One of the last things Richard (Rich) Buck did in the days before his sudden death on Aug. 15 was set up two dining rooms full of tables, chairs and table settings inside the Igo Inn, right down to the amber-colored water glasses, silverware and the black folded napkins at each place setting. The Igo Inn never looked more beautifully expectant.
He died Friday at the Lewiston home he shared with his wife, Chris Bennor, and their sons Spenser, 8, and Harrison, 6.
His death came hours after their family returned to their house following their evacuation during Trinity County’s Coffin Fire.
His death also came one day after he’d put the finishing touches on his Igo Inn restaurant -the culmination of five months’ work – in preparation of its Aug. 19 grand opening.
Buck was a trained chef who’d performed culinary magic as the head chef in restaurants from Pennsylvania to California, most recently at the LaGrange in Weaverville. One of the greatest joys of his life was the prospect of opening the Igo Inn, after so many years of working in establishments owned by others.
He was a big man with a gentle nature, but strong resolve, whether it was wooing and winning his wife over to his marriage proposal with hot air balloon rides, gourmet meals and romantic cruises, or directing a full professional kitchen staff, much as a conductor might direct his symphony.
He was a master bowler. He loved to visit casinos where he’d play video poker, and he liked to hang out in his “man room” – a cabana with a big TV and a mug collection.
He loved his family, and showed it, whether by spending time with his sons or cutting and stacking firewood for his mother-in-law.
He was the kind of guy you could count on. He was the kind of man who, long after his mother’s death, continued to mail Christmas cards to her friends.
He loved to travel to tropical places – the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean. He loved to please people by cooking the very best meals possible. He was a stickler about maintaining traditions, whether it was his annual holiday prime rib dinner, or his meatloaf and garlic smashed potatoes for his wife’s birthday or the Bennor family’s Christmas Eve slumber party.
He was a smoker, right up until the end, although he’d agreed to quit before he started working at the Igo Inn, so customers would never hear him cough.
He was adaptable and flexible, but not when it came to habits like washing dishes as he cooked, and cleaning up the kitchen immediately after a meal.
Buck was a people magnet. He made friends easily and kept them for life. He was his high-school class president – “a wild child” who grew up to be an adoring husband and father and brilliant chef.
He is survived by his wife Chris Bennor and two sons, Spenser and Harrison of Lewiston, son Steven of Hatfield, PA, brother Fred of Englewood, FL, brother Tom and wife Judy of Doylestown, PA, sister Barbara Stuart and husband David of Medford, NJ, and brother Bob and wife Alison of Universal City, TX.
For the last five months, Buck was in a state of complete joy at the thought that he’d soon be the chef in his own restaurant. He’d smile whenever his wife said, “We’re living the dream, baby.”
Buck never lived his dream long enough to serve customers in his Igo Inn.
And his prospective customers never got a chance to taste Rich’s famous prime rib, or his extraordinary meatloaf, or any of his other specialties for which he was so well-known and appreciated.
Because he created his dishes from his own imagination, he left none of his best recipes behind.
He did leave behind a legacy of love, kindness and 53 years’ of wonderful memories.
———-
A memorial service will be held for Rich Buck at the Moose Lodge in Lewiston on September 12th at noon. Anyone who knew Rich and would like to celebrate his life and support his family is encouraged to attend.
In leiu of flowers, a college fund has been established in the names of his young sons, Spenser and Harrison, at the Umpqua Bank, Box 220, Weaverville, CA 96093.
