Richard M. Lynch

Rick “Joey” Lynch March 11, 1948 – June 20, 2017 Rick Lynch was a friend and promoter of Shoreham and the lakes since he was 5 years old. His acquaintances are legion, his life here is a legend and he has left us a legacy of fun, food and drink at The Store and the Hotel Shoreham. To say he was “one of the good guys” does not do him justice. He had an appetite for life and generally found many friends who wanted a piece of that action so there was always plenty of company for his antics and his many interests from snorkeling in Hawaii to shooting pool at County 17 and Randy’s. If you wanted to play pool against Rick, it was a good idea to have a wad of fives on you. Rick’s life covered a lot of ground and most of it at a pretty fast pace. Rick was an active member of the Detroit Lakes Class of 1966. When Rick wasn’t at the library he was playing football, hockey and track. He excelled in all three sports and held the pole vault record (12’6”) for many years. He loved hockey and got the Rhino team rolling here in Detroit Lakes. He was an accomplished water skier and could hit the water skiing jackpot and ski barefoot. Rick always had a good boat for his aquatic adventures be it skiing behind the Blue Blur or hitting speeds flying across the frozen lake in early winter in his ice boat. He loved his annual summer outings to Rainy Lake where he camped and took some time off every summer from the rigors of being Shoreham’s restaurateur. Anytime that wasn’t a “good time” found Rick operating one of his many businesses in Shoreham from running The Store with his brother Tom, pumping gas at Shoreham Standard and selling the occasional beer and package of Ladyfinger firecrackers to some of Shoreham’s troublemakers. All under the counter of course. After a good run selling pizza at The Store, Rick, Tom and Dan Gunderson went all in and bought the Hotel Shoreham which they promptly turned into the best watering hole and restaurant in the area. This was a one-of-a-kind joint and remains so to this day. The Hotel was his baby for the last half of his life and he ran it well meeting and greeting, cleaning tables, kickin’ some butt from time to time to straighten out an errant customer and making sure the beer trucks had room to unload. Rick was deeply involved in the Pizza Masters golf tournament with Tom Hanson, where the tournament managers put him in charge of keeping track of the big Calcutta pots. About 15 years ago Susan Fortier came into his life and became a favorite partner and fellow traveler to any exotic places around the world including New Zealand and many sojourns to Hawaii, where Rick and Susan tied the knot at their favorite island, Kauai on February 17, 2017 Rick is survived by his wife Susan, son Gene and family, and Susan’s family. He will be missed by some of Shoreham’s finest and some of it’s reprobates. A Celebration of Rick’s Life will be held on Friday June 30, 2017; 4:00 p.m. at the Shorewood Pub in Detroit Lakes, MN. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The Humane Society of the Lakes.