My Dad's Chair

Everyone felt comfortable around my dad. To know my dad was to love him, but to be in his office was to be completely at ease.  Despite the scattered maps, papers and constant Clint Eastwood movies playing on his little TV, you'd always find your way to his recliner chair and let him entertain you for hours.  Sometimes you'd just feel compelled to stay for a few days.  Nothing made my dad happier than a willing ear...except maybe his camera.

The Simple Things

My dad was able to find joy in everything.  He could watch a leaf tumbling down the street in a light breeze and he'd call you over to enjoy it too.  It was infectious, you couldn't help but delight in the small things he loved.


Family friend Yolanda Huerta wrote this message to my mom:


Richard was a true blessing and a great man of God.  One day when he visited us in Phoenix, he took me on a treasure hunt, I had no idea where he was taking me, but we had so much fun and when we found the treasure, Richard jumped off the ground and we were shouting and yelling with joy and happiness that we had found his treasure.  It took us about one hour to find it and when we found it, he put in a small mickey mouse toy . I thought, "wow, what a neat hobby to have." I had an amazing time with Richard always, it was never a dull moment with him, He will be greatly missed, and I LOVED him so much, God Bless Him.

A Time of Joy

I have been overwhelmed with how my dad has touched people's lives.  Meetings that were seemingly trivial to me, I now realize, are forever engraved in people's minds.  After speaking to my best friend Veronica, I became aware of my dad's big personality.  I met Veronica when we were both undergrads at UC, Santa Cruz.  I would often talk about my dad and what a support he was to me.  She would laugh at the stories I'd tell her about him and she couldn't wait to meet him.


After we'd graduated, Veronica finally got that chance when she came to Santa Barbara to stay with me.  At that time she was planning her wedding and was having trouble finalizing things.  My dad insisted he had all of the answers to her wedding woes.  For every problem Veronica presented, my dad would take a minute to ponder before flicking his pointer finger in the air and announcing "I got it!"  Veronica didn't use any of his ideas but we got a good laugh out of his efforts!


Later in the week, Veronica decided we needed to rent Surrey bikes down at East Beach and cruise around like real tourists.  We'd gone far off of the path and ended up doing donuts at the zoo near Dwight Murphy Field.  It wasn't long before we saw a big, red truck pulling up and we instantly knew who it was.  My dad had been cruising around the beach with Cowboy.  He laughed at us and told us to get back on the path and then gave us his bag of candy orange slices.  My dad always knew how to make me feel like a kid.

Service Information

We all got together today to meet with Ruben Reyes at his office to make arrangements for the memorial service.  Ruben has been invaluable to our family in the past and once again he came through for us.  We know that this will be a healing experience for everyone.


The service will be on Monday, June 6 at noon at:


Living Faith Center
4597 Hollister Ave.
Santa Barbara, CA 93110


Reception to follow.  We hope that everyone that wants to attend will be able to.  Feel free to pass the word.

Room for Everyone

Anyone that knows my dad, knows that he loved everyone equally, with no judgment or discrimination.  He taught us to look outside packaging and circumstance and to accept people as they are just as Jesus would want us to.  He gave everyone a chance and never asked for anything in return.


I can only hope that my heart can one day love as unconditionally and indiscriminately as my dad's.

We hope that everyone my dad knew would feel welcome to attend his service and be a part of the large community of people who's lives my dad touched.

Richard Fragosa's Memorial Service Fund

We have received an outpouring of love and help in so many ways and we appreciate all of it.  It's these well wishes and love that make the days more bearable.


A few of you have expressed interest in helping with a contribution to my dad's service.  We've set up a PayPal account where you can send donations if you feel so inclined.


We're still working on the memorial service but we will keep everyone updated as soon as everything is finalized.

Memories to Inspire and Refresh

In a devotional from Joni Eareckson Tada, she writes,

Warm and lovely memories have a way of helping you live life better in the present…Pick out a memory and savor the sweetness…Lord, please bring to mind encouraging and uplifting memories that help me see Your hand at work in my life over the years.  I praise You today for thoughts that inspire and refresh.

In the days since my dad’s passing we’ve received an outpouring of inspiring and refreshing memories from friends and loved ones.  Our former pastor, Dr. Gary Rieben, sent this note to my mom:

In fourteen years of working together, Richard and I never had one moment of disagreement. I count that to his servant attitude rather than to anything in me. He was a model of what a pastor and church needs: faithful, diligent, caring, with a deep love for Jesus.

He has now received his crown for faithfulness to the Lord.

If I can be of any help or comfort please let me know.

I remain a friend and brother although an ex-pastor. May Jesus Himself come to you with his heart sustaining grace during this painful time.

Gary Rieben

Thank you Pastor Gary, and thank you to everyone for the good memories that remind us of our dad’s big heart.

GeoBigDog's Final Cache

As many of you know one of my dad's favorite hobbies was Geocaching.  He often made time to hop into his big, red truck and head to the mountains or around town in search of tiny treasures and to plant his own.  I remember the first time he took me to find a cache.  I had no idea what he was looking for or why.  When he finally pulled a small rock from a rose planter in Loreto Plaza I thought, "THAT'S what we spent 40 minutes looking for?!"  His eyes grew to the size of silver dollars as he gingerly pulled the rock apart to reveal a secret compartment that held a small strip of paper.  I laughed as my dad attempted to scribble his name onto the tiny strip using a golf pencil and fingers the size of Italian sausages.


When the Tea Fire ravaged the Montecito hills and parts of Westmont College, the first thing my dad did was to call me to see if his cache was OK. Sadly, it perished in the fire.


Despite my lack of patience for Geocaching, he had a regular crew of family and friends that would regularly go with him on excursions and got to discover places that would become my dad's favorite spots around town.  Two of his good caching friends, Alan and Rene Salter, sent this message to my mom yesterday, "We are geocaching on East Camino Cielo with several others and we put out a cache overlooking SB and the harbor in honor of GBD."  Thank you Alan and Rene!

Goodbye, Superman

If I made a list of things that could never happen, sitting in my parents living room, hearing the paramedics tell us that they've tried unsuccessfully for over ten minutes to get my dad breathing again and that bringing him to the hospital would be futile would be number one on that list.  My dad was my hero.  He was bigger than Superman and stronger than the Hulk; completely invincible.  Despite all of his health problems and hospital visits he always seemed to bounce back bigger and better than before.  His amazingly positive attitude was unshakable.  My dad never let anything bring him down and I often turned to him to draw from his joy.

Losing my dad has been the greatest loss I’ve ever experienced in my life.  The moment he was gone, a cord between us was severed that I never knew existed.  This cord ran deep and in the short time that has passed, I find myself daily grasping for some semblance of it to re-attach to my heart. I long for the day when the struggle isn’t so desperate. 

As we grieve together, I treasure the moments that I’m reminded of the small details, his personality, and his love.  On the afternoon of his passing, close friends and family came together at his home.  The day was long and we were all tired, but no one could bring themselves to leave.  We all wanted to be where he lived and loved.  We were supposed to celebrate his granddaughter Kemara’s sixteenth birthday in Ojai.  Instead, we celebrated his life as if he were still right there with us; Martha brought over burgers and her famous macaroni salad, Rich barbecued, Sue chopped veggies, etc.  It was just what he wanted. 

We sat and reminisced about the man we loved the most.  With every new story, I learned something new about my dad; how he daily kept $7 in his pocket for anyone who asked, how he regularly manned the Information Booth on Sunday mornings at Living Faith Center, how he cleaned my brother and sister’s childhood room by opening the window and throwing everything into the backyard.  A better time of solace couldn’t have been planned.