Obituary

Anthony Rice
February 12, 1957 - October 3, 2021

Anthony Rice

Anthony Rice
Feb 12, 1957 - Oct 3, 2021

Anthony Rice
Iframe toggler
Find Us On Facebook
Free Grief Support
How Did We Do?

It is with great sadness that the family of Anthony (Tony) Rice announce that he passed away at his home in Woodinville, Washington on October 3, 2021 after struggling to live without his wife and partner of 36 years, Tricia J. Cook.

He was pre-deceased by his loving wife, Tricia J. Cook, in March 2020 and his parents Desmond Rice in December 2008 and Louise Rice in February 2020.

He is survived by his sons Adam (Katie) Rice, living in Dallas, Texas and Sean Rice, and living in Seattle, Washington. As well as his sisters, Deirdre Rice and children and Daphne (Jeff) Willan and children, both living in Canada.

Tony will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and colleagues from around the world.

Tony was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1957, where his parents worked and were married. In 1958 his family immigrated to Victoria, B.C., Canada where they lived until 1968. In 1968, his father was transferred to Kamloops to work for the B.C. Forest Service. Tony completed his secondary education in Kamloops and after graduation moved to Vancouver to attend University. There he earned his Civil Engineering degree from the University of British Columbia, following in the professional footsteps of his father. After graduation, he began working at Golder Associates Inc. in Vancouver. While working, he earned his Professional Engineer Designation as well as a Masters Degree in Geotechnical Engineering. During this time, he also met his wife, Tricia, who also briefly worked as an engineer for Golder.

Tony's sons, Adam and Sean, were both born in Vancouver. The family lived in North Vancouver until 1999 when Anthony accepted a transfer to Golder's Phoenix, Arizona office. He continued to maintain a home and spend significant time in Phoenix until 2021. Desiring to eventually return to the Pacific Northwest, Tony accepted a position again with Golder Associates in Seattle in 2009. In 2014, Tony and Tricia purchased their second home in Woodinville, Washington as a base for his Seattle work and planned retirement location. Tony took a position with Geosyntec Consultants in 2015 where he worked until passing away.

Tony spent most of his career traveling around the world providing consultation as a Geotechnical Engineer. His work travels took him to countries such to Australia, Iraq, Peru, and Argentina to name a few. His expertise was extensive, ranging from behavior of earth materials, soil and rock mechanics, project management, and much more. He was highly specialized, highly regarded and relied on for his specific skills and attention to detail in both developing new projects and resolving problems on existing projects. . He enjoyed the thrill of a life of travel, exploring new places and solving new problems.

From a young age Anthony developed a love of the outdoors, which he shared with his father. Together they became avid backpackers, hikers, climbers, and skiers. They were members of the Kamloops Outdoor club, the Alpine club of Canada, and Tony became a member of the ski patrol team at the Tod Mountain, Kamloops B.C. While living in Vancouver, he and Tricia spent much of their leisure time at Whistler, B.C. Skiing, hiking and for a time, windsurfing on Alta Lake. He maintained his passion for the outdoors throughout his life, sharing it with his family and friends. He traveled around the world to seeking unique hiking and skiing experiences as well as enjoying local hiking in both Washington and Arizona. He found solace while in the outdoors and relished the escape from day-to-day life.

Tony was admirably determined to succeed at every pursuit in his life. He also had a strong conviction to help family at times of need, no matter where in the world he was. As a tribute to his Wife Tricia, he worked tirelessly and passionately for many months to establish a foundation that provides assistance to young women engineers with families. An accomplishment of which he was immensely proud. His greatest goal was to provide a wonderful life for his family, which he undoubtedly accomplished. He was also very proud that both of his sons followed in his footsteps pursuing careers as professional engineers. A testament to the person he was, are the friendships he has maintained throughout his adult life. In memory of Tony and his love for his wife, we request that in lieu of flowers you direct donations to the Tricia J. Cook memorial fund https://www.egbc.ca/Registration/Programs-Resources/Student-Program/Scholarships/Tricia-J-Cook-Memorial-Fund

"A life is not to be judged by the final page of the story. Instead, we must look at the entirety of a life lived."

