March 11, 1946 – May 21, 2024

Richard “Rico” Neller 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.

Anyone who knew Rico, knows he had a passion for both music and photography. See some of his favorite photos below. Additional photos can be found in hard copy of La Prensa or click here for pdf format.