Richard Wayne Fogleman

Richard Wayne Fogleman, 57, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family and joyfully entered the gates of heaven on Sept. 17, 2020, after a short but courageous battle with cancer.

A celebration of his life will be 11 am, Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at Grace Gardens Funeral Home, 8220 Woodway Drive, Woodway, Texas, with Rev. Brad Brittain officiating.  A Visitation with the family will be 6-8pm, Tuesday, September 22, 2020 at Grace Gardens Funeral Home.

Richard was born May 25, 1963, in Mexia, Texas, to his loving parents Richard (Buddy) and Vauda Ballard Fogleman and his big sister, Linda. He graduated from Mexia High School in 1981 and earned his bachelor's degree (magna cum laude – long story!) in Radio/TV from Stephen F. Austin State University. He met his wife, Lori, at SFA, and it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows them that they met at a football game while fortunately sitting with mutual friends. They struck up a conversation, discovered many commonalities and were married for 34 wonderful, adventurous years. The greatest gift during this time was the birth of their daughter, Emilie. Richard treasured Emilie beyond words and was her biggest cheerleader, from the stands at Midway Middle School and Midway High School to the press box and sidelines at Baylor University to her move to Dallas after graduating from Baylor. He also loved all of his family dearly and being welcomed in to a band of brothers with Lori's family.

Richard loved life and joyfully serving others in so many ways. From his father, he learned gentleness, and from both of his parents, he learned to serve with compassion and kindness and also to do so in tangible ways. As a teenager, he worked with Paul Russell in his TV repair shop, where he learned to fix anything and everything. We all called him whenever anything was not working as it should: computers, TVs, cars, plumbing, etc. He would know what to do, or if not, he would Google it, watch a video and take care of the issue. What a gift.

For 30 years, Richard worked for the State of Texas, first at Mexia State School and then Adult Protective Services, where he was a champion for the elderly, the differently abled and so many other vulnerable humans. He was a man of faith in Jesus Christ as a member of Temple Baptist Church and First Baptist Church in Mexia, Texas, and later Central United Methodist Church in Waco, where he served on the administrative board, volunteered where needed, sang in the choir and survived a CTCYM mission trip together with Lori and Emilie in 2009. He retired from his professional life in 2016, which allowed him to volunteer his time with Meals on Wheels; ABC Clinic and the Treasured Tails program, transporting the beloved pets of MOW clients to the clinic for vet care; and as a Buddy to Matthew in the Challenger League. He loved to work in his yard, creating a beautiful backyard garden for his family to enjoy and now to feel his presence for the rest of their days and a catio for their beloved cast of cats. He also adored his nieces and nephews, attending their games, plays, weddings and other momentous events.

Richard also loved Baylor Athletics. He served as a statistician for nearly 20 years for Baylor Football and Women's and Men's Basketball and was a member of Baylor Softball's Diamond Club and the Meatloaf Thursday group at World Cup Café. He and his family enjoyed supporting and cheering on the Lady Bears and Bears, attending Women's Basketball National Championship games, bowl games and the Women's College Softball World Series. A special thank you to Coach Kim Mulkey and Coach Glenn Moore and their respective staffs and teams for providing us with such treasured memories.

Richard also had the most whimsical sense of humor, a radiant smile and a superb taste in music. He loved professional surfing, carrying on conversations about all kinds of topics with his friends at the Dancing Bear and securing concert tickets for Richard and Lori's High School Rock-n-Roll tour as they enjoyed nearly all of their favorite bands over the past several years. The only one they missed was ELO, but it was for an unforgettable trip to Italy with the Baylor Women's Basketball team in summer 2018.

He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Gladys "Granny B" Laster, and father, Buddy Fogleman.

Survivors include his wife, Lori Fogleman, of Hewitt, Texas; daughter, Emilie Fogleman, and Hunter Foster of Dallas; mother, Vauda Fogleman; sister, Linda Sadler, and husband, Rick, of Mexia, Texas; his sisters- and brothers-in-law, Karen and Jerry Lawson of Mart, Texas, Dave and Nanea Wasserman of Kahului, Maui, and Diane and Jeff Schwartz of Joshua, Texas; and many loved and cherished aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and dear friends.

Honorary pallbearers are Jerry Lawson, Dave Wasserman, Jeff Schwartz, Jim Lawson, Rick Sadler, Mark Sadler, Scott Sadler, Brendan Tankersley, Joe Romero, Steven Smith, Hunter Foster, Kevin Brown, Mike Teel, Dave Chilcoat, Kip Hall, Steve Hughes and his buddy Matthew.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Meals on Wheels, 501 W Waco Dr, Waco, TX 76707; the Treasured Tails program at ABC Clinic, 3238 Clay Ave, Waco, TX 76711; and the Challenger League, 406 Frances Road, Waco, TX 76706.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to the nurses, staff and doctors of Baylor Scott & White-Temple 4North, our families and friends for keeping us surrounded in prayer and support, our Baylor University Family, Baylor Women's Basketball and Baylor Softball families, Dr. David Hoffman for his wise and compassionate counsel and physicians, Dr. "A," Dr. Edward Cooney and Dr. Lucas Wong.