Richard "Dick" Erwin Stresemann

Richard “Dick” Stresemann

Richard “Dick” Erwin Stresemann, 80, of Brighton, Colorado, passed away Wednesday, January 29, 2025, surrounded by his loving wife, daughter and daughter-in-law.  He died from complications of the heart and COPD. 

Richard was born December 17, 1944, in Oakland, California to Edna (Theiss) and Erwin Stresemann, the first of their four children.

In 1949, the family relocated to Colorado Springs where Dick was raised, graduating from Wasson High School in 1962.  He attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, interrupting his studies to join ROTC where he was assigned as a ham radio operator in Monterey, California. Following his ROTC stint, he returned to CSU to finish his studies, graduating with a BA in Physical Sciences in 1967. 

Dick married Rebecca C. Young (of Brighton), on September 6, 1969, in Brighton.  He helped raise his stepson, Chris, and on July 30, 1970, they welcomed a daughter, Gretchen “Greta”.  The marriage ended in divorce in 1974.

Shortly thereafter, Dick relocated to Vail, Colorado where he worked for 15 years as a Building Maintenance Supervisor at the Antlers at Vail.

In the late 80s he returned to Brighton and in May of 1991 secured a position with Adams County as the Building Maintenance Craftsman.  He was proud of his work there, including setting up and running a complete woodworking shop serving all departments of Adams County. He was most proud of a large conference table he built for the county assessor’s office that his director said was “beautiful”.  After 20 years, Dick reluctantly retired due to his health in May 2011.

Dick met his soulmate, Sofia Perntz, in 1989.  Together they found a real connection, married October 19, 1990, at the Adams County Courthouse and settled in Brighton. 

Dick was an eternally curious child at heart and had a great affinity for communicating with, and teaching, an extended family of children (and adults!), who created a beautiful, blended family.  Through all their achievements and setbacks, he always seemed more focused on how they were “really” doing, if they were living with positive intentions for themselves and others.  He also developed quite a healing bear hug over the years!  Chris remembers fondly, Dick’s love of baseball and how the two of them made some awesome memories with the Rockies season tickets.  Once, to the thrill of the stadium, Dick even caught a fly ball with his hat!

Dick’s workshop was his happy place.  He was a master craftsman, much of which he learned from his father.  But Dick took it to another level, building a complete woodworking shop in his garage and creating some masterpieces, including a wall-hung, hand-crafted, seriously compact woodworking tool cabinet. His love of researching, collecting, and using old tools kept him busy when he retired.  After exhausting that creative process, however, he added an entire tool and die shop.  Along the way, he built a proper Swedish Stugan (a she-shed) in the back yard for his wife, Sofia.

Dick was a well-loved neighbor who regularly walked his little poodle, Jasper.  He helped his neighbors a lot and was visited (by you guessed it) neighborhood kids who were curious about his converted workshop in his garage.

Remaining to cherish Dick’s memory are his wife, Sofia; daughter, Greta Read of NJ, her children, Ava, Benny and Desi; his step-son Chris Upkes and his wife, Amy, of Brighton; Step-sons David Belser of Denver, Charles Belser of Gilroy, California and his children, Julia, Charles, Jr., Joey and Lily all of California; beloved brother Ed Stresemann (Crenda) of Florissant, Colorado; sister Joan Gerber (Pete) of Chula Vista; sister Jan Striemer (Jürgen) of Portland, Oregon; sister-in-law Gunilla Ewald of Sweden; brother-in law Carl-Gunnar Perntz (Ewa) of Sweden; ex-wife’s sister, Cindy Young of Brighton, her children, son Damon Chambers (Nicole), their two children, Darrian, and Deacon of Greeley, Colorado, her daughter Rosalind Chambers of Brighton; and numerous nieces, nephews and their children.

A memorial celebration of life service is being planned for summer 2025.

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