Richard Quaranta

Richard Quaranta, age 72, of Flushing, passed away on Thursday, February 1, 2024. A Visitation will be held at 4pm until the time of Sharing of Memories at 7pm on Friday, February 9, 2024, at Sharp Funeral Home - Miller Road Chapel, 8138 Miller Road in Swartz Creek. Visitation will resume the following day at 10am until the Funeral Mass at 11am on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at St. Robert Catholic Church, 310 N. Cherry Street in Flushing. Richard will be laid to rest at a later date at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Flushing, Michigan. Online condolences can be shared at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com.

Richard was born on January 21, 1952 in Astoria, New York, the first child of Carl and Theresa Quaranta. He attended school in East Meadow, New York through the ninth grade. The family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Richard graduated from James Monroe High School in 1970. He continued his education at the University of California, Riverside where he earned his degree in Social Science in 1974. Richard was awarded his Master's Degree of Public Administration from UCLA in 1976.

Richard was known to be a diligent and dedicated employee and over the years many work places benefited from his commitment to excellence. He began his career in the Los Angeles County Facilities Department where he worked as an analyst. From there he moved to the architecture and planning firm of Bobrow Thomas and Associates in Westwood, California where he was employed for twelve years. He served in a variety of planning and management roles at the firm, including CFO and Vice President.

When Richard and family moved to Oregon in 1990, he worked as a law firm administrator in Eugene. The family relocated to Detroit in 1994, where he was employed by the City of Detroit as the Executive Director of their law department. Two years later he was hired by Comerica Bank and served as the Vice President and Director of Administration for the bank's legal department. Richard was an outstanding employee who was professional, hard-working, and well respected by his peers and staff. He was grateful for his engaging and productive career at Comerica Bank from 1997 until his retirement in 2019.

Richard had many interests. He was an avid baseball fan (starting out as a Yankee fan as a boy in New York and becoming a Tiger fan when he relocated to Michigan in the 1990's). He loved his home improvement projects for his own home and for loved ones in their homes. He was always willing to help, to fix, and to lend hand. His grandsons always loved his workshop and shed, where he was able to "fix almost anything." He had an artistic flair and loved to work with wood and paint. Every Valentine's Day he created something original for Lory, his wife of forty-five years. He had an eye for color and design. Richard especially loved Mid-Century architecture and design, and Midland, Michigan became a special place for him to visit to pursue this interest. Richard had an interest in film and the musical theater, and had fond memories of seeing many Broadway shows during his growing-up years in New York. He liked visiting museums wherever he lived, and enjoyed taking architectural tours. Among other things, Richard loved Italian cuisine, roller coasters, reading the New York Times, and “The New Yorker” magazine. He was a man of fine taste but as down-to-earth and genuine as they come.

Most of all, Richard will be remembered as a family man. He was the epitome of a loving husband, father, brother, brother-in-law, cousin, uncle and Pop Pop. He was kind, generous, non-judgmental, patient, and gracious. The family would say he was the rock of the family, and in this he never faltered.

Richard lived his faith and his legacy reflects this. He was immeasurably proud of his children, their spouses, and his grandchildren. And found great joy in what brought them joy. His life will continue to serve as an inspiration to all those who loved him.

Richard was preceded in death by, his parents Carlo (Theresa) Quaranta; in-laws, Leland (Joyce) Furse; sister-in-law, Bonnie (Musa) Haffajee and Uncle, Sam (Claire) Quaranta.

Richard is survived by his loving wife, Lory Quaranta; his three children, Luke (Barbara) Quaranta, Seth ( Lexi) Quaranta and Hannah (Colin) Coulter; his six grandchildren, Carlos, Callahan, Mateo, Theodore, Carter and Samuel; his sister, Diane Quaranta and sisters-in-law, Nancy (Greg) Poort and Marcy Furse. Richard is further survived by loving nieces, nephews, other dear family members and friends too numerous to list but never forgotten.

It was Richard's wish that in lieu of flowers, donations would be made to the Karmanos Cancer Foundation, for continued research and care for cancer patients. He received outstanding care there during his two different cancer journeys, including participation in a successful clinical trial. He would be most grateful for your support of this cancer institute which blessed him with quality of life and compassionate care.

Richard’s family thanks all the many dedicated medical professionals who brought hope and excellent care to Richard on his cancer journey. We wish we could name every person here; they know who they are. Dr. Dipesh Uprety, Richard’s oncologist from the Karmanos Cancer Institute and Dr. Brian Bhagat, Richard’s long-time internist, extended the length and quality of Richard’s life and meant the world to him. They elevate the medical profession because they bring love and compassion to their patients.

Richard's family would like to express their many thanks to the dedicated staff of Residential Home Hospice and Home Health Residential Care for making Richard and his family feel lovingly cared for during these last several months and weeks. He loved every visit and was so grateful for their amazing care and kindness.

Richard was a gift to all who knew him, and his memory will be a light for all of us as we journey on. His motto was: Lead with love. He will continue to do so, and will always be in our hearts.