Rick was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma into a family with 2 sisters and 1 brother.  His father worked for Conoco/Phillips, who transferred the family many times to many states.  Before completing high school in Houston, TX, Rick attended 5 different elementary schools, 3 different middle schools & 2 different high schools. There were many different summer jobs including auto mechanic for a Pontiac dealer, tow truck driver & oil rig worker.  During college most summers & Christmas holidays were spent on the north slope of Alaska on oil rigs. 

After graduating from University of Texas in Austin with degrees in mathematics & economics Rick went to work for an Austin general contractor who was building large & small warehouses, office buildings, shopping centers & apartments.  This general contractor decided to stop building small projects and helped Rick set up his own general contracting firm, letting him take many of the smaller projects to help start his new firm.  Later Rick developed hundreds of condominium units and thousands of residential lots in Central Texas.  Most of the lots were sold to large national homebuilders.

Rick has been married for over 40 years to his wife, Dede. When Dede bought a residential brokerage firm, he became very involved in her brokerage business. This included managing an REO department that sold thousands of houses for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FDIC and dozens of banks. Today Rick continues to work with his wife & serves as the CFO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Texas Realty while continuing to develop residential communities.