If you know someone who is having suicidal thoughts, please do your best to get them help immediately. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, is a great place to start and has resources available 24/7.

 
 

Zach Lifton on Nov 11, 2021

I worked with Tony at both Golder and Geosyntec, the latter where he was my direct supervisor, mentor, and teammate on a number of interesting projects. Tony worked hard and pushed people hard, but it came from a genuine love of the work and desire to do an excellent job. I learned a lot about engineering and geohazard mitigation from him. Tony and I spent a lot of time together in the field in West Virginia and Virginia, hiking up and down steep pipeline right-of-ways. Tony LOVED driving the windy backroads and often proclaimed his mission to drive every road in North America - I think he must have come pretty close to that goal. I'll miss sharing laughs with Tony.

Zach Lifton on Nov 11, 2021

Zach Lifton on Nov 11, 2021

Zach Lifton on Nov 11, 2021

Zach Lifton on Nov 11, 2021

Zach Lifton on Nov 11, 2021

Logan Brant on Nov 8, 2021

Tony was a truly wonderful colleague, mentor, and friend. We will miss him greatly.

Brian Conlim on Nov 7, 2021

Tony was one of the most practical consulting engineers I know. When others wanted to study Tony was ready to act on evidence and knowledge. He and I worked together in Vancouver when Golder was finding its way and heading into a decade of growth and change that was a big part of the company it became. Tony played a big part of the story.
I reached out to him a few months before his passing - I’m sure it was God calling - and he promised to stop by in Whistler when he next visited. I’m sorry we did not have that meeting.
Tony, you made a difference in the lives of many. You will be missed.
With sincere condolences
Brian Conlin

Don West on Nov 3, 2021

Don West
I first met Tony in the 1980s when he was Golder's office manager of the Vancouver, B.C. office. He was a gregarious and enlightened engineer. This was new for me being a geologist. When Tony joined Golder's Redmond, WA office, he became my go-to geotechnical engineer for technically challenging projects that needed his unique insights to get them completed correctly, and on time. He was part of our pipeline geologic/geotechnical hazards team and I spent many times in the field with him in the US, Canada and Mexico where I learned a lot about the synergy between geology and geotechnical engineering. He opened my eyes.

Don West on Nov 3, 2021

Tony making nice with the locals on a helicopter aerial reconnaissance of a proposed natural gas pipeline in Mexico.

David Vance on Nov 3, 2021

Tony and I met shortly after his coming to Geosyntec. He was leading an ambitious pipeline geohazard project and we ended up working together on that over the next 4 years and numerous other projects following that. Tony always brought such a depth of experience to all our conversations and ask technically challenging questions that undoubtedly have contributed to bettering me as a consultant. My favorite memory of Tony was on the ACP project and we weren't really seeing eye to eye on my scope and we had an exchange of words after I decided I was going to skip the helo reconnaissance after it broke down (after it landed) and we couldn't take off (battery was dead) and he was going to wait on parts to arrive (5 hrs later). I respected Tony for his dedication, professionalism, and technical rigor; later that day as I was walking streams classifying hazards in debris flow prone geology, Tony's helo flew over and I waved. We both got our jobs done and we drank a beer later. Here's to you Tony, once again.

Videos

Photos

Add a photo

The services for Anthony have not yet been added. Please sign up below to be notified when the services are ready.

Get Notified When a Service is Added

Iframe toggler
Find Us On Facebook
Free Grief Support
How Did We Do?
Anthony Rice

Sign in to add your memory

Login with Facebook

We will never post without permission

Just for verification: we never spam!

Anthony Rice

Share Photo/Memorial Tributes

Anthony Rice

Add to Your Calendar

Anthony Rice

Obit Checkin

Anthony Rice

Obituary Notifications

Grief Support

Anthony Rice

Get Updates - tribute notifications

Anthony Rice

Get Updates - SMS notifications

Thank you for sharing your memory of Anthony

Help show your support by providing a gift of flowers and spreading the word.

Spread the Word

Help friends and acquaintances of Anthony leave memories by sharing to Facebook

Share to Facebook Share on Facebook