The Reverend Richard E. Shugert, 75, (Red River Presbytery) well known as Rich, died April 26, 2021, after a four year battle with cancer. Rich, born April 10, 1946, was one of the five sons of Warner H. Shugert and Jean Fichter Shugert who married May 3, 1941.

Rich grew up in the Saint Louis, Missouri, suburb of Ferguson and attended the Ferguson Presbyterian Church where his father was an elder and his mother an elder and a deacon. He graduated from McCluer High School in 1964 and then attended Tarkio College in Tarkio, Missouri. The school was affiliated with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA). He graduated in 1968 and married Jo Ann in 1969. He earned a Master’s Degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in May, 1973.

Rich received and accepted a call from Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church (Transylvania Presbytery, UPCUSA) in Hazard, Kentucky, and was ordained at Ferguson Presbyterian Church by Elijah Parish Lovejoy Presbytery (UPCUSA) July 5, 1973. Rich’s older brother, the Reverend Stephen Shugert, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Racine, Wisconsin, preached the ordination sermon. Warner Shugert delivered the charge.

In December of 1976, Rich left the UPCUSA to serve a non-denominational fellowship in Louisville, Kentucky. He later served Metroplex Covenant Church in Colleyville, Texas, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

After Rich attended the Program of Alternate Studies for the required Cumberland Presbyterian courses, the Committee on the Ministry of Red River Presbytery recommended his reception as an ordained minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on October 21, 1995, which was adopted.

In the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Rich served Newberry Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Millsap, Texas) in Red River Presbytery, Marshall Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Missouri Presbytery, Christ Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Lutz, Florida) in Grace Presbytery, Good Prospect Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Trilla, Illinois) in North Central Presbytery, and St. John Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Arlington, Texas) in Red River Presbytery.

Rich served on the General Assembly Nominating Committee from 2008-2011. During Cumberland Presbyterian Women’s Ministry conventions Rich often acted as the unpaid assistant to his wife JoAnn while she served as CPWM Convention Coordinator. He was honorably retired by Red River Presbytery in 2020.