Richard Coble has checked out of his last hotel...

Thank you for all the kind messages these past few days. I haven’t been able to read most of them, my grief is just too overwhelming. Richard was trying to connect with many of you to say goodbye and explain what was happening to him, he simply ran out of time. Knowing that his passing would come as a shock, he wanted me to share the following message…

Only a few people knew that Richard had Leukemia in 2016. Even fewer knew about the Myelodysplastic Syndrome that followed, a rare side effect of chemotherapy. MDS affects the bone marrow’s ability to make healthy blood cells and Richard’s bone marrow was slowing failing.

It’s hard to imagine how Richard lived and worked with such dedication and resolve considering how unwell he was, especially the last three years.

On a bad day, most people can find the energy to function on half a tank of gas, Richard’s tank was functioning on fumes 24/7. He was superhuman and full of life despite the impact long, stressful days at work had on his health.

But work was something he loved; it took his mind off his illness. He would say the only time on tour he thought about his illness was when he’d have to sneak away for lab tests and treatment, no one the wiser.

MDS is a ticking time bomb, and Richard was doing everything he could to prolong his life until he could see his daughter Ryder graduate from UC Berkeley in 2026.

There are very few therapies for MDS, the best option is a bone marrow transplant and Richard wasn’t a candidate. Over the years, he tried all the standard MDS treatment protocols, but nothing worked. Off-label drug therapies were all he had left, paying the exorbitant costs not covered by insurance out of pocket. Again, nothing worked.

By this past August, after a final failed attempt at drug therapy, the only thing keeping Richard alive was blood transfusions. His body started rejecting the foreign blood so he made the painful decision in late September to stop the daily transfusions.

Richard had three requests before he died. He wanted his wardrobe donated to a charity that provides business attire to men rebuilding their lives after addiction. He wanted his surfboards donated to the Paskowitz Surf Camp, which teaches autistic kids to surf. And most importantly, he wanted a GoFundMe page set up to help his family recover from the personal financial impact his illness caused. His good friend, Teri Lynn was kind enough to set it up for him.

Richard’s address book had enough names in it to circle the earth a dozen times. In his final days it became harder for him to help me put together a list of people he wanted to tell of his passing. I know many people were left off so please share this message with others and accept my profound gratitude for the love and support you’ve always shown Richard.

In true Richard fashion, he didn’t want the attention that a memorial service would bring. His request was for his family to scatter his ashes in the ocean in front of the beach where he loved to surf and lived out his final days.

It was a great honor to be Richard’s wife for more than two decades, I will never completely recover from his passing….t