Richard Bruce Rasmussen

Richard Bruce Rasmussen was born to Hal and LeIsle Rasmussen on July 6, 1952, in Driggs, Idaho. He passed away on July 22, 2025.

Rich’s birth was premature, and it was something of a miracle that he survived. He grew up on the Rasmussen family farm with seven brothers and four sisters, a herd of milk cows, a flock of sheep and a coop full of unruly chickens. They all had chores to do and skills to learn but there was plenty of time for shenanigans on the hills, horses to race and neighbor kids to play with. According to Rich he had the best and most courageous dog ever born and claims that dog saved his life at least a dozen times. Whether that is true or not, Rich and that dog honed his cussing and rock throwing skills chasing and killing skunks, rock chucks and badgers wherever he found them.

He attended Victor Elementary, Driggs Junior High, and completed his education by graduating from Teton High School in 1970. I was told that after an episode with a dead skunk thrown into the building his senior year, the principal was happy to see him go.

He married Betty Jones in 1972 and always claimed it was because he’d heard that the coming winter was going to be the coldest on record. (He certainly hated the cold, so this might be true.) On February 10, 1978 they were finally blessed with their only child, Richard Blaine Rasmussen. He was a truly remarkable baby and was deeply loved by his Dad and Mom.

Rich started his working career off the farm by pumping gas at the Phillips 66 station in Driggs. After graduation he worked for a season for the Egbert family sheep operation in Mud Lake, running one of their night pens during lambing season. From there he moved on to finishing concrete for Clark Brother’s Ready Mix in Wilson, Wyoming, and was always proud that he helped pour all the sidewalks and concrete around the Old Faithful Complex in Yellowstone Park.

He gave up that job when he married Betty and he returned to run his family farm after his Mom, Dad and younger sisters and brothers moved to Plano, Idaho. A couple of years later he moved on to finish concrete with Leonard Winegar and then his brother, David Rasmussen.

In 1979, he picked up his family and moved them to California when his brother-in-law offered him a job running the tool yard for Western Petro Chem, a company that built large storage tanks in refineries in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is where Rich’s work ethic and skills really shined. It wasn’t long before he was welding tanks, learning to read blueprints, rigging metal, and running crews. He was asked to move to Salt Lake City and help start the non-union branch of the company a couple years later. This brought him back closer to his beloved Teton Valley and he quickly accepted. For the next several years the family traveled through most of the western United States building process tanks in gold mines, water tanks for cities, and even a wind tunnel in New Mexico which they used to test the aerodynamics of jet engines. Later they returned to Teton Valley where he worked for Linn Brother’s Construction building log homes, then starting a construction company with his brothers-in-law, Jim Jones and Tom Underhill. They sold the company in 2008 and Rich finally retired.

In the year 2000, we were lucky enough to have Amanda Eve van Leerdam join our family and a couple years after that we were blessed with our first grandson, Samuel Dylan Rasmussen. Eight years later twins Alex Jacob and Colton John came along and boy oh boy did life get interesting after that!

Rich and Betty were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple May 30, 2019, and had their family sealed to them for time and all eternity.

Rich’s greatest love was his wife, their son, daughter in-law and those precious grandsons, but he also shared his great capacity to love and play with all the extended Rasmussen and the Jones families. They all shared camping trips, four-wheeling, boating, jet skiing, and horseback riding on almost any given summer weekend. His mother-in-law always told him the family that plays together stays together and he was a firm believer.

Shortly after Rich retired, he developed cancer. He fought a long hard battle for 15 years, but in April of this year he began having other complications, and then finally was diagnosed with another type of cancer. He tried fighting it for a while but soon realized this was one battle he couldn’t win. He passed peacefully at home surrounded by his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons. He will truly be missed.

Rich was preceded in death by his parents Hal and LeIsle Rasmussen, brother Doug (Sally), sister Linda (Dennis), brother David, and brother-in-law Richard Sharp (Susan). Also, his mother and father-in-law, Ada and Gordon Jones, sister-in-law Irene Brandt and her husband Tom Brandt, and brother-in-law Joe Kramer.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Betty Lee Jones Rasmussen, his son Richard Blaine, beloved daughter in-law Mandy, grandsons Sam, Alex and Colton. Also surviving are his brothers, Buzz (Jani), Jim (Pat), Phillip (SaraLee) Joe (Tracy), and Kenny (Cindy) and his sisters Susan Sharp (Richard), Jean Jones (Vern), and Patty Cutler (Keith) and sister- in-law Sally (Doug). Also his sisters-in-law Linda Jones Kramer, Trina Jones Underhill Smith (Dennis), Ava Jones Hillman (Kent), brothers-in-law Wayne Jones (Missy) and James Jones (Tonya).

Our family wishes to send a heartfelt thanks to all family members and friends that helped us through this trying time.

Services will be held at the Victor, Idaho Cemetery on September 6th at 11:00 followed by a luncheon at the Victor Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All are welcome and we hope you bring your favorite story of Rich to share with everyone.

In lieu of flowers we ask that you make a donation to the Huntsman’s Cancer Research Center.

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