It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Richard (Rico) Martin Neller.
Richard was born on March 11, 1946 to Earl Neller and Doris Neller Bass Landfather in St. Louis, Missouri. From the moment that he could walk Richard had a tremendous amount of charm and energy, which contributed to many early successes, including high honors throughout high school. He was captain of his high school wrestling team, editor of the high school yearbook, and was awarded with a full scholarship to Washington University.
Richard’s successes continued throughout college, becoming captain of his college wrestling team and working on the university newspaper (his true passion). He graduated with honors receiving a degree in Sociology/Anthropology.
Richard married his college sweetheart and followed her to Toledo, Ohio to begin his career as a high school teacher in Toledo Public Schools and to start a family. After several years teaching Richard continued his education, studying law at the University of Toledo. He was a highly respected criminal defense attorney for many years.
Richard could never shake his true passion of journalism and founded LaPrensa Newspaper in 1989. In addition to publishing the newspaper, Richard was also the founder of LatinoFest@ Promenade Park, which brought in artists such as Ramon Ayala, lil Joe, Mazz, Vicente Fernandez, la Sombrero…to name a few…and also started the Midwest Tejano Music Awards in Downtown Toledo and the Mud Hens Latino Scholarship fund.
Richard was preceded in death by his mother Doris Landfather and father Earl Neller. He is survived by his siblings Earl Neller Jr., Diana Huff, and Timothy Neller, children Julie Picknell (Brian), Becky Berland (David), Elizabeth Pinkstaff (Michael), Ricky Keel, Mary DiVeto (Dan), and Anna Queen (Zach), grandchildren Steven, Shannon, Michael, Brian, Jr, Kayla, Madison, Julian, Nicholas, Anthony, Adrianne, Jr., Serenity, Ethan, Jacob, Annabelle, and Ava.
A celebration of life will be planned for later in the summer.
In lieu of flowers a GoFundMe page will be listed on the Rico Neller’s and the La Prensa website for those interested in supporting the ongoing operations of the newspaper.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-richards-legacy-laprensa-newspaper
**La Prensa will have a Special Tribute to Rico in our June 28th issue.