Richard Nortnik

Richard M. Nortnik, Jr., passed away peacefully on March 10, 2017. He is survived by his beloved children, Olivia and Cameron Nortnik, his parents Rich and Helen Nortnik, and his two brothers, Joseph Scott Nortnik (Lisa) and Stephen James Nortnik. He is also survived by his ex-wife, Tonya, and numerous nieces and nephews. Rich graduated from UNC in 1991 with a degree in fine art and went on to become a renowned artist and Photoshop Guru. Recitation of the Rosary will take place at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, March 15 at at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 1091 S. Colorado Blvd, Denver 80246. Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 AM, Thursday, March 16 at Risen Christ Catholic Parish, 3060 S. Monaco Parkway, Denver 80222. After the Mass, a reception and gathering of friends will be held at 12:00 Noon at Gibby's, 1555 S. Havana Street. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to an education fund for Olivia and Cameron by writing a check payable to Tonya Nortnik. Please share memories of Rich and condolences with his family by signing the guestbook below. Words from the family: Dear Family and Friends, On behalf of our entire family, we want to tell you how much we appreciate you attending these services to celebrate the life of our son and to pray for him as a community. The support and generosity that we have received from all of you has been overwhelming. Rich was a faithful man. He loved his faith and was proud to be a Christian and a Catholic. It is fitting that tomorrow his funeral service will be in the same church as where he received first holy communion. As a father, he loved dearly his two precious children, Olivia and Cameron. The highlight of his life was spending time with them. He was a loyal and loving son. He lived with us for the last few years and so not only have we lost our son but we lost someone with whom we shared our home. We will miss him sharing our meals, which always ended with Rich saying ""Thank you guys. That was a fantastic meal!"" He was so appreciative of being at home with us. And through this time together we grew to appreciate many things about him. For example, we learned that he had an incredible memory for details. He remembered things about events that occurred when he was a young child. We often laughed that he must have terrible thoughts about us as parents because he could remember every mistake we made in vivid detail. He truly loved his brothers, and between the three of them they could raise enough hell to get the attention of all of Aurora. We often joked that we were in Aurora ER rooms so often, that they knew our sons by first name. And when they all got together with their friends, many of whom are here tonight, oh my, what a concoction! Greeley and Ft. Collins were never the same after our sons attended college! Rich was a gifted athlete, having played on championship basketball teams at Rangeview High school. He was passionate about sports and loved the Broncos. He loved music. He was a fan of hip hop before it had a name. His wrap music drove us crazy but we learned over time that this was just one more aspect of his personality that made him so unique. We have to admit that we thought we had lost our right to be parents when he became an adamant KISS fan at 8 years old. He would put makeup on himself and his brothers and hold concerts for us in our living room. We truly thought that we had failed as parents! An amazing artist, he graduated with a fine arts degree and realized soon after school that making a living as a fine artist was going to be a real challenge. So he turned to the Apple computer and made a mouse his paint brush. He took to graphic arts so easily that he went on to be a nationally renowned graphics artist and designer. His managers could not keep pace with his need for faster computers and more disk space. He won many awards for his Photoshop skills and often received beta versions of the software long before being released to the public. As with everything Rich did, he threw himself at his profession and loved his work. We look at the Facebook posts from the last few days and the people that are here tonight and we're in awe of the number of people that our son touched in very meaningful ways. We will remember our son as a person that was always looking for ways to make a friend. And if you became Rich's friend, you were a friend forever. What more needs to be said about a man that so deeply loved his family and friends? We would like to share a prayer that Rich loved. It is helping us deal with our sorrow and maybe it will help with yours: Let your God love you Be silent. Be still. Alone. Empty before your God. Say nothing. Ask nothing. Be silent. Be still. Let your God look upon you. That is all. God knows. God understands. God loves you with an enormous love and only wants to look upon you with that generous love. Quiet. Be still. Let God love you. Again, we are so grateful for your support and being with us during this time of our grieving. God Bless you all! Helen and Rich