Oakdale High School before the family moved to Turlock, where he graduated from Turlock High School in 1955. During high school, Richie was up early hours before school milking cows, listening to country music and taking the 18 cans of milk to the local Carnation creamery. After school he’d go back to working on the dairy so he had no opportunity for after school activities. However, Modesto Junior College was where his strength from lifting those milk cans was discovered by a new wrestling coach. Richie learned the wrestling moves and was the 125-pound underdog contender who pinned his opponent in state championships in 40 seconds. He was very proud of that moment. Richie completed his degree in Mechanized Agriculture at MJC and had also started his part-time job at JM Equipment. There at JM, he eventually progressed from the welding shop to parts manager, to salesman, to sales manager for the Modesto office then the Patterson office. His contributions included introducing to the central valley farming community new equipment such as tomato harvesters, big bailers, dairy mixer boxes and GPS tractors. He worked for J.M. Equipment for 57 years and then a few short years at AGMEC with Steve Olson. Richie loved selling farm equipment. Even in his last days when sleeping through the meds, he told us he was selling the “you know what” out of farm equipment in his sleep as we listened to him negotiate the deal. His love for sales led to winning sales contests that led to memorable trips to Italy and Germany. A special note from Richie to his “sales customers:” He wanted you to know that you were his friends and he asked us to tell you “thank you for your friendship for all those years.” It meant a lot to him. In 1956, Richie joined the National Guard, rising to the rank of platoon sergeant E7. Over 8 years, he attended training at Camp Roberts and participated in a prisoner of war training session in Hawaii. During this time in his life, the 2-week yearly training was vacation time from J.M. Equipment so they didn’t have a “real vacation” for many years. In 1957, Richie met Josie through his sister Shirley, who played cupid. Josie and Richie were engaged for one year and then married in 1960. Together, they raised their family – Kathy (1961), Karen (1964), and Donnie (1969). One of the saddest times in his life was losing his middle daughter, Karen to cancer at 39 years old, leaving behind her 2 young daughters, ages 7 and 9.5 years old. Richie had a passion for learning, even while raising his family, he was taking night classes at MJC in real estate appraisal, the import-export business, aviation ground school and a couple years in German. Richie cherished his wife’s Swiss heritage, visiting Switzerland seven times and being actively engaged in the San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club. After his daughter Kathy’s exchange student experience in Germany, they maintain regular contact to this day with the German host family through Skype. When in Switzerland, Richie always used the expression, “meine deutch is nicht so gut, aber es ist lustig.” This means “my german is not so good but it is silly funny.” Richie loved telling a good joke or hearing a good joke. He also loved dancing and was a very good dancer. Richie and Josie belonged to Ballare Club where once a month they had fun dancing and drinking late into the night with their friends. In 1978, when they bought Josie’s parents ranch, Richie juggled his daytime job at JM with irrigating alfalfa, corn, and oats at night, and at one point raising pigs and selling them to China town in San Francisco. An avid outdoorsman, Richie enjoyed fishing, duck hunting, and camping. He shared 18 years of camaraderie with fellow camping enthusiasts, joining the Sunny Romers camping group in 2000. He also proudly belonged to the NRA, the Cabrillo club, and the San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club. Richard E. Fernandes leaves behind his wife Josie of 63 years, daughter Kathy Fernandes & partner Sue Kamrar, son-in-law Mark Mott, son Donnie Fernandes & wife Alta; Grandchildren: David Isaiah Kamrar, Corinne Kamrar, Morgan Mott, Madison Mott Ureno, Allie Fernandes; and Great Grandsons: Cru, Mav, and Jett Gutierrezand Great-granddaughter, Audra Kamrar. He also leaves behind his 6 siblings, Shirley (Dan) Coelho, Julianne (Bud) Rosa, Kathy Letras, Larry Fernandes-Lisa, Garry Fernandes, and Debbie (Tom) White, and many relatives of the large Fernandes family. Richie leaves a legacy of honesty, integrity, loyalty, strong work ethic, a sense of humor, and the ability to tell a good story… or two… or three or how many you had time for. His stories touched the hearts of family, friends, and colleagues. He will be missed by many including those in the central valley who knew him. May he rest in eternal peace. Visitation will be Tuesday, January 2nd, 4:00 to 6:00pm at Turlock Funeral Home followed by rosary recitation at 6pm. A funeral mass will be held Wednesday, January 3rd, at 11:00am at Our Lady of Assumption church, 2602 S. Walnut Rd, Turlock, 95380. In memory of Richard, please make donations to Covenant Care, 125 N Broadway, Turlock, CA 95380 or San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club Memorial Fund, P.o. box 373, Ripon, CA 95366.

Tributes

Richard Edward Fernandes

March 21, 1937 - December 11, 2023