Richard Pahlau

Richard Pahlau, 58, of Massillon, Ohio, passed away out of this earthly world to be with his savior Jesus Christ on January 25. Rick grew up in Canal Fulton and graduated from Northwest High School in 1977. After service to his country as an Army M.P., serving in Stuttgart, Germany, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Kent State University. He served as a police officer in Massillon for more than 33 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant, serving as OIC for afternoon and midnight shifts. He loved his patrolmen and protected them as well as anyone could. He served as firearms instructor, hostage negotiator, and SWAT team member, and qualified as expert in domestic violence, counter-terrorism, forensic collection, cybercrime, human trafficking, child abuse, and FEMA service. His proudest moment was performing CPR on a girl hit by a car, bringing her back to life and consequently awarded Officer of the Year. Rick’s passion was hunting. He grew up hunting with his father, grandfather, and great uncle Joe, hunting squirrels, rabbits, and whitetail deer in Ohio. Later, he moved further afield for wild boar, javelina, elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and bison in the U.S., then caribou, black bear, grizzly bear, and mountain goat in Alaska and southern Canada. He and his father dreamed of hunting together for bigger game, so he fulfilled his father’s and grandfather’s aspirations of traveling even further. In northern Canada, he teamed with the Inuit for musk ox and travelled to Africa for leopard, cheetah, hippopotamus, warthog, eland, kudu, steenbok, kori bustard, cape buffalo, and elephants. In Australia, he hunted water buffalo and fished for Spanish mackerel. His dreams for hunting even more were tragically cut short. At home, he dearly loved his childhood German shepherd, Wolf, his Maltese Nǿste, and his feisty Shih Tzu, Scrunchy. He loved to eat, always trying new foods and restaurants and cooking multiple-course themed dinners for his family and friends. He enjoyed travelling with his wife Randi all over the United States, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, and Austria. Rick was preceded in death by his grandparents, Paul and Margaret Pahlau and Melvin and Dorothy Stermer, his father and mother, Richard and Judith Stermer Pahlau, and his brother Ronald Pahlau. He is survived by his wife of more than 32 years, Randi, his sister Susan Hunter, aunt and uncle Bill and Sally Eshelman, aunt Sandra Hall, cousins, nephew, and special friends Sam, Toni, and Gary Bohl, Bill Bluman, and his “adopted” girls Erica and Emily Matthews. Calling hours are Tuesday, January 30, from 5:00-8:00, funeral service Wednesday, January 31, at 10:00, at Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch Funeral Home, 1100 Wales Ave NE, Massillon, followed by a graveside service at Manchester Cemetery, 1030 West Nimisila Road. Flowers are welcome, as are donations to the American Heart Association.