Richard Eugene Altuna

Richard “Richy” Eugene Altuna was born in Lordsburg, New Mexico on August 6, 1950 and passed to the Lord’s presence in Brea, California on June 7, 2021. He is survived by his loving family; brothers and sisters, Esther-Marie, Alfred “Appie”, Larry and Annette “Ani”; nephews and nieces, Greg (Ashley), Steven (Sara), Aileen, Leigh (Matt) and Jeff; grand nephews and nieces, Georgia, Elliott, Ian, Gibson, Oliver and Sabel. He was predeceased in death by his parents Alfred and Hortensia and his sister Jeannette (Jeni).

Richy grew up in Tucson, Arizona, earned a degree from the University of Arizona, College of Architecture in 1975 and went on to become an award-winning Design Architect specializing in repurposing old spaces, also designing new retail spaces in America, Europe and China. He lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles and for a short time in Perugia, Italy, Boston and New York City. Richy had an impressive 46-year career doing what he loved and called his passion, architecture.

He was devoted to his family, generous to a fault, fun loving, food lover, avid movie goer, book, toy, and tennis shoe collector. He was an avid traveler for business and pleasure and enjoyed taking his family and friends with him. He was a teacher and mentor to many of his friends and family, teaching us how to enjoy our work, eat hearty and live life to the fullest.

In lieu of flowers or other memorial gifts, the family requests donations in honor of Richard Eugene Altuna be made to: The University of Arizona College of Architecture, Tucson, AZ or the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Taliesin West, Scottsdale, AZ. An article about Richy's successes and accomplishments can be found at... https://www.npr.org/2021/06/25/1009405116 Please copy and paste the link.