Richard Loucks - Obituary

ichard Bill Loucks, P.E., PhD Richard “Rick” Loucks, 52, of Annapolis, MD died on September 24, 2015 of renal cancer, a disease he bravely battled for over 5 years. Rick was the devoted son of Vinton (deceased) and Marie Loucks. A child of a United States Army family, Rick spent his childhood in many locations across the country and overseas before settling in the Virginia/Maryland area since graduating from Fairfax High School in 1981. Rick lived his life as a modern-day Renaissance Man. He was a scholar, earning a B.S. and M.S degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and Johns Hopkins University respectively, as well as a PhD in Thermal Fluid Sciences from the University of Maryland. He published many works, including his PhD dissertation, in various prestigious industry publications. His friends will attest that Rick had an answer for every question ever posed to him. Rick was an accomplished engineer and scientist who authored two patents. He began his career with the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Grounds as a Chief Investigator specializing in testing Ballistic and Weapons Explosives. He later transferred to the Army Research Laboratory at Harry Diamond Laboratory in Laurel where he worked with chemical biological scale dispersion. In 1998, Rick moved to the private sector as a Forensic Engineer with FTI Consulting’s Scientific Investigations division. Five years later, he started his own forensic engineering company, The Loucks Group, and went on to achieve a national reputation for investigations involving explosions and blasts, mechanical products defects, thermal radiation, and heat transfer work. In 2010, he merged his company with the RTI Group, an international Engineering Consultancy, where he served as Vice President of Engineering. Rick was a patriot and a leader. In addition to his work with the U.S. Army, Rick was an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He served in various Construction Battalion units and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In civilian life, he was active in the community. As his final act of good citizenship, Rick elected to donate organs and tissue samples posthumously for cancer research aimed toward identifying new treatment and detection methods. Rick was an avid sportsman. He played three varsity sports in high school and competed in the Virginia State Championships for intermediate hurdles. He loved to sail and competed in many races in Annapolis and Middle River. He was also an expert skier, enjoying many ski vacations with family and friends over the years. In addition to playing sports, Rick was a rabid sports fan for his favorite teams, and especially for any team that included his son Bryce. Rick was a connoisseur of the finer things in life, including wine, food, sport cars, world travel, border collies, and friendship. Throughout the years, he enjoyed these activities with his old friends from Virginia Tech as well the many new friends he made during his life’s journey. Most importantly, Rick was a loving husband and father. On New Year’s Eve 1992, Rick married Victoria Marie Schmidt, the beautiful woman he cherished since the beginning of their courtship in 1988 and his love for her continues to endure. In 2000, Rick and Vicki were blessed with their only son Bryce. Rick believed his greatest accomplishment was the opportunity to raise Bryce. Simply put, Rick was a good man, a great friend, a wonderful husband and a terrific dad who will be greatly missed by all. A ceremony and celebration of Rick's life will be held on Friday, October 9, 2015 from 1:00 to 3:30 PM at Historic London Town and Gardens, 839 Londontown Rd., Edgewater, MD 21037. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in honor of Rick be made to support the Kidney Cancer Research of Dr. Hans Hammers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Please make checks payable to Johns Hopkins University. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that this gift is in memory of Rick Loucks to the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, 750 East Pratt Street, Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202 or make a gift online.