Ricky Stuttgen

On September 6th, 1972, Chuck and Darla Stuttgen welcomed Ricky Stuttgen into this world. Rick was the oldest sibling in a large, loving family of 9. He grew up spending time playing multiple sports, farming, hunting and getting into mischief with all his brothers and sisters. It wasn’t soon after high school when he met the love of his life and married Cindy Schneider Stuttgen in 1998. They bought a house in the town of Deforest where they raised a family together. If Rick was here today, he would tell you that nothing compared to the joy he got raising his children. Karly and Jared were lucky to have a father who took them hunting, coached their sports teams and loved taking the family camping. He was truly the definition of a father. He didn’t only leave a mark on his children but Rick left a mark on everyone he came in contact with. His fun-loving, infectious personality rubbed off on others and was never out of a good story to tell. Rick was raised the right way and sought out to make everyone feel special. 

On November 19th, 2021, everything changed; Rick was unexpectedly admitted to the Emergency Department to have immediate brain surgery after receiving critical results on an MRI scan. On November 21st, 2021 Rick underwent a second brain surgery to remove what was left from the first surgery. The recovery was not easy, especially on short notice, but Rick never let it show. He always had his head held high. He was only admitted for a few days after this second surgery and was able to come home after. On December 1st, we received the news that it was Grade 4 Astrocytoma or in other terms, Glioblastoma. We were not sure what this meant for Rick and were just going based off the short conversation receiving these results, until December 10th. This was our first appointment post surgery and receiving the biopsy results. It was the longest week and a half. During this appointment, we learned how serious this type of cancer really is. Not only is it rare, it is very aggressive. We left that appointment knowing there wasn’t much but the comfort option. The next few months, Rick went through radiation and chemotherapy until his third brain surgery on April 26th, 2022. Rick’s health began to decrease after this surgery which left him in the hospital until May 31st, 2022 and then was placed on hospice. Rick spent the last two weeks at home until he peacefully paced away surrounded by his family on June 14th, 2022. Not a day goes by where he is not missed. We love you Rick!