National Auxiliary to Alumni Association

In Memory of Dr. Richard (Rick) Rentfro

May 28, 1945 - March 2, 2008

Dr. Rick Rentfro was the Chief Medical Officer at Scheer Memorial Hospital (SMH), Banepa, Nepal. His missionary service there began in 2000, the year he volunteered with the General Conference to serve six months somewhere as an orthopedic surgeon. When Divine Providence opened the door that year in Nepal, Dr. Rick went there, and, realizing this should be his ultimate life’s work, signed a two-year contract with the GC and the Southern Asia Division. After his marriage, in 2002, to Nishu Maya, a Nepalese national, his contract was automatically lengthened to six years. He renewed his missionary contract in 2007 for another term (a five-year-period per the new General Conference term) and planned to stay in Nepal for as long as God willed him to stay.

Because of the serious nature of his cardiac problems, Dr. Rick and his family returned stateside in February of 2008, arriving a week before a national orthopedic convention, an event that always coincided with his annual leave. However, due to his cardiac status, he required immediate treatment, and stents were placed at Regional Heart Center, Yakima, Washington on February 25, 2008. After the surgery, he went to his father’s home in Thorp, Washington. On March 2, 2008 Rick died of a cerebral hemorrhage, associated with anticoagulant therapy.

The following is a blend of the obituary and eulogy given at the funeral of Dr. Richard Rentfro on March 8, 2008 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cle Elum, Washington.

Dr. Richard “Rick” Rentfro, 62, died of a cerebral hemorrhage, associated with anticoagulant therapy (this following heart surgery), on March 2, 2008 in Ellensburg, Washington. Funeral services were held on March 8, 2008 at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cle Elum, Washington. He was home on furlough from his missionary work at Scheer Memorial Hospital near Kathmandu, Nepal, where he had served since 2000.

In the eulogy, Fylvia Kline, a close associate, spoke of Dr. Rentfro’s dedication to the people of Nepal. People sought him and traveled for days by foot to be treated. And he was a creative doctor, such as retro-fitting a circular head brace to serve as a leg brace and making trips to the local hardware store for material to fashion “home- made” orthopaedic devices.

“He was loved in Nepal, not just because he was their doctor but because he strove to be part of them. Every year, the town had a festival (Jatra) when an extremely heavy float of logs was carried, a few feet at a time, up a hill. Every year, the town expected Dr. Rick to hoist one end of the float on his shoulder and move it across the threshold of the hospital. Every festival, wedding, political demonstration, and local happening had Rick there in an instant, on his motorbike, with a camera.

“He had a joke or anecdote for every situation; with those in his small circle of intimate friends, he was an uninhibited clown -- he continually found new ways to gently annoy. (His favorite was to wear bright red drawstrings with his pale blue scrubs. No amount of pleading to change them would make a difference.)

“His spiritual strength and dignity taught others to cast all their fear and doubts on Jesus Christ. Employees and friends would come into his office, with the weight of the world on their shoulders, and would leave with wings on their feet. His strongest sense of mission was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Nepali people.”

Dr. Rick is survived by his wife, Nishu; three children, Kimberly, Benjamin, and Briana; his father, Pastor Dick Rentfro; and his sister, Connie Coleman.

--Eulogy written by Fylvia Kline, close friend of Dr. Rentfro

--Blending of obituary and eulogy by Duane Fike,
friend and volunteer of the National Auxiliary

The following pictures were submitted by Connie Coleman. She was very gracious in sharing the pictures and spending time sending e-mails back and forth to me with information that I am using for this memorial.
==View Photo Album

I want to thank Fylvia and Roy Kline for sharing historical information about Dr. Rick while he was at Scheer Memorial Hospital. The Klines served at SMH from 2001-2006, Roy as CEO of SMH and Fylvia as Director of Special Projects.

Judy Hart
NAASM Mission Chair