Richard Sheffield

Hanksville, Utah – Dean Richard Sheffield passed away June 18, 2023, at his home in Hanksville. He was the first-born child of Dean and Betty Sheffield of Salt Lake City and began his journey on Mother’s Day May 13,1945. Adventurous to a fault, Richard graduated from Olympus High School, and instead of taking a graduation vacation, he jumped a freight train to the coast to seek his future. He worked in construction and logging before returning to Salt Lake to attend college.

A great and active mind, a natural born storyteller, he was fascinated with philosophy and literature and began writing himself. He was an extraordinary artist, he studied painting under his friend and mentor Ralph Schofield, but was too critical of his own work to pursue it as a vocation.

Richard married Miki Cannon in 1965. They joined VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) and were assigned to New Jersey. They later divorced.

He opened a disco at the “Old Mill” in the Cottonwood area of Salt Lake. He brought in many big-name bands of the time. Living in a rundown house across the street from the mill, he spent his days writing and training horses and dogs.

After splitting with Miki, he resumed his journey of self-discovery and for years wandered around the west and the south. He spent time working the fishing boats in Louisiana. He spent time in Mexico where he met Grace Relfe, with whom he unknowingly fathered a son, Sommer. Years later Sommer wanted to meet his father and extended family and looked up Richard. They developed a great bond.

Richard eventually landed in the Woody Creek area of Colorado where he got back into logging and started cooking. He soon found himself involved in running a restaurant, Andre’s of Aspen. Richard was his father’s son and loved horses and dogs. Any time he settled in one place, he usually had a few of each around him. In the Woody Creek area, he met and married Patricia de Simone. They decided ranching was their future.

Richard and Patti had four children, Naia Marie, Jesse Dean, Cassie Ann, and Joe Ben. They moved to a ranch in De Beque, Colorado and raised cattle, horses, and dogs. He taught the kids to ride, train horses, work cattle, and rodeo. During the winter the stock was moved to BLM ground in the desert country of southern Utah. During the yearly round up for that move he was known to make a great pancake breakfast, and an unbelievable steak dinner for anyone willing to sit a saddle and help. He always kept the beer ice cold too. He continued to rodeo with the kids and was a talented roper himself. During all of this, he continued to be Richard, cowboy and restless biker, wearing his dew rag and whenever he could get away with it, his short-shorts.

Richard had an appreciation for and loved the desert when he was young. Time spent there with the cattle made him want to stay. He wrote of the desert in stories, he read other people’s stories of the desert, and learned what he could of the history and nature of the desert. He would tell the stories of the early settlers of the area and could take you via horseback to the site of each tale.

Richard and Patti divorced, and Richard went to live with his love, the desert. He ended up in Hanksville, Utah, the center of many of his stories. There, Richard met Cheryl Pritchard, another desert lover, they fell in love with each other and married. Richard and Cheryl remained in Hanksville, enjoying the desert and each other’s company for the past 25 years. Cheryl tolerated his dew rag and teased him about his short-shorts; he wore both right to the end. Richard made sure Cheryl knew how he felt, expressing his feelings to her daily.

After a brief battle with cancer, he completed his journey and died on Father’s day, June 18, 2023 with Cheryl, Sommer, and his dogs by his side.

Predeceased by his son Joe Ben Sheffield. Survived by his wife Cheryl Sheffield, son Sommer Relfe, daughter Naia Graham, son Jesse Sheffield, daughter Cassie Sheffield, sister Patricia Sheffield (Mark Smasal), Utah, brother Robert Sheffield (Sherille), Utah, sister Peggy Lilja (Scott), brother Kevin Sheffield (Stefanie) of Rigby, brother James Sheffield (Shawna).

Memorial services will be held at a later date.

Journey Completed