Rico Diaz Jr. passed on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

A visitation will be held from 4:00 pm -7:00 pm on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at Van Hoe Funeral Home, East Moline, IL. Following the visitation there will be a fellowship gathering at American Legion Post 227 in East Moline, IL.

Rico was such a special person in so many ways. While there are no words that can truly capture the very essence of his being, those who knew him can attest to his beautiful soul, his amazing spirit, and his captivating personality. He had a zest for life like no other. He was filled with light, love, and laughter and brought a brightness and a positive energy with him wherever he went and to whomever he met along his walk in life. He was kind, thoughtful, caring, and loving…gentle, patient, and understanding…comforting, supportive, and encouraging…generous and giving…dedicated and devoted…easy-going, light-hearted, and good-natured…smart and sharp-minded…funny, silly, goofy, and quick-witted…free-spirited and adventurous…hard-working and driven with goals and plans for the future.

A little over four years ago, Rico embarked on the most important journey of his lifetime. After struggling with addiction for many years, Rico entered the spiritual recovery program at Helping Up Mission in Baltimore, Maryland on March 26, 2021. He fully embraced the process and began his path to recovery, healing, and becoming the man, son, and, most importantly, father that he always wanted to be. Throughout this time, Rico leaned into his faith in God and furthered his spiritual development to guide him along the way. While going through the program, Rico sang in the choir and served first as an intern in the Treatment Office and then in the IT Department. He completed the program and graduated from HUM on March 25, 2022 but continued to work and live there. He was hired on as staff on September 16, 2023 as the IT Project Manager and was later promoted to IT Coordinator where he took on more responsibilities within the department. Rico decided to go back to school to further his education so he would have better career opportunities available to him down the road to be able to better provide for his four children - Scarlett, Lilly, Nolan, and Watson - in the future.

He enrolled at CCBC for the Spring 2022 semester with a major in Cybersecurity. He excelled in his studies and was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Academic Honor Society in January 2023. He graduated summa cum laude with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Cybersecurity on June 1, 2024. He also completed several certifications on his own time to better qualify himself for a future career in Cybersecurity. During this time, Rico also became passionate about his physical health and fitness. He was a member of the Back on My Feet running group and ran in many races in Baltimore City and the surrounding areas, including the half marathon in October 2021 and the full marathon in October 2023 at the Baltimore Running Festival as well as two Savage Race obstacle course runs. He worked out at the gym five days a week, food prepped to fuel his body with healthy and nutritious foods, and took vitamins and supplements to further strengthen his body for optimal health.

In July 2021, Rico met Gretchen, his girlfriend and life partner, through a Single Friends in Maryland Facebook group. They started out as friends but it quickly developed into a serious, committed relationship. Rico and Gretchen loved each other deeply and he was a dedicated and devoted partner. They had built a life together full of love, happiness, companionship, support, and encouragement. They enjoyed going on adventures together from hiking, tubing, and camping to folk and bluegrass music festivals and hot air balloon festivals to antique shopping. On their hikes, Rico's free spirit and love of nature would always prevail as he would be climbing up trees to sit in the branches, running across fallen tree trunks above running water, and digging under rocks to look for insects. When antique shopping, his playful nature would have him trying on all of the crazy hats and coats and then striking a series of funny poses with silly expressions on his face for the camera. Rico and Gretchen also enjoyed their simple times together from cooking meals to watching movies to playing board games and card games together. Rico loved working on things around the house and was especially proud of his work on the front yard as he had dug up the entire lawn and reseeded it and then redid the landscaping by replacing all of the old bushes and shrubs with new ones. Whenever he was coming or going from the house, he would always stop to not only admire his handiwork, but to also inspect the yard with an eagle eye and he never passed up an opportunity to pull any stray weeds that might be popping up from the ground without his permission. Rico also loved playing with their two kittens and was planning on clicker-training them to do cool tricks on command.

Rico loved and missed his family back home dearly. He loved his four children – Scarlett, Lilly, Nolan, and Watson – immensely and above all else. They were always first and foremost in his mind and the reason behind everything he did to turn his life around. They were the light in his life and the most important thing in the world to him. He and Gretchen planned to move back to the Illinois/Iowa area within the next few years to be there with them and for them on a permanent basis and, while he was in Baltimore, he was working tirelessly to make that happen sooner rather than later. In the meantime over the last four and a half years, he began reconnecting with his children and other family members, including his mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, and uncles, and worked to rebuild and repair his relationships with them. He video chatted with his kids on a regular basis to be a more present and involved fixture in their daily lives. During those conversations, he gave his undivided attention to them and would not only ask about how their day was and what they'd been up to but would also help with homework and any other problems they might be having at home or at school. And, like the big kid that he was himself, he would joke around with them, making goofy faces and using silly voices, to have fun with them over the phone. Rico and Gretchen drove out to visit with his family and kids over Spring Break for the last four years and again this summer in July. Rico cherished this time with his children beyond anything else. He spent every waking moment there playing with them, talking, joking, and laughing with them, and simply snuggling and cuddling with them. From pushing them on the swings, to giving them piggy back and shoulder rides, to letting them climb up the front of him, to wrestling with them on the floor, to attacking them with tickles, he soaked up each and every second with them. You could see the look of pure happiness on his face and the sheer joy in his eyes at just getting to be there with them. His children loved spending this time with him too and they made many precious memories together over the years. Rico's oldest daughter, Scarlett, loved her dad so much. She thought of him as being funny, smart, weird like her, and someone that she could relate to. His younger daughter, Lilly, loved everything about her dad. She remembers him as being a loving guy who loved his family deeply, loved spending time with his kids and family, and loved making people laugh. She thought that he was very creative and remembers too that he loved running marathons and earned a lot of medals. Rico's older son, Nolan, thought that his dad was the best dad in the world and that he was lucky that he had him as a dad. His favorite thing about his dad was that he always played with him and did different activities with him. His youngest son, Watson, loved going fishing with his dad, catching bugs and frogs with him, and walking in the woods with him. His favorite thing was eating with him and just spending time with him.

Rico brought a brightness to this world that cannot be replaced. His incredible soul, amazing spirit, and zest for life touched the hearts of everyone he met and have left a lasting mark on this world that cannot be forgotten and will never be erased. And while he left this earth far too soon and his absence here on earth has diminished that light, he is now shining that brightness down from Heaven above as a constant reminder to those he left behind to make the most of each and every moment and live each and every day to the fullest - filling it with love, light, and laughter - just as he did during his short but remarkable time here on this earth.

Rico is survived by children Scarlett, Lilly, Nolan and Watson. His Life Partner Gretchen Frey; Parents Deata Pollock, Rico Diaz Sr and bonus mom Kristi Dieterich. Siblings Marshall Pollock, Alicia Diaz, Ginny Pollock, Connor Diaz, Sophia Diaz and Josephine Pollock. Grandparents Jose and Jacquee Diaz; Nieces Juno and Sunny, nephew Oliver, and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

He was preceded in death by grandparents DeLores and Robert Plager.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made towards a trust for his children or Helping Up Mission - Baltimore MD.