Richard B. Fiske

Richard B Fiske, 79 of Olathe Kansas, passed away on Sunday August 24, 2025. He was born on April 14, 1946, in Kansas City, Missouri to William and Vera Fiske of Winfield Kansas. Most people knew him as Rick unless they’re from Winfield where he was Ricky.

Rick is survived by his wife Karen Fiske and daughter Suzanne Fiske of Olathe. Preceded in death by parents William (Bill) ,Vera (Boone) and brother Rodrick Fiske.

He was raised in Winfield. He was in the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, then Explorer Scouts. He got interested in clarinet by 4th grade. He was 2nd chair 1st clarinet section, then solo clarinet, from 8th through 12th grade. He played in almost every musical event for six years in school, from sports, dances, plays, musicals, parades. They played in all the holiday performances in many churches, rest homes, civic groups, and city events including the Salvation Army Band.

He started to work at Cunningham Music Company in 1958. It was the source for all things musical in the surrounding 3 counties. They rented or sold all the instruments such as high-quality pianos, organs, tape recorders, turntables, amplifiers, and tuners. They also repaired anything they sold or rented. He learned how to repair any instruments the store had. He helped move pianos and organs throughout the county. Hence his ability to fix nearly anything and his love of instruments, turntables, speakers, and related sound systems stemmed from his years at Cunningham Music.

He attended the University of Kansas for two years living at the ACACIA fraternity. He moved home for a job at Gordan-Piatt Burners as an apprentice engineer and attended Southwestern College until he joined the US Air Force in 1967. He was a Staff Sergeant and Missile Maintenance Technician. He spent 5 years training, maintaining, and evaluating other maintainers on Minuteman Missiles. After the Air Force, he went back to college and graduated from Wichita State University with a MS in accounting. He then worked for Arthur Anderson in the Kansas City office for ten years until he joined Cerner Corporation as a Vice President for 26.5 years.

He met his wife Karen while at Southwestern and when she graduated, she joined him in North Dakota. They married in 1969 and had daughter Suzanne in 1971.

He co-taught adult Sunday school, the Seekers, at the First Presbyterian Church of Olathe for 25 years.

During and after his years at Cerner he was involved with other endeavors. With a partner, he co-owned a gun store, The Second Amendment Gun Shop, in Overland Park, KS from 1985 until 2004. He was also one of the owners of Pegasus Performance, a company that assembled Cobra replica cars. Later, they merged with and became part of Premier Motorsports, making Shelby and GT40 replicas. He was a director of the parent company, Big-W Industries, that had a full machine shop and manufactured specialized equipment including many of the waffle bakers used in restaurants and hotels.

Rick belonged to several clubs for decades including Age & Treachery Racing, Sports Car Club of American (SCCA), Heartland Vintage Racing (HVR), and the Water Garden Society of Greater Kansas City. Rick helped establish HVR in 2010 and remained a vital part of the club for the past 15 years, serving in multiple roles including president, vice-president, treasurer, and longtime board member. His leadership, guidance, and steady presence were instrumental in keeping the club strong and growing. He was also a longtime member of SCCA and had been deeply involved in sports cars and racing for most of his life. During the 1970s, he raced a Triumph TR3A and a 1966 Yenko Stinger Stage II Corvair. Of all the cars he owned, none meant more to him than his beloved 1961 Elva Courier. He campaigned the Elva at major vintage races throughout the Midwest and beyond. In later years, Rick retired from the driver’s seat and entrusted capable friends to race the car where he proudly watched from the sidelines, taking photos, and enjoying the camaraderie of the paddock.

Rick was a proud member of Age & Treachery Racing, a well-known group of respected Kansas City racers. He rarely missed their regular Saturday breakfasts, where stories of cars and races could go on for hours. He sponsored other race teams and drivers. He donated his time and business skills to local industry, merchants, and sporting organizations.

There are too many interests and hobbies to list them all. He was very knowledgeable about many subjects and quite knowledgeable about even more. If he didn’t know something, he’d research it and learn. If his friends needed assistance, he would help without question.

Other hobbies and interests included airplanes (aeronautics), ham radios, trap and skeet shooting, all things electronic and gadgets, computers, photography and cameras, cooking, grilling/smoking food, the state of the world, history, and was a voracious reader.

He loved, supported, and encouraged all interests his wife and daughter have. Anything needed or wanted he made sure it would happen. Approximately a year ago, thru DNA testing, it was discovered he had a half-brother, Charles “Larry” Williams of Sikeston, MO. This discovery opened a door to more people he was related to. They only met in person once but talked and met on zoom almost weekly for the last year and half. Getting to know each other and realizing how many things they had in common even though not knowing of each other until later in life. He looked forward to and cherished these calls although only a brief time but meaningful.

He loved all the family pets and thoroughly enjoyed swapping stories about past and present pets with others. He’d often come home or get off a call and regale the new details of his friends’ pets to the family.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Always & Furever Midwest Animal Sanctuary. All the family animals have been adopted or rescued. This agency does great work and is funded purely by donations. https://www.alwaysandfurever.org.

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