- Date Of Birth: March 4, 1945
- Date Of Death: December 21, 2015
- State: California
Richard Flores was born in Rosario, Argentina on March 4, 1945 to Ricardo and Maria Flores. He was the second of four children. He had an older brother (Ruben), a younger sister (Haydee) and a younger brother (Oscar). His schooling took place in Rosario where he learned the trade of being a Machinist.
Being the good Machinist that he was, opened up opportunities for him. His brother, Ruben, brought him to the United States in 1967 where he resided in El Monte, CA working hard and making many friends. Thanks to his hard work and skills, he went into business for himself in 1979, opening up Rick’s Machine Shop in South El Monte, CA where he made parts for the aircraft and oil industries. He loved his job, took pride in his work and worked hard each and every day until he retired.
On April 1, 1972 he met his future wife, Alice, at Nashville West Night Club. The two of them dated and eventually married on January 8, 1977. Together, they had two daughters, Melissa in 1982 and Elizabeth in 1984. In May 1982, he and Alice purchased the family home in Azusa where he lived until his death. No matter what, he was always very proud of his family and did a wonderful job providing for them.
In 1976, he became a naturalized citizen of The United States, something he was always very proud of.
On December 29, 2005, his daughter, Elizabeth blessed him with his only grandchild, Autumn.
Rick lived his life to the fullest. He had many passions throughout his lifetime. He could be found just about any day at the horse races where he owned a number of horses over the years. He enjoyed auto racing, was active in several bowling leagues, and was part of the Charioteers camping club. He loved BBQing, listening to mariachi music, dancing and throwing parties, watching Argentina soccer, listening to Roger Stein on the radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings, donating to the children of St. Jude, and had many specialties that he enjoyed cooking. In his younger days he held many poker nights at the house and loved it when the girls and their friends started their own poker nights that he would join in on, when they got older. Among other things, he enjoyed his casino trips, often going spur of the moment with his buddy Griselda. Rick spent many summers camping in Del Mar where he and his friends would have BBQ’s at the barn and on Friday’s he would have breakfast with his police friends and Paul, in El Monte.
Rick had many illnesses over the years. He was a Diabetic, had a heart attack, was injured by a runaway horse at the race track barn area, along with other illnesses. On September 1, 2012, three months after a quadruple bypass and after being on Dialysis for a few years, he received a Kidney transplant on at USC Keck Medical Center. That transplant gave him a renewed sense of life and an appreciation for USC Football.
The last few months of Rick’s life were not easy. He suffered a great amount of pain due to a Diabetic Ulcer on his leg.
Rick leaves behind his wife of 38 years, Alice, his daughters Melissa and Elizabeth, his granddaughter, Autumn, his brother and sister-in-law, Oscar and Vivi, sister-in-law, Petty, nieces, Claudia, Lorena, and Marianna, great nephews, Joseph, Vincent, Martino and Geronimo and great niece, Sophia along with many friends.
