Richard Fattig

 On March 3, 2023 a very loving, loyal and devoted husband and father passed away peacefully in Sacramento after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Richard Cavell Fattig was born on Oct. 14, 1946 in Great Lakes, Illinois to Harvey and Ruth Fattig, and spent his early years living in various places throughout the country due to his father's position in the US Navy. Richard had particularly fond memories of living in Kodiak, Alaska, and of spending summers with his grandparents in Missouri. In 1959, the family permanently settled in San Diego. An extremely bright and hard-working student, Richard entered college at 16, and graduated with a degree in History from San Diego State. Eventually, he would go on to receive his PhD in European History from UC San Diego using funding that he received from the GI Bill. Although he often considered his four years of service in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War to be a "complete waste of time," his posting to Oscoda, Michigan led to his meeting his eventual wife of 50 years, Diane Foe Fattig. Following his honorable discharge from the Air Force, Richard and Diane returned to San Diego and began building their life together. During this time, Richard worked in the financial aid department at Grossmont College in La Mesa while Diane worked as a court reporter. The devastating personal tragedy of losing his brother Steven in 1978 was balanced with the birth of his first child, Geoffrey, in 1981. Three years later, the family moved to Sacramento, and daughter Ashley was born in 1987. In Sacramento, Richard worked as a Research Analyst for the California Department of Education for many years before retiring in 2009. His last years at the Department were spent researching district compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act. A proud liberal, Richard often described NCLB as a conservative scheme to replace public schooling with a voucher program designed to benefit wealthy families. Apart from his biting honesty and quick wit, two hallmarks of Richard's personality were his loyalty and devotion to family. This was evident in the many sacrifices he made for his children, spending his weekends at kids' sporting events, countless hours helping with homework, and even getting thrown out of a Babe Ruth baseball game he was coaching in solidarity with his 12-year-old son, who had been the victim of an egregious strike zone and had been ejected while pitching. (He later said that his only regret about the incident was forcing his son to apologize to the umpire.) Richard's unwavering loyalty extended to decades of supporting losing sports teams, including his beloved San Diego Padres. Deciding it wasn't enough to support one snakebit professional franchise, he also became a proud supporter of the Kings after they moved to Sacramento in 1985. In addition to sports, Richard's main interests were reading and travelling. Before his health began to deteriorate, he was also an avid cyclist. His living room resembled a library with hundreds of books on a range of historical periods and topics. He had an innate curiosity about the world and took a deep interest in other cultures, spoke fluent German, and travelled to many countries including Russia, Korea, Italy, France, and the UK with his wife and family friends Keith and Sue Fick. In later years, he also took a road trip across the United States with his cousin, Don Roggensees. He was a keen lover of movies, with his favorite being Lawrence of Arabia, and he had a knack for finding under-the-radar gems that were playing at the Tower or the Crest. Ever the contrarian, it's fitting that one of Richard's favorite bands was The Kinks, and one of his son's fondest memories was watching a Ray Davies concert together at the Crest during the 1990s. Although he was severely limited in later years by the progression of his illness, Richard battled bravely and became the personification of one of his favorite poems: Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." In this struggle, he was ably aided by the incredible, loving team of caregivers at Levendi Estates, to whom the family would like to extend their deepest gratitude. Their care allowed Richard to live long enough to see his son get married in 2020 to daughter-in-law Barbara, and to become a grandfather with the birth of his granddaughter Aurora in 2022. In addition to their family, his wife Diane, and daughter Ashley, Richard is survived by his sister, Kathleen Winer and her husband Bruce, of San Diego. Any donations can be made to the Del Oro Caregiver Resource Center. Services will be held at East Lawn in East Sacramento on Saturday, March 11th at 1:00 pm with visitation from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm.