Gerry and Terry - On the Road

Rick C. Shriver

Rick C. Shriver, 68, of McConnelsville, Ohio, passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, July 15, 2023, surrounded by his wife and children.

Rick is preceded in death by his uncle Dewey Parmiter, his father Richard (Dick) Shriver, his maternal grandparents Forest and Rachel Parmiter, his paternal grandparents Erville and Ora Shriver, his half-brother Chris Shriver, and several aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends. He is survived by his mother Dorothy (Parmiter) Shriver, his wife Connie (Evanosky) Shriver, son Adam Shriver and his wife Jody, son Evan Shriver and his wife Kayla, and grandchildren Abigail, William, Isabella, and Emily, and half-sister Jodi Price.

Rick impacted an astonishing number of people from all over the world, including the hundreds of students he taught, the musicians with whom he had the honor to play music, and so many colleagues and friends they are too numerous to list. Rick Shriver was one of the smartest men you would ever meet, and he had an uncanny ability to connect with people as diverse as students, farmers, laborers, scholars, statesmen, and everyone in between.

More than anything, Rick was happiest when he was playing music. He began playing drums in clubs and bars at such an early age that he was too young to enter without his mother accompanying him. Rick started touring professionally throughout the East Coast with his first band, Junior Norman and the Fugitives, composed of Dennis Huck, Dave Mayle and Tom Parsons. These musicians had a tremendous influence on Rick personally and professionally.

Locally, Rick became well-known, and even idolized, not just for his long hair back in the day, but for his contributions and leadership in several other local bands, perhaps most famously Roxbury Grange with Rick Prater, Dion Medley, Rick Cline, and Bob Carnes. Talented at any instrument he touched, Rick’s main instrument became the guitar, initially because it wasn’t as heavy to carry and set up as drums were. He was preceded in death by many of these musicians, and the family takes comfort in knowing he is again playing music with so many he loved and admired.

Rick was also a world traveler, having lived in China and Malaysia, but also visiting places like The Netherlands, England, France, Jamaica, Aruba, Mexico, Bali, and Singapore. He made friends everywhere he went and still kept in touch with people from all over the world.

Rick retired as a Professor Emeritus from Ohio University. He also held teaching positions at Washington Technical College, Marietta College, and the Southwest University of Finance and Economics in the People’s Republic of China. He had the honor of teaching at Universiti Putra Malaysia as a Fulbright Senior Scholar, eventually being named as a Fulbright Senior Specialist. He served as a Morgan County Commissioner and ran as a Candidate for the Ohio Senate at the request of the governor at the time.

He owned several small businesses. AtmoSound, founded with Dave King and Jeff Mercer, eventually expanded to become Media Group Ohio, through which he provided the sound and paging at the Morgan County Fair and also produced and directed many video and audio projects.

In 2022, he fulfilled his long-time dream of opening up the Willis Hill Farm Winery On the family farm in the 100-year old barn he had renovated over several years while waiting to get his official liquor license through the maddening bureaucracy of the Ohio Division of Liquor Control. Rick also founded Morgan County Ohio’s only local web radio station, Voice of Ohio Hill Country, working hard to provide timely, localized information to the residents of the county, all of which was entertaining enough for people who listened all over the world. As a professor of Media Communications, he knew the importance of the fourth estate - a free press that provides unbiased information in order to inform the decision-making public. He did not take this responsibility lightly, and frequently introduced himself as a retired member of the liberal media elite.

Public service, and giving back to his community, were extremely important to Rick throughout his life. He volunteered in many service organizations and served as a leader on many local organizational boards. Organizations he served include the Malta-McConnelsville Jaycees (Past President), Corinthian Masonic Lodge #111 (Past Master), The Opera House, Incorporated Board of Directors (Past President), the Morgan County Learning Center (Past President), the Morgan County Improvement Corporation (Past President), Morgan County Drug and Alcohol Council (Past President), Morgan County Chamber of Commerce (Past President), and Advisory Board Member for Media Programs at Morgan High School and the Muskingum-Perry Career Center. He was a Lifetime Member of the Morgan County Historical Society, a member of Morgan County Habitat for Humanity, and a member of the Morgan County Camera Club. Service projects he participated in with these organizations included everything from little league sports, to incredibly elaborate haunted house fundraisers, to community festivals, and other events which continue on today.

Rick was a prolific creator of written and electronic content, writing a variety of stories and producing video and audio projects for scholarly journals as well as for fun and entertainment. His written works include award winning scholarly papers for the Broadcast Education Association along with several other articles published in a variety of scholarly journals, including Playboy Magazine. He has three books under his name. One tells the story of adjusting to living in Malaysia as a Fulbright Senior Scholar, and another chronicles a pictorial and written history of the Twin City Opera House. He co-authored an audio production textbook and has presented scholarly papers and chaired panel discussions at conferences and symposia around the world.

His video projects include historical documentaries covering the history of Morgan County, The Twin City Opera House, and one very popular piece specific to the impact of the 1913 flood on the county. He produced educational videos on teaching math skills at the elementary level, and directed several commercials, informational videos and recruitment tapes for a variety of organizations. He also made videos starring his kids and grandkids, and even a video chronicling a day in the life of his dog, Pepper.

He has engineered and mixed recording sessions in a variety of musical genres and has restored and archived various historical recordings to preserve them for posterity. He wrote and produced over 30 segments of the blues and jazz artist interview and performance radio program, “Radio Works,” which aired on local public radio for three years.

He wrote articles for the Zanesville Times Recorder as an Opinion Shaper covering internet neutrality, intellectual property law, airline regulation and oral history, among other topics. He has written essays and manifestos on topics including Daylight Savings Time, Carry-On Bags on airplanes, and parking meters, all of which he hated and would debate zealously when given the chance.

He had thousands of friends on social media, largely because each day he would share a local historical picture he had been preserving from glass negatives and photographic slides for many years. These photographs sparked lively discussions from people far and wide, giving everyone the opportunity to reminisce about their time in Morgan County. This resulted in him being regarded as a local historian, a title at which he scoffed and felt he did not deserve.

Rick Shriver was a true raconteur with the ability to tell funny, riveting stories one wanted to hear over and over again. Many of these stories and other works referenced here can be accessed on his website, www.rickshriver.net, mostly because instead of re-telling the stories as often as he was asked, he would tell people just to go to his website.

Calling Hours for Rick Shriver will be at Miller-Huck Funeral Home in McConnelsville, Ohio on Wednesday, July 26, 2023 from 2 - 4 pm and from 6-8 pm. The funeral service will be held at Miller-Huck on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Rick’s name to the Twin City Opera House.

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