Obituary of Richard Carlson

Carlson, Richard “Rick” of Minneapolis died on May 20, 2023, after living with prostate cancer for over seven years.

Rick was born in Chicago, IL on August 5, 1957, to Gustaf and Nancy (Teske) Carlson.  His father was a career Army finance officer, so Rick spent his childhood living in Germany, New York, Indiana, Kansas and Virginia before returning to Indianapolis during his sophomore year of high school.  There he started dating the love of his life, Vicki Sausser.  Rick attended Butler University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s of science in math and physics. Six weeks after graduation, Rick and Vicki married and moved to Urbana, IL to attend the University of Illinois, where Rick earned a masters in statistics. 

Upon the completion of their graduate programs in 1983, Rick and Vicki moved to Minneapolis.  Rick worked as an Industrial Statistician at Unisys, Northwest Airlines, HealthPartners and Medica.  He retired in 2013.  He also served as an adjunct instructor in both statistics and decision sciences at Metro State University for 20 years.

Rick started playing the trombone in sixth grade and it was a passion for the rest of his life.  He played in marching bands, pep bands and concert bands throughout high school and college.  After a break, he joined the Seward Concert Band in 1990.  He played his last concert with them just two months before he died. In 2017, he participated in the Minnesota Orchestra Fantasy Camp, where he played first trombone for one piece at an Orchestra concert.

Another passion was nature and birdwatching.  He volunteered with the National Park Service as a birding instructor for fourth-grade students and participated in habitat restoration projects. He was involved in a variety of other volunteer activities including Minnesota History Day, community meals, Twin Cities Illini Club and AARP.

Rick loved sports.  He was a franchise-long fan and a 33-year season ticket holder for the Timberwolves.  He was a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs.  He also rooted for the Twins, the Loons and all University of Illinois teams. He and Vicki had a “mixed marriage” as he was a Packers fan and Vicki a Vikings fan.

Rick and Vicki enjoyed biking, snowshoeing, swing dancing, theater and music.  Hiking brought special joy.  In addition to visiting many national parks, they visited every Minnesota state park at least three times. They also loved to travel, both domestically and internationally.  Whatever he did, Rick bought a hat to celebrate.

After being diagnosed with cancer in 2016, Rick adopted the philosophy of Carpe Diem, determined to make the most of every day he had left.  The most visible manifestation of this was the increased traveling.  Despite losing 15 months to COVID, he and Vicki traveled internationally to the Baltic Sea including St. Petersburg, Russia; Algeria; South Africa; the Amazon River; and New Zealand/Australia, as well as several trips to England and Europe. They also traveled throughout the United States and Canada. But “Carpe Diem” was not limited to the big travel days.  Rick lived every day, to the end, with as much joy and activity as possible.

His cancer led him to join Gilda’s Club Twin Cities.  There he found support and understanding at a weekly Living with Cancer group. The weekly Improv group provided love and much-needed laughter.

Rick is survived by his wife, Vicki; his mother, Nancy; his sister, Karen (Keith); his brother-in-law, Mark (Julanne); and beloved nieces and nephew.

Vicki would like to thank the Frauenshuh Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club, HealthPartners Hospice and all the friends and family who reached out with love and support throughout his life with cancer.

In lieu of flowers, Rick requested that donations be made to the Seward Concert Band. A Celebration of Life will be held on June 17 at 1 p.m. at Minnehaha United Methodist Church, 3701 E. 50th St., Minneapolis, with visitation starting at noon and a reception following the service